Dorayaki is a moist and fluffy honey pancake with sweet red bean fillings, a widely popular Japanese dessert. Although the dessert with red bean filling has been around for centuries, what resembles the current form of dorayaki has a relatively short history and is believed to be introduced during the Meiji (1868-1912) era when the Castella (Portuguese pound cake) was introduced to Japan. The ingredients are simple: flour, eggs, sugar, honey, baking powder, and Anko, a sweet red bean paste. Go ahead and make these ahead of time and enjoy them with a warm cup of green tea.
What is Anko?
Anko or Koshi-ann is slow-cooked red azuki beans with sugar. It is commonly seen as fill mochi and other Japanese confectionery and dessert soup.
Branding food in Japan
In Japan, you find many foods, especially desserts with branding applications: branding often symbolizes family and business names and logos, family and business crest, seasonal motifs, and good luck designs. These branded food are typically sold at storefronts and given away as a gift during family ceremonies, such as weddings.
To apply branding to the food surface, the branding iron is first heated on an open flame and then gently applied to the food. If you are looking for a unique branding iron, Kappabashi, known as Kitchen Town in Tokyo, is the place to go. Find your favorite brandings there, or customize your design for the branding iron.
Dorayaki
Ingredients
- 4 medium eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar white or cane sugar
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1-1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1/2 pound anko (sweed red bean paste)
- 1/2-1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Gather ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and honey and whisk until fluffy.
- In another bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.
- Combine #2, #3, and 2 tablespoons of water and mix until well combined but not over mix. Rest the batter for 15-30 minutes.
- Heat a frying pan or skillet on very low for 4-5 minutes until the pan is evenly warm. Add ½ teaspoon of vegetable oil to the pan. Take a paper towel, make a bundle, and use it to wipe off the oil. Note: evenly heated, and the oiled pan will make evenly browned pancakes.
- Scoop 3-4 tablespoons of pancake batter and add to the pan, shape it into an evenly circular cake, about 4.5-inch in diameter. Cook 3-4 minutes on one side until the bubbles form. Using a turner/spatula, flip the pancake and cook the other side for 30 seconds to one minute.
- Remove pancakes from the pan and cover with towels to prevent them from drying.
- Wipe the pan with an oiled paper towel before adding more batter to make the remaining pancakes.
- Once you have two pancakes, place 1-2 tablespoons of Anko onto the center and sandwich with another pancake. The traditional dorayaki has the majority of the Anko in the center making it a dome shape. Wrap the dorayaki with plastic wrap until serving.
