Japanese desserts are popular for their mouth-watering taste and nutritious value. Japanese sweets are known as wagashi, which includes numerous categories, such as Yōkan and Kanten (jellies), Namagashi (seasonal cakes), Higashi (dried, hard-packed sweets) and Manjū (filled, steamed dough items such as daifuku). Some of the common ingredients used for making wagashi are azuki (red beans), rice flour, and sugar. They rarely use milk and butter in wagashi. Anko is a typical ingredient used to make the Japanese desserts, and it is used as a filling for dorayaki (pancakes with anko filling), manjū (steamed cake), etc. A nice combination of sweeteners, spices, and an array of beautiful colors is used to make Japanese desserts. ◆ Sweet potatoes, 2 ◆ Honey, 1½ tbsp. ◆ Oil, for frying ◆ Black sesame seeds, 1 tsp. ◆ Clean sweet potatoes with water. ◆ Cut them into bite-sized chunks, keeping the skin on. Clean the chunks again and wipe off excess water. ◆ Carefully, deep-fry the potatoes in a skillet over a low heat, until they turn slightly golden. ◆ Mix fried sweet potatoes with honey in a bowl. ◆ Sprinkle black sesame in the potatoes and serve it hot or cold. ◆ Milk, 2 tbsp. ◆ White chocolate, 8 oz. (finely-chopped) ◆ Heavy cream, ¼ cup ◆ Green tea powder, 3-4 tbsp. (for coating) ◆ Put finely chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl. ◆ Put 2 tsp. of green tea powder in a small bowl. Warm the milk in microwave oven and pour it over the green tea powder. ◆ Place the heavy cream in a small pan and heat it over a medium heat. Don't allow the cream to boil. ◆ Add it into the milk and green tea powder mixture. ◆ Pour it over the white chocolate and stir it well until the chocolate melts. Cool this chocolate mixture for about one hour at room temperature. ◆ Scoop the chocolate mixture into about 1½ inch balls and place them on an aluminum foil. Keep them in the refrigerator for about an hour for cooling. ◆ Coat the chocolate balls with green tea powder. Cool these balls until they become firm. ◆ Egg white, 1 (whipped) ◆ White flour, 2 cups ◆ Sugar, 4 tsp. ◆ Water, 1 cup ◆ Vegetable oil, as required ◆ Prepare a mixture of flour and sugar in a bowl and add water to make a batter. Then, add the egg white and stir well. ◆ Add some vegetable oil in a heated nonstick frying pan. ◆ Drop 2 tablespoons of batter in the pan and allow it to spread by itself. Wait till tiny bubbles appear in the pancake. ◆ When the bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake, flip it and fry the uncooked side for about 30 seconds. Then remove it. ◆ Make pancakes from all the batter. Mash the azuki beans and mix with sugar to form a thick sweet paste. ◆ Spread this paste on the pancake and place a topping of another pancake over it. ◆ Dorayaki should be served at room temperature. ◆ Eggs, 1 (whipped) ◆ Baking powder, 1 tsp. ◆ Evaporated milk, ½ cup ◆ All-purpose flour, 1 cup ◆ Salt, ⅛ tsp. ◆ Peanut oil or vegetable oil, 6 cups ◆ Light brown sugar, ⅓ cup ◆ Ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ◆ Sugar, ¼ cup (optional) ◆ Japanese bean paste, ⅓ cup (chunky or smooth) ◆ Mix egg and milk in a small bowl. ◆ Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. ◆ Add the 'milk and egg' mixture to the flour mixture and stir, until it blends well. ◆ Next, add bean paste. ◆ In a shallow pan, heat the oil to 350°F. ◆ Drop a tablespoonful of batter into the heated oil. Fry the fritters for about 3-5 minutes, until they turn to brown. ◆ Cut open one fritter and roll the hot fritters in sugar. ◆ You can also serve them plain. Woosh! These desserts are surely mouth-watering to even talk about. Here's wishing you all the best. Hope they turn out well!