There are so many kinds of Japanese sweets, but we shouldn't forget Kyoto is the centre of sweets for tea ceremony. Most of sweets for tea ceremony are made from beans & sugar. So even vegetarians can eat them without any problems.
I went to Oimatsu in Arashiyama area to attend a sweets-making class. You need to apply it in advance to have a private class. (3 people or more is required to hold a class.) Oimatsu (Sorry, but only in Japanese) is one of the prestigious sweets shops in Kyoto with nearly 100-year history. It's main shop is near Kitano Tanmangu Shrine, but only their Arashiyama shop holds the sweets class.
When we arrived at the class, all the materials and tools were already prepared. Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos while I was making sweets because it's like making ceramics and I could touch nothing but the bean paste.
But hey!! They look OK, don't they?
The brown ones are leaves... hope you agree with it.
The green ones are Camellia japonica.
These ones are models made by an instructor.
She showed us how to make them in front of us, so even I, the Queen of Clumsiness, could make them!
(＞▽＜)b
After making sweets following the instructor's examples, you can do freely.
Our instructor made them in front of us on a whim ∑o(*'o'*)o
And here's my work!
A Christmas Tree~~~♪
The colours of materials, green, yellow & pink, gave inspiration to me(*'-'*) You can have one of the sweets with green tea (Maccha) there after the class.
