Japanese fruit sando
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Sandwiches
- 8 soft white sandwich bread slices, shokupan-style milk bread if you can get it, crusts left on for now rounded
- 400 g cold heavy cream rounded
- 40 g granulated sugar, 10 percent of the cream by weight, do not reduce it further rounded
- 5 ml dark rum or vanilla extract (optional) rounded
- 300 g strawberries, hulled rounded
- 2 kiwis, peeled rounded
- 1 navel orange, peeled, segmented, membranes removed rounded
Method
Method
- Whip the cream with the sugar and rum or vanilla to medium peaks: it holds its shape but the tip folds over softly when you lift the whisk. Do not take it further, or it turns grainy under the weight of the bread.
- Pat the strawberries, kiwi, and orange segments dry on paper towels. Wet fruit weeps into the bread and softens it.
- Lay out 4 bread slices. Spread a layer of cream edge to edge on each, about 5 mm thick.
- Decide the line you will cut each sandwich along, then lay the fruit across that line on the cream, cut sides facing up so the cross-section will show fruit, not skin. Pack a little extra cream into any gaps between pieces so the sandwich has no air pockets to collapse into.
- Top with the remaining 4 slices, cream-side down, and press down gently along the edges to seal.
- Wrap each sandwich tightly in plastic wrap, keeping the fruit’s orientation, and mark the wrap where you plan to cut. Stack the wrapped sandwiches between two plates or trays with something flat and heavy on top, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
- Unwrap and cut along the marked line with a long, clean knife, wiping the blade with a hot damp cloth between cuts. Trim the crusts off now, after cutting, so the bread holds together while you slice.
Notes
- The 10 percent sugar-to-cream ratio by weight is deliberate: enough to taste sweet against the fruit, firm enough to hold its shape once the sandwich is under weight.
- Avoid very juicy fruit such as watermelon or pineapple. They weep and turn the bread soggy well before serving time.
- Any soft white sandwich bread works, but a Japanese-style shokupan or a German Toastbrot with a tight, tender crumb slices more cleanly than a rustic or seeded loaf.
- Once cut, the sandwiches are best within a couple of hours. The fruit keeps releasing moisture the longer they sit.