3 Japanese Christmas Desserts to Try

While Christmas isn’t considered a national holiday in many East Asian countries, the festive season is often still celebrated with plenty of tasty treats.

We take a look at some of the best Christmas dessert dishes enjoyed in Japan.

Christmas Wagashi

Wagashi is the umbrella term for traditional Japanese sweets made using ingredients such as red bean paste, mochi, or agar jelly.

Typically, it comes in cute and intricate shapes, and these can change with the season, meaning that festive themed Wagashi are not uncommon around Christmas time.

Festive shapes often seen with Wagashi include Christmas trees, snowmen, reindeer and Santa. While the outside is festive, the flavours within will remain traditional.

Yuzu

Between November and January is peak time for yuzu, the Japanese citrus. The fruit is used to flavour an incredible assortment of sweet treats, including tea, cakes and yokan (a traditional jelly cake).

Some Japanese people take this one step further, making mini yuzu-shaped cake bites and flavouring more delicate desserts like macaroons and puff pastries.

Japanese Christmas Cake

While European Christmas cakes, as you’d find in England, are available in most supermarkets, one of the more popular Christmas cakes in Japan is the strawberry sponge cake. The cake is also known as Kurisumasu Keki.

Possibly due to its red and white colouring, these strawberry cakes have become a very popular dessert eaten on Christmas Eve in Japan. The cake is made using round layers of white fluffy sponge covered in whipped cream, with strawberries between each layer and on the top.

To make your own version, check out our easy Japanese Christmas cake recipe.

Want to enjoy more sweet treats this season? See our full selection of Japanese sweets and confectionary.