Japanese Fruit Sando Is an Indispensable Thing in Summer
Fruit seasons are short. Strawberries are out for a few weeks, then shelves fill with cherries, followed by ripe nectarines and peaches. Forty-five seconds later they were all gone and we were left with the apples (again). In order to cram as much summer fruit into my tummy as possible, it is helpful to have a few new drugs at my disposal. Pies and cobblers are good, but this fruity dessert allows you to cool without time in the oven. Great at any time of the year, but especially in summer, you should make yourself a Japanese fruit sandwich.
Japanese fruit sando, also called “fruit sandwich”, is deliciously easy to make, requires few ingredients, and makes any fruit or fruit you fill it stand out with. It’s like a sandwich version of a strawberry or fruit shortcake, except “cake” is a not-so-sweet slice of bread. All you need is peeled fruit, soft bread and sweetened whipped cream.
I started with a small piece of plastic wrap laid out on a plate. This is to wrap the sandwich after it’s filled, but you can use an alternative wrap (I like Bee’s Wrap) or just put it in a container with a lid. Lay out a slice of soft bread. You can use sliced white bread, potato bread, challah, milk bread, or sliced buns like I did.
Spread about half of the whipped cream on a slice of bread. Don’t worry about perfect angle matching. Add fruits. The beauty of the fruit sandwich lies in its presentation, so consider where you will cut it in half and line up the fruit along that imaginary line. Cover the fruit with the rest of the whipped cream, being careful to spread it between and around the pieces of fruit. I hit the plate hard on the counter a couple of times to get the whipped cream down. Place the second slice on top and lightly press down on the sandwich to make good contact.
Making fruit sandwiches all summer long requires the right equipment:
- Environmentally Friendly Food Wrap: Bee’s Wrap Reusable Food Wrap
- Save your forearms with the whipped cream helper: the Hamilton Beach Electric Hand Mixer.
- Serrated knife for perfect cuts: Victorinox Serrated Bread Knife
Clean the edges of the raised whipped cream. In the end, we will remove the crust, so this cream is superfluous. (We call it a snack.) Wrap the sandwich in cling film (or place it in a container) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but ideally three to four hours. This time will allow the bread to absorb some of the moisture from the cream, making the bread softer and the cream thicker. This is important for subsequent cutting and overall texture. If you miss this waiting time, your sando will fall apart or turn into mush when you try to eat it.
After the sandwich has rested, cut off the crusts. It gives the dessert a nice finish, but it’s completely unnecessary otherwise, and I respect crust lovers who keep it going. Gently nudge the sandwich to find where you put the fruit and cut through it for a nice cross section. This is easy to do with strawberries, but if you filled your sandwich with smaller, softer fruits, you may have to find them first. I cut with a serrated knife. The sawing movement and the shape of the blade prevent the bread from pinching.
The bread is soft but not soggy and slightly sweet. The cream is fluffy and firm, like a cool ice cream, and very rich. Just when you think it’s too much whipped cream, you’re relieved by the tangy, bright fruit. Make it simple with strawberries or mix it with different fruit combinations like tangerine, banana, melon and/or kiwi halves. Enjoy your fruit sando hot bitter espresso.
Japanese fruit sandwich
Ingredients:
- 4 oz heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 strawberries (or other ripe fruit, peeled or peeled)
- 2 slices of soft bread (milk bread, challah or buns)
Whip cream with sugar until peaks of medium firmness. Stir in vanilla extract. Spread half of the whipped cream on one slice of bread. Decorate with fruit on top. Spread the remaining whipped cream between the fruit pieces and on top. Top with another slice of bread and press lightly. Wrap the sandwich in cling film and refrigerate for three to four hours.
Cut off the crusts and cut the sandwich in half, remembering to cut through the fruit so that the decorative pattern is visible. Enjoy a cool dessert or snack on a hot summer day.