It is now November and the leaves are changing colour beautifully in the UK.
Unfortunately, unlike in Japan, we don't get many sudden drops in temperature, so the ginkgoes and the autumn leaves are slowly changing colour.
It's been an incredibly busy October and we've been away a lot. I'll be writing more about the events at Kew Gardens in the next newsletter.
With Halloween over, it's easy to get caught up in the month of November when we're preparing for December, but we're also busy with 🌰chestnuts.
I'll be busy peeling chestnuts one by one to spend the long autumn nights. We hope you have already enjoyed the first chestnut daifuku of the year, but after the "Boar's Day 亥の日" on the 11th, we are getting ready for the chestnut manju and the chestnut steamed yokan in December.
Don't miss out on our Boar Rice Cake which is only available until the 11th of November!
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Sweets in November and December
Sweet potato Mont Blanc
A soft and fluffy sponge baked with brown sugar and filled with purple sweet potato cream. The sweetened apples with a surprising sourness and a hint of cinnamon come out from inside, making this cake twice or thrice as delicious.
Chestnut Mont Blanc
This is a classic. However, the chestnuts are made from Japanese sweet chestnuts, so they are less sweet and more flavorful. The cake is made of fluffy white sponge and chestnut cream, decorated in white. This one is a little more mature and has a touch of sake. Please be careful.
Spiced Toffee Apple Cake
A spicy sponge filled with apple. And a generous amount of toffee on top.... Warm or cold... as you like.
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Inoko Mochi (Baby boar Mochi)
A rice cake in the shape of a baby boar, eaten on the first Boar's Day in November. The rice cake is made in the shape of a baby boar. The inside of the rice cake is filled with koshi-an (sweet red bean paste) and the rice cake is kneaded with tsubuan (sweet red bean paste) and covered with fragrant home-roasted yellow soybean flour. *It is made from soybeans.
Chestnuts Mochi
Yes, Daifuku mochi filled with chestnuts and smooth adzuki bean paste.
Satsuma Mochi
The month of December brings the Christmas spirit. Christmas is all about tangerines and cinnamon (IMO ^-^). When it comes to health, vitamin C and cinnamon just make sense, don't they? So, in December we will start making it!
Baked Chestnuts Cake
These buns are filled with chestnuts and baked in the oven. It is very popular with green tea and coffee. Contains eggs, dairy products and wheat flour. Contains gluten
Steamed Chestnuts cake
This yokan is steamed with a lot of chestnuts. *Contains wheat flour. Contains gluten
We also have Daifuku (sweet bean paste), Tsubukusa Daifuku and three kinds of Dorayaki.
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November Events
Please note that we will continue to be closed on Sundays and Mondays. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
We are planning to have a Christmas market on the last weekend of November.
If you would like to set up a stall and sell your goods, please contact us at info@an-an.co.uk. Please note that only Japan-related items will be allowed.
Also, from mid-November we will start taking pre-orders for our annual "Ohitori-nyu-teki-otte-obushi". We are still not sure how many ingredients we will have available, so please wait a little longer. Please note that from this year onwards, we will not be able to take care of the Ojyu.
