Amp up your sushi to the next level by crafting a beautiful sushi cake! Sushi cakes are an easy to make and fun twist on regular sushi rolls but with the same delicious flavour. Plus it’s something that you can have fun making and designing. It’s perfect for truly any occasion and is a great addition to any party food spread. Unleash your creativity and create something unique, tasty and picture-perfect!
What Is Sushi Cake?
Good question! Is it a cake that looks like sushi or a cake made of sushi? Well, I think there are both versions out there but this particular one is a cake made of sushi. Instead of rolling the sushi, it’s formed into the shape of a cake instead. This actually makes it easier because I know rolling sushi can be tricky sometimes.
Sushi cake also doesn’t use seaweed. Instead it uses a variety of typical sushi ingredients that you can adjust to compliment your own tastes and to make beautifully colourful cakes. This is what makes it really fun to make at home. You can get your kids and family and friends involved too so everyone can have fun decorating a new type of cake.
How to Decorate a Sushi Cake
Luckily, sushi cake (and sushi in general) is one of those foods where the fillings and toppings are versatile. The only essential you need is perfect sushi rice to form a strong base for your cake. The ingredients I chose to decorate my sushi cake were:
- tamagoyaki called “Kinshi Tamago” – fried egg which resembles gold (kin) threads (shi)
- smoked salmon (Shaped Rose)
- cucumber (ribbons)
- shiso
- kanikama (imitation crab meat)
- sakura denbu (sweetened cod flakes):
How to Prepare Each Ingredient To Decorate?
Kinshi Tamago
Crack an egg into a small mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt and 1tsp mirin and whisk with a small whisk. Then strain through a sieve and set it aside. Heat a frying pan with a tsp of oil. Once the frying pan is heated, remove the frying pan from the heat and leave it on a wet kitchen towel to even the heat distribution. Pour the egg into the frying pan and cook over low – medium heat. Turn the egg over and turn the heat off. Cut it into half and roll from the edge and cut thinly.
Smoked Salmon Rose
Use thinly sliced smoked salmon. It may be required to cut the smoked salmon to about an 0.8 inch (2cm) width strip. Roll from one end to make the rose shape. Open and squash the rolled smoked salmon to shape like a rose.
Sakura Denbu (pink cod flake)
Sakura Denbu
is the pink fluff in the middle. It is very finely flaked white fish (they use cod in Japan) and that is then coloured pink. You can buy this online or from Japanese supermarkets or you can make it yourself. To get it this fluffy and fine, you need to constantly sautee/stir fry the fish on low heat in a frying pan until it begins to break down and become fluffy. To get the pink colour I used beetroot juice but you can use food colouring if you want. Otherwise, you can choose another filling.
Suggestions For Other Decorative Ingredients
- prawns
- sashimi
- okra
- canned salmon/tuna
You might also like to add some pickled sushi ginger (gari) on the side as a palette cleanser.
What Equipment Do I Need?
Unlike ordinally rolled sushi, this sushi does not require a bamboo rolling sushi mat. Instead, you need a cake tin. The tin I used is a small spring form cake tin 5 inch ( 12cm ) in diameter. You can use any shape and size of forms. I found the spring form cake tin is easier to remove the cake from the form.
Tips To Make Sushi Cake?
For the presentation of the cake, when you place the ingredients of the mid-layer between the rice layers, make sure that you place enough coloured ingredients around the circumference of the tin so that the layer is beautifully visible from the outside when the cake is removed from the tin.
What To Serve Sushi Cake With?
It is quite carb-heavy, so it is good to have a light side dish such as soup and that’s what Japanese usually would have with it.
Other Sushi Recipes
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Sushi Cake お寿司のケーキ
Video
Ingredients
Sushi Rice
- 1 cup uncooked rice *1
- 220 ml water (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp + 2 tsp)
- 1 small strip of Kombu kelp
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
Kinshi Tamago
- 1 egg
- a pinch salt
- 1 tsp mirin
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
other decorative ingredients
- 1 slice of smoked salmon
- 1 cup sakura denbu *2
- 3 imitation crab meat
- 1 baby cucumber
- baby mitsuba for garnish
Instructions
Sushi Rice
- Cook the rice as per the instructions in the sushi rice recipe. *3
Kinshi Tamagao
- Beat egg with salt and mirin in a small mixing bowl.
- Sieve the egg mixture to make smooth textured Kinshi Tamago.
- Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. When it is heated, remove from heat and place it on a wet kitchen cloth to distribute the heat evenly.
- Place the frying pan back on the heat, and pour the egg in.
- Cook the egg one side and flip it back and turn the heat off to cook the other side with the residual heat.
- Put the fried egg on a chopping board and cut the egg in half.
- Stack the egg together and roll. Slice it from one end. Set it aside.
- Slice the cucumber and set aside.
Decorating Sushi Cake
- Place half the rice at the bottom of cling wrap lined small cake tin and evenly spread it out and press it down.
- Scatter the imitation crab meat and the sakura denbu over the rice. Make sure the sakura denbu is sprinkled around the edges well so that it will be visible from the outside.
- Place the rest of the rice, cover with the cling wrap and press it down all together.
- Remove the sushi from the tin and place it on a plate.
- Slice the cucumber lengthwise and place on the sushi cake.
- Cut the thinly sliced smoked salmon into a 0.8 inch (2cm) wide strip. Roll it from the end to shape like a rose.
- Place it on the sushi cake.
- Decorate the cake with the egg, and sprinkle more sakura denbu.
- Garnish with Mitsuba leaves and Serve!
Notes
Nutrition
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Amazing idea ! Thank you !
You are welcome 😀
This is a great one to take to work and share with colleagues. Better than sweet cakes and everybody like sushi!! Thanks Shihoko.
wow a sushi cake! i cant believe it so great!
thank you for your nice comment!