Sunday, June 3, 2012

Japanese Birthday Cake

We celebrate our birthdays for the month, not just the day, of our births.  The older we get, the more we realize that no one is guaranteed another year, so we make the most of the year we are in.

Ted’s birthday is later this month, so we are already into the celebrating.  In the US, I would bake a chocolate cake (with the help of Betty Crocker in the box) for Ted’s birthday.  Betty Crocker in the box isn’t sold in the grocery stores here, probably because homes don’t have big Betty Crocker type ovens here.  Ted likes chocolate best, but he also likes cheesecake.  I bought what I think is a cheesecake box mix and if I can figure out the directions, I’ll make it.

I can’t read the box, but on the front, I do see a refrigerator, so I’m assuming this is no bake. The little circle with the milk carton must mean you add milk. The “30” followed by the dancing skirt kanji means 30 minutes. The last box says dekiagari (in hiragana), which means completion. I’m guessing the 15 cm and 1 is about the size pie pan and maybe the number of bowls you will dirty making the mix.



Next to the picture of the pie plate with aluminum foil it says: hajimeni (kanji kanji) shimasu.  Hajime means to start, so I guess you need to start by lining the plate with foil.



I think the 1-2-3-4 part is how to actually make the cheese cake. I’ve made these kind of box mixes before and you usually have to add butter to the graham cracker crust. Number 1 says 7.5 cc and 1 minute (the dancing skirt kanji).  I don’t know why some of the directions are in red, some in blue and the rest in black.  I see nagara at the beginning of the third line, which means at the same time.  At the end of number one, in red, it says kudasai, so it must be important to be polite when mixing the crust.

I think number 2 is something about 100cc of milk and mixing for 2 minutes.

Number 3 says 30 minutes, so that is probably how long it needs to be in the refrigerator.

I don’t know about number 4, except that it says kudasai in black and in red.  Maybe it says please, please eat every bit of the cheese cake.



It's not easy being illiterate!

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