The story of making Minazuki again on the day of Nagoshi no Harae.

"You should try making a brown sugar version next time."

That's what a friend who joined the company at the same time as me said when I told them about making Minazuki the other day.

Apparently, famous Japanese confectionery shops in department store basements sell plain, matcha, and brown sugar flavors.

Either way, I was planning to make Minazuki again for the |Nagoshi no Harae| (Summer Purification Ritual) on 6/30, so I decided to take on the brown sugar challenge.

Differences from last time

This time, I used the "Basic Minazuki" recipe from Tomizawa Shoten again. Since it only lists plain and matcha, I replaced the white sugar directly with brown sugar.

Since all the powders are mixed together at the start, I just kept adding them to the same bowl.

First, I measured the brown sugar, reset the scale while the bowl was still on it, added the arrowroot starch, measured it, reset it again—and so on.

For the process of wetting the mold, I used a spray bottle, referring to the custard arrowroot manju recipe. Also, I placed the mold on the steamer rack before pouring in the batter.

My impression up to this point was "Is the batter thinner than the one using white sugar...?". Could it be related to the fact that brown sugar has less sugar content by weight?

Steamed Minazuki

The steaming time was the same as last time. I let it cool to a certain extent before removing it from the mold, and it was significantly easier to peel the batter off. The spray bottle strategy was a huge success.

On the other hand, some loss of the batter occurred again this time. Since it's quite an old mold, I wonder if it's inevitably warped.

However, compared to last time, the loss itself has decreased. Judging by the smooth texture of the dough, it is safe to say that there has been a significant improvement.

Completion

This time, I cut them into smaller pieces than last time. Please forgive the slightly poor appearance, as the sweet beans were easier to detach than before (perhaps due to the dough?).

When eating just the dough, it is less sweet than the white sugar Minazuki, but it has the unique richness of brown sugar and pairs well with the sweet beans, so personally, I feel it is even more delicious than last time.

Since June has passed, the next time I will make Minazuki is in a year, but I plan to take on new confectionery challenges this month as well.

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