Name: Dorayaki with coffee cream and tahini chocolate sauce
Ingredients: 120g plain flour; ¾ tsp baking powder; 80g caster sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 tbsp runny honey; 2 tbsp mirin (or water); 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp sunflower oil; 90g tahini; 60ml runny honey; 1½ tsp soy sauce; 1½ tbsp cocoa powder; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; 150ml fridge-cold double cream; 2 tbsp runny honey; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 tsp instant coffee granules

Dorayaki with coffee cream and tahini chocolate sauce

Cake Dessert

Makes 5

Prep 15 min

Cook 35 min

Dorayaki (also known as mikasa) is a sweet Japanese pancake usually filled with red bean paste or a mix of red bean paste and cream. Here, we use coffee cream, and have added a dipping sauce, too. If you’d like to get ahead, make the pancakes the day before, wrap them up tightly in kitchen wrap and store in the fridge. However you make them, though, assemble only just before eating.

Ingredients

FOR THE BATTER
120g	plain flour
¾ tsp	baking powder
80g	caster sugar
2	large eggs
1 tbsp	runny honey
2 tbsp	mirin (or water)
1 tsp	vanilla bean paste, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp	sunflower oil
TAHINI CHOCOLATE SAUCE
90g	tahini
60ml	runny honey
1½ tsp	soy sauce
1½ tbsp	cocoa powder
1 tsp	vanilla bean paste
COFFEE CREAM
150ml	fridge-cold double cream
2 tbsp	runny honey
1 tsp	vanilla bean paste, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp	instant coffee granules

Method

First make the batter. Put the flour, baking powder and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, honey, mirin and vanilla, and whisk until smooth, thick and glossy. Cover with a plate and set aside for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the tahini chocolate sauce in a small bowl, add three tablespoons of water and mix smooth. The sauce will thicken as it sits, so add a splash more water later, if need be; it needs to be pourable.
Set up your dorayaki station: put the sunflower oil in a small bowl, and have to hand a pastry brush and a cooling rack.
Put a large, nonstick frying pan (or large crepe pan) on a medium-low heat and brush very lightly with the oil. Don’t be tempted to turn up the heat – you don’t want the pancakes to colour too quickly. Blot any excess oil off the surface of the pan, because any large droplets will prevent the dorayaki’s signature smooth top from forming. Using an ice-cream scoop (if you have one; otherwise, use a tablespoon), weigh out 40g batter, drop it into the hot pan and leave to cook for three minutes, until the sides have set and small bubbles start to appear. Flip over the dorayaki with a spatula, cook for a minute more on the other side, until lightly golden, then transfer to the cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining batter, and cook two or three at a time once you’re more confident; you should end up with 10 in total. Leave the dorayaki on the rack to cool for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the coffee cream in a medium bowl and whisk to soft peaks.
To assemble, spoon 30g coffee cream on to a dorayaki, leaving a 5mm border all around the edge, then lay a second dorayaki on top, to sandwich them together. Repeat with the remaining dorayaki and cream, so you have five dorayaki cream sandwiches, then arrange on a platter and serve with the bowl of tahini chocolate sauce alongside, for dipping.