Desserts as delicate as spring cherry blossoms
Each spring in Japan, pastry lovers await the arrival of cherry blossom desserts in bakeries. Like the delicate cherry blossom themselves, the desserts are only available for a short time each year.
Through the end of May, you can buy them at Jiki, a patisserie and restaurant in Briarcliff Manor, where pink cherry blossom macarons are filled with buttercream mixed with house-made cherry jam and topped with salt-preserved cherry blossoms from Japan. They cost $2 apiece.
The patisserie, a light-filled space located in a small strip mall, also features French pastries like custard cream choux, apricot tarte, and Choco Passion, a chocolate-covered dome of chocolate mousse with passion fruit crème inside, atop a disc of almond sponge cake. The creamy orange wasabi mousse cake packs a subtle heat. Also available are lovely renditions of Western bakery staples like chocolate chip cookies and petite blueberry muffins.
Jiki owned by husband-and-wife team Masaaki Yamaguchi and Minyoung Cho Yamaguchi. Masaaki quietly mans the sushi counter while the jovial Minyoung wears at least three hats — hostess-waitress, cashier, and gifted pastry chef. Minyoung left her native Korea as a teenager to attend pastry school in Tokyo, and was previously a pastry chef at Tribeca’s Takahachi Bakery.
Since Minyoung knows the recipe, Jiki’s big miso cookie, studded with almond slivers, is identical to the almond-miso cookie from Takahachi, which the Village Voice ranked one of their top ten cookies in the city (along with Bouchon Bakery’s Nutter Butter and Momofuku Milk Bar’s corn cookie). The miso takes the place of salt in the cookie dough, giving the sweet cookie an addictive tanginess.
Her cellophane bags of cookies called “stones” are a take on the classic snowball cookie — the green ones resemble moss-covered smooth rocks, and are flavored with matcha powder, used for making green tea. Macarons flavors include vanilla, chocolate, and green tea.
The savory side of Jiki is worth a trip, too — standouts include steaming bowls of udon, pristinely fresh sushi, and entrees like the miso-marinated salmon saikyo yaki, served with rice and miso soup.
Seating is limited but eating at Jiki is a pleasure. Minyoung is solicitous without being obtrusive, and graciously offers little samples — a taste of Japanese potato salad or a plate of “crunch” squares, made with crushed toasted sweet crepes, white chocolate and dried raspberries.
If you dine at Jiki during cherry blossom season, be sure to end your meal with sakura tea, made with pickled cherry blossoms. The dried blossoms are placed into a cup of hot water, and the petals gracefully unfurl. This special tea is served at Japanese weddings, in part because sakura, like spring, symbolizes hopeful beginnings.
Jiki’s cherry blossom macarons are available until the end of May, but call ahead, as limited quantities are made each day.
Dessert Recipes with Bill & Sheila
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