Sweet Strawberry King Dessert Feast

Are you ready for the holidays? Today, our guest blogger, Shirley Wong, also known as Little Miss Bento, shares three different recipes inspired by the Sanrio Friend of the Month for December, the Strawberry King!

Do you know the Strawberry King? He is the king of the beautiful and peaceful Strawberry Kingdom.

His birthday is in the month of December, which is filled with festivities and celebrations. So for this special article, I am sharing with you some desserts inspired by the Strawberry King so you can create a feast for the holidays!

Some of these recipes are adapted from my latest cookbook, Kawaii Sweet Treats. Please make sure to hop over to my blog and follow me on Instagram for more cute food ideas and recipe postings!

Have fun cooking, baking and happy holidays!

Strawberry King Cookies

Ingredients

10 g icing sugar
65 g castor or superfine sugar
200 g cake flour
100 g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
vanilla essence/vanilla bean paste (optional)
pink food coloring
0.3g matcha powder
black sesame paste

Tools

Rolling pin
Egg shape cutter, approx 3.5cm
Round shape cutter, approx 1.5cm

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Sift icing sugar, castor sugar and cake flour together.
3. Cream butter and salt with an electric hand mixer in a mixing bowl until mixture is pale.
4. Add egg yolk to the butter and mix well.
5. Add one portion of the flour mixture into butter mixture. Using dough hooks, whisk together on high speed. Add the remaining portion of the flour mixture. Mix well into a dough.
6. Divide the dough into six equal portions. Add the matcha powder to one portion of the dough and add the pink coloring to four portions of the dough and knead well to distribute color. Then knead each portion well to distribute the color evenly.
7. Roll the pink dough out into a 3 mm thick sheet with a rolling pin. Cut dough using egg shape cutter. Then using hands, shape the tip to resemble a strawberry shape.
8. Roll the dough that doesn’t have any coloring out into a 3 mm thick sheet with a rolling pin. Cut dough using round shape cutter, and place on the dough from step 7.
9. Shape the remaining matcha cookie dough into the strawberry leaves shape and assemble on the cookie. Pipe the sesame paste to create the Strawberry King’s face and details.
10. Bake at 350°F for about 12-15 minutes. The baking time required may differ depending on the size of your cookie.

Pocky Shortcake 

Ingredients

Strawberries, as needed
Pocky sticks, as needed

Shortcake

3 eggs
120 g castor or superfine sugar
15 g unsalted butter, melted
15 g vegetable oil
40 g milk

Syrup

2 Tbsp sugar
20 ml water
2 Tbsp kirschwasser or another clear, colorless fruit-flavored brandy

Cream

150 g whipping cream (38% fat)
50 g double cream
15 g sugar

Tools

7-inch cake tin

Method

Makes one 7-inch shortcake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 7-inch cake tin with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Prepare the shortcake. Sift cake flour and matcha powder together in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine eggs and castor sugar. Using a handheld mixer, beat at high speed over a warm water bath until egg mixture reaches 140°F. Remove from heat. Continue beating until mixture is pale and foamy.
4. Gently fold one-third of sifted flour and matcha powder into egg mixture until combined. Fold remaining two-thirds, a portion at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Fold melted butter, vegetable oil, and milk until batter is even. Do not over mix.
6. Pour batter into prepared cake tin. Tap cake tin gently to release air bubbles before placing in the oven.
7. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Lower heat to 325°F and bake for another 8 minutes.
8. Remove from oven. Turn cake tin upside down and leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. When cool enough to handle, remove cake from cake tin. Divide cake into 3 rounds.
10. Prepare syrup. Melt sugar in water in a small bowl. Add kirschwasser. Mix well. Brush cake layers with syrup.
11. Prepare cream. Combine whipping cream and double cream with sugar in a large bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until almost stiff peaks.
12. To assemble the cake, spread a layer of whipped cream on a cake round. Add strawberries. Repeat to add another two layers of cake, cream, and strawberries.
13. Cover all sides of the cake with whipped cream. Crumb coat the cake, covering the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of whipped cream. Chill for 15 minutes. Then frost top and sides of the cake with an even layer of cream.
14. Assemble pocky sticks at the side, biscuit side up. Top with more strawberries.

No-Bake Strawberry King Cheese Tart 

Ingredients

Strawberries, sliced, as needed
Melted chocolate, as needed

Rare Cheese filling

5 g powder gelatin + 4 tsp water
200 g cream cheese, soften
50 g castor or superfine sugar
150 g plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
150 ml whipping cream (35-36% fat)

Tart Crust
50 g graham cookies
20 g unsalted butter, melted

Tools

6-inch tin with a removable base

Method

Makes one 6-inch tart

1. Prepare gelatin by adding the gelatin powder to 4 tsp of water. Let it rest for about 20 minutes for the gelatin to bloom. Then melt the gelatin mixture in the microwave at low heat for about 10-15 seconds.
2. Place graham cookies in a ziplock bag. Using a rolling pin, roll and smash the cookies into fine crumbs. Add in the melted butter and mix well.
3. Transfer the cookie mixture into a 6-inch round tart tin and press down to form an even base.
4. In a bowl, add cream cheese and sugar. Whisk to mix well. Then add in lemon juice and yogurt and whisk well.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the whipping cream to soft peak stage using an electric mixer. Then add the whipping cream to the mixture in step 4.
6. Add in the melted gelatin and mix well. Pour the cream cheese into the tart tin.
7. Chill for 3-4 hours.
8. Remove the cheese tart from the tart tin. Add the sliced strawberries and pipe the melted chocolate to create the Strawberry King’s face.

Yummy! Thank you so much, Shirley, for sharing these supercute recipes! If you’d like to see more fun from Little Miss Bento, be sure to check her blog, and to follow her on Instagram and her other social media accounts.

littlemissbento.com
www.instagram.com/littlemissbento
www.facebook.com/littlemissbento
www.pinterest.com/littlemissbento
twitter.com/littlemissbento

Please note: Sanrio has invited, but does not necessarily endorse, the comments of this guest blogger. The contents of this blog are the copyrighted works of the guest blogger, except that Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters remain the sole intellectual property of Sanrio, and are used with permission from Sanrio. Any ideas or instructions for homemade products featuring Hello Kitty or other Sanrio characters are authorized for personal use only. A separate license from Sanrio is always required to sell or distribute any products featuring Hello Kitty or other Sanrio characters.