The viral fruit sandwich originates in Japan, where fresh fruit is surrounded by stiff whipped cream, sandwiched in between slices of crustless milk bread, chilled and sliced on the diagonal. Think tea sandwich-meets-Victoria sponge. I’ve embraced the concept and used it to highlight Irish ingredients to make this sandwich. It’s the perfect recipe to brighten any Irish summer day.
Ingredients:
4 slices of shokupan (Japanese milk bread, available at Asia Market) or fluffy brioche, crusts removed
200g Irish cream cheese
15g Irish honey
200g double cream
10 strawberries, tops cut off
You will also need:
Cling film
Sharpie
Very sharp knife
Tea towel
Directions:
Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and set aside until it comes to room temperature (about 1 hour).
Mix the honey into the cream cheese.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff (this should take about 4-5 minutes with an electric mixer)
Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture. This is your filling.
Lay out the slices of bread.
Divide the filling between all 4 slices of bread and spread to make the surfaces even.
Now to plan: You will eventually be assembling the sandwiches and spicing on a diagonal, to reveal the lovely centre cuts of strawberries. Think about this as you choose the placement of your strawberries.
Place the strawberries on the cream of 2 slices of bread. Close the sandwiches by placing the other slices of bread, cream-side down, on top.
Wrap the sandwiches in cling film firmly. Note the diagonal line where you intend to cut my marking the cling film with a Sharpie.
Chill for 1-2 hours (or even overnight).
Unwrap the sandwiches.
To get nice clean cuts, wrap your knife in a hot, wet tea towel for 30 seconds before each slice. Clean the knife in between each cut.
Enjoy straight away (a must!) with a glass of bubbles (a suggestion!).
