Welcome to Sweets Kingdom: Cooking with Amano Ichigo

High everyone sorry its been a while since my first post but I had to get some of the ingredients to start this project of and that took some time since I'm on a limited budget. Well hears the deal I still don't have the materials to start with the pastries that come out in the anime so for the next few weeks I'll be posting some easier to handle sweets instead.
For this post I decided to some simple sugar cookies. These cookies are a little different than most in that they do not use any dairy products or eggs. I found this recipe on the web mostly because my niece was diagnosed as lactose-intolerant and also allergic to eggs. Which really sucks because she loves milk and all sorts of sweets especially cookies. So if you or someone you know suffers the same fate then this is a recipe for you.

Egg-less Cookies:

Ingredients:
-1/2 lb. Butter (you can substitute this with 1/2 lb shortening (I used Crisco))
-1/2 Cup Sugar
-1/2 to 1 Teaspoon Vanilla ( to taste)
-2 Cups Flour (sifted)
-1 Teaspoon Water (note that you may need more water so have some extra just in case)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F
2. Whip Butter (or shortening) and sugar on medium low speed until fluffy.
3. Fold in Vanilla
4. Add sifted Flour and Water to the Butter mixture. Mix until well blended.
5. Drop Batter by spoon fulls onto greased baking sheet. Or roll out cookie dough and use cookie cutters to create fun shapes if these are for kids ( that's what I did).
6. Bake for about 15 min or until light brown.

Well that's it for today next time I'll post up some pictures of the baking process as well as the finished product. Think I'll go with some practice Crepes in preparation for the first big project Mille-Crepe look forward to it.

Over some thought about my future I have decided to become a Pastry Chef and of course my mother is dead set against it. So to try to convince her of letting me follow this dream I have decided to make all of the Sweets that come out in the hit anime Yumeiro Patissiere. Now as you may or may not now there are quite a lot of Sweets in this show and my family is not to big on sweets so i'm thinking of taking it slow and planing to make the sweets over a year long period making only 1 or 2 per week. Now because some of the ingredients are hard to find and because I will have to order some special equipment to make certain sweets ie... Madeleine molds, couverture, rose water... ect; the order in witch I make the sweets may vary to the line up in anime but I will do what I can to complete all the sweets.

For those of you who do not of Yumeiro Patissiere here is a brief description of this amazing Anime:

One day Amano Ichigo a 14 year old girl with no redeeming qualities other than her appetite for sweets goes to see her young and talented sister perform in a contest which she wins. A bit jealous of the attention her parents give her younger sister and feeling bad because of her own lack of talent, Ichigo leaves the competition and stumbles onto a Sweets fest. After trying several of the cakes she finds that one of them is remarkably similar to one that her late grandmother used to make. Looking for the maker of the she comes across the cakes maker Henri Lucas a well renowned Chef and Teacher at the famous St.Marie Academy for Pastry Chefs. After having a small chat with him she finds out that the cake is similar to her grandmothers due to the fact that her grandmother and Henri-sensei were both thought at St. Marie. Henri-sensei then makes her his own new original cake for her and is impressed with Ichigo's outstanding palette when she is able to distinguish the theme with only one bite. Henri-sensei then asks Ichigo to consider attending the Japanese branch of St. Marie Academy; Ichigo agrees almost instantly.

After arriving at the school she faces nothing but trouble. Due to Henri-sensei's scouting she is placed in the top class in her grade and in the number one group which consists of 3 highly skilled and cute guys known to the whole school as the Sweets Princes; all despite her not knowing how to do anything. Needless to say she fails miserably and after getting scolded by one of the Sweets Princes, Kashino Makoto, she nearly quits then and there but deciding to give it another go; she goes back to the practice room and begins self training. it is then that a small fairy like creature known as a Sweet Spirit called Vanilla. With the help of Vanilla she manages to make the cake she originally messed up. With Vanilla along side her as well as the help of the Sweets Princes Ichigo improves by the day and eventually wins the Cake Grand Pre and wins the honor of studying in Paris at the main campus.

The Anime continues in season two Yumeiro Patissiere Professional. Two years after the Cake Grand Pre Ichigo returns to Japan to face an all new challenge how to crate and run a pastry shop.

Here are some picture of the anime and some short character picture refrences:

Amano Ichigo: Main Character, Klutzy and an air head is always smiling and arguing with Kashino although she falls in love with him latter in the series.

Season 1 Season 2

Kashino Makoto: Sweets Prince 1, Cold and easy to anger, is a genius with chocolate and is know as a Sadist. Although at the beginning he yells and puts Ichigo down, he later fall in love with Ichigo.

Season 1 Season 2

Andou Sennosuke: Sweets Prince 2: Kind and Gentle; He is the groups Japanese Sweets specialist and is Kashino's childhood friend. acts like a mediator when a fight happens in the group.

Season1 Season2

Hanabusa Satsuki: Sweets Prince 3, All I have to say is Narcissist although a bit unintentional he is kind to all girls and is obssesed with roses. He is the groups Candy Art Specialist