The Lounge at Hoshino Resorts Karuizawa Hotel Bleston Court will be offering a dessert course inspired by Japanese sweets, "Dessert de Sakura," for nine weekends only, from April 5th to 21st, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Cherry blossoms, a symbol of spring in Japan, are beloved by the Japanese people and have been cherished as special flowers since ancient times, having been written about in waka poetry and depicted on folding screens and picture scrolls. Even in confectionery culture, they are familiar as spring Japanese sweets, as exemplified by sakura mochi (cherry blossom rice cakes).

This time, Dessert de Sakura, available only on weekends in April, is a special dessert course consisting of four dishes, using Japanese ingredients including cherry blossoms and strawberries, which are in season in spring, as well as sakura mochi (cherry blossom rice cakes), mitsumame (sweet bean paste), kudzu paste, and a new French pastry incorporating elements of monaka (a type of wafer cake).

The first item, "Sakuramochi Guimauve - Strawberry Sakura," is a dessert made with sakuramochi, a Japanese sweet that evokes the feeling of spring, and gimauve (a marshmallow-like pastry), a representative French pastry. The gimauve, made with plenty of strawberry puree, is wrapped in Oshima cherry leaves, making it a cute, bite-sized dessert that allows you to enjoy the sweetness of strawberries and the flavor of cherry blossoms at the same time.



The second item is "Mitsumame Parfait - Hanashigure." While typical mitsumame is a Japanese sweet made with cubed agar or red peas topped with sweet syrup, this "Hana Shigure" is a parfait made with three types of agar (strawberry puree, red currant, and yogurt), lemon jelly, and adzuki beans in syrup. Topped with strawberry sorbet and light, fluffy whipped cream, it is drizzled with rich strawberry juice instead of syrup. Enjoy the sweet strawberry flavor and aroma as you savor the richness of the taste and aroma with each bite.



The third dish is "Oborozuki Kudzu Blancmange." Blancmange, a French pastry made by solidifying almond milk with gelatin, has been adapted into a kudzu paste using kuzu (arrowroot) instead of gelatin. It has a chewy texture reminiscent of kudzu paste. The strawberries, lemon cream, shiso leaves, and lemon peel fluttering around it create a subtle haze around the moon (blancmange), reminiscent of a hazy, misty moon on a spring night.



The fourth and final dish of the course is the "Riot Monaka with Sakura Blooming." Instead of bean paste, the monaka is filled with strawberries and riot, a sweet rice simmered in milk. Riot, which is not very familiar in Japan, is a dessert similar to rice pudding that is widely enjoyed in France. At "Sakura Saku," cherry blossom liqueur is added to the riolat and cherry blossom-flavored custard cream is hidden inside for a spring-like finish. When eating, open the cherry blossom-shaped mochi to resemble a blooming cherry blossom, and enjoy the riolat, strawberries, and ice cream inside dipped in matcha sauce.



Spring arrives slowly in Karuizawa. In April, when the cherry blossoms begin to bloom, be sure to enjoy a spring-like dessert course and welcome the new season.