Best Japanese Summer Desserts

Anmitsu is a traditional Japanese dessert which includes kanten jelly, fruits, and anko (sweet azuki bean paste). "An" indicates anko, and mitsu means syrup in Japanese. Anmitsu is often topped with vanilla ice cream and is called cream anmitsu.

Shiratama dumplings are made from shiratamako (glutinous rice flour) and are chewy. Chilled shiratama dumplings served with sweet azuki beans makes a delicious cool dessert.

Coffee jelly isn't a traditional Japanese dessert but is very popular in Japan. It's an easy cool dessert to make.

Matcha (powdered green tea) adds great flavor and color to ice cream.

Kuzumochi are chewy cakes made of kuzuko which is the starch powder made from kuzu or kudzu plant root. Plain kuzumochi cakes are usually served with kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) and kinako (soy bean flour).

Yokan is a tradional Japanese sweet, which is made of azuki beans, agar agar, and sugar. Mizu-Yokan includes more water than other kinds of yokan. It makes a cool summertime dessert.

It's a recipe to make orange jelly using kanten (agar agar). This jelly is firmer than regular orange jelly. You can cut it into small pieces to serve.

No bake cheesecakes are called "rare cheese cake" in Japan. Rare cheesecakes are chilled and served with fresh fruits or fruit sauces.

This is Japanese shaved ice (kakigori). There are a variety of kakigori flavors, and a traditional kind is Uji- kintoki kakigori which is flavored with green tea syrup and anko (sweet azuki beans). Sweetened condensed milk is often poured over Ujikintoki kakigori.