[For Seniors] April Snack Activity: Ideas to Enjoy Spring with Homemade Sweets

matcha cake

Matcha Cake in a Rice Cooker: Just add the ingredients and press start! Incredibly fluffy.

May is when tea leaf picking is in full swing.

How about making a matcha cake as a tea-themed snack activity? Believe it or not, this recipe can be made in a rice cooker! The key is to use pancake mix, which makes snacks easy to prepare.

Simply mix pancake mix, milk, eggs, and matcha powder, pour the batter into the rice cooker, and cook on the cake mode.

If your rice cooker doesn’t have a cake mode, use the regular white rice setting.

The striking look when you take it out of the rice cooker is fun too, so older adults are sure to enjoy it!

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miyabi

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tricolor dango

Perfect for cherry-blossom viewing ♡ Sanshoku Dango [Wagashi] [Japanese Sweets Recipe] [Japanese sweets]

Also known as hanami dango and cherished as a good-luck confection, three-colored dango are a spring-themed classic.

Let’s include this staple treat in your April snack activity.

First, add water to a mixture of joshinko (non-glutinous rice flour) and granulated sugar.

Heat it in the microwave, then mix well.

Next, divide the dough into three equal portions, brush with temitsu (a syrup made by heating sugar and water), and cut each into four pieces.

Add food coloring, steam in a steamer, then skewer the pieces on bamboo sticks.

Add cherry blossoms or leaves, and you’ll have a sweet that captures the cheerful feel of spring.

Try making these wagashi that are perfect for sharing stories—like the origin of three-colored dango—and reminiscing about spring.

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mutō

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Cream soda to be eaten slowly

Oyachube! 'Yukkuri Taberu Cream Soda' (Oyachube! 'Cream Soda to Eat Slowly')

Melon cream soda with a scoop of vanilla ice cream floating on melon soda—it’s a beloved menu item for kids and adults alike.

Still, some people may feel they have to rush because the ice cream melts too quickly.

This version is perfect for those people: it uses ice cream that’s slow to melt.

Mix ice cream base with milk and freeze it.

Combine melon shaved-ice syrup with carbonated water and a thickening powder, then stir gently until it thickens; pour it into a glass to finish.

Even with the thickener, you can still enjoy the fizzy sensation, making it a safe option for older adults with reduced swallowing function.

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moko

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Sakura Sablé

How to Make Sakura Sablé: Crispy Texture! A super easy sablé with just a few ingredients♪ I’ll share tips for a perfectly crisp finish☆ Great as a gift too♪ -How to make Sakura Sablé- [Cooking Expert Yukari]

Sablés are Western-style cookies with a crisp texture and rich buttery aroma that spread in your mouth.

Here’s a recipe for sakura sablés—adding a spring-inspired twist to classic sablés.

By making a sweet that’s perfect for cherry blossom season, you can help older adults feel the changing of the seasons.

First, soak salted cherry blossoms in water to remove the salt.

Next, mix warmed butter with granulated sugar, then add egg yolk and the chopped salted cherry blossoms.

Then add a mixture of almond flour and cake flour, and shape the dough into logs.

Chill in the refrigerator, sprinkle the chilled dough with granulated sugar, slice into rounds, arrange them on a baking sheet, top each with a salted cherry blossom, and bake until done.

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mutō

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Strawberry Mille-Feuille

[No Oven!] Easy Strawberry Millefeuille with Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets 🍓 Perfect for Valentine’s Day, White Day, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Christmas, and Mother’s Day 🌷 | Strawberry Millefeuille

When it comes to spring fruits, strawberries are definitely one of them.

These days you can even find them at supermarkets in winter, but strawberries are said to be at their best from April to June.

Here’s a recipe for a strawberry mille-feuille made with delicious strawberries in May.

Mille-feuille usually uses puff pastry, but we’ll cook it in a frying pan instead of using a toaster oven or oven.

For older adults who enjoy kitchen work, frying-pan cooking can be a lot of fun.

Layer cream and strawberries between the baked pastry.

Chill until set, slice, and enjoy.

Its store-bought cake appearance and delicious taste are sure to please older adults as well.

Sakuramochi Making

[For the Spring Higan, Sakura Mochi] The world’s easiest sakura mochi made with a rice cooker

Let’s try making sakuramochi, an essential treat for the Peach Festival.

When you think of sakuramochi, you picture a gentle pink wagashi, right? Color glutinous rice with food coloring and cook it; once it’s done, knead it and shape it into balls.

Wrap sweet red bean paste with the glutinous rice, place desalted cherry blossoms or leaves on top, and it’s ready.

Using a rice cooker instead of a steamer makes it simple.

There’s also a type of sakuramochi made by wrapping red bean paste in a pink wheat-flour crepe.

This is called Chomeiji sakuramochi, and it also seems like something enjoyable to make together with seniors.

Enjoy a lovely time with delicious, fun-to-make sakuramochi.

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Nakajima Junko

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Snack activity: apple pie

[Quick and Twirly] A Cute Little Apple Pie 🍎 #apple #puffpastry #easyrecipe #easydessert #shorts

These rose-shaped apple pies are perfect to make as a snack activity.

Prepare apples, puff pastry sheets, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice, and let’s get started.

Sprinkle thinly sliced apples with sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon, then microwave for 4 minutes.

When using a knife, make sure you have a stable work surface.

Cut the puff pastry sheet into four strips, lay the apple slices along each strip, then roll from the bottom and shape the petals into a rose.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and they’re ready! It’s a perfect snack activity for Mother’s Day—enjoy!

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mayumi

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