Children’s story book with honey buzz buzz cake recipe
(plus a general update at the end)
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Please note:
I am not going to be at the market on the 9TH & THE 30TH OF APRIL! I’m sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused to your plans… Sorry.
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Hello everyone!
I’m going to share with you today a cake recipe that is not mine, but from one of my family’s favourite & thumbed through Japanese children’s story book we have at home.
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If you’re a seasoned reader of this blog, you’d know that this is the second time that I’ve written about a recipe from a children’s book (read the first one here). I love collecting (good) recipe books to add to my huge library of anything baking related, & that obsession extends to the choice of books I buy for my children! Biased I know (!), but why not? ^^ I would love for my children to like baking as much as I do. And in fact, let me tell you, my son’s first ever cinema film was Pixar’s Ratatouille back in 2007, because I wanted food to be part of his milestone experience. Although… then again, maybe the truth was that we went because I myself simply couldn’t wait ’til it came out on DVD…? ;) Lol.
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The book title is “クマãã‚“ã®ã¯ã¡ã¿ã¤ã¶ã‚“ã¶ã‚“ケーゔ (Kuma-kun no hachimitsu buun buun keiki) which translates to something like “Boy bear’s honey buzz buzz cake”. It is published in 1994, & is written by Machiko Yagyu.
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The story is about a bear who wants to make the honey buzz buzz cake (what a great name!), so helps out at Mrs.Bee’s to get some honey for it. On return home, he meets a family of pigs & he invites them around for a cake party. Here, there is the highlight joke of the book, when the piglets can’t say part of the cake name “buun buun” (Japanese way of saying buzz buzz), & says “buu buu” (Japanese way of saying oink oink). If you’re a Japanese kid, it is the most hilarious bit I assure you.
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(the illustrated recipe page.)
(Boy bear with his bee & piggie friends have a tea party outside with pink tablecloth. – For my cake picture at the top of this post, I followed Boy bear’s choice with pink tablecloth! But I’d like to think I’m one up on him for the beehive-like hexagon design! )
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Boy bear’s honey buzz buzz cake is delightfully homesome. There is one caution though – as it bakes in the oven, the aroma of honey will waft tantalizingly, teasing us in to a drool monster by the time it is ready. And if you only knew how scrumptious it really is, it’s hard not to dig in as soon as it is out of the oven. Trust a honey-lovin’ bear to know a seriously good honey cake I say!
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Combined with the ease of the recipe, I have made this cake a number of times without fail, even with the children! – – Although, as you can see from the chaotic pictures below, at times there were too many hands wanting to do the same thing, & it does get messy… When baking with children, best to take a deep breath & not be too fussy I suppose, so long as they’ve washed their hands! – (I’m a hygiene freak!)
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About the science behind the recipe:
Honey has the ability to attract & hold moisture (hygroscopy). This makes the cake moist. Honey is also relatively acidic, & together with the sour cream which is also an acidic ingredient, it tenderizes the gluten formed in the batter.
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The bicarbonate of soda in the recipe reacts to the acidic ingredients & produces carbon dioxide gas which lifts the cake upwards as it tries to escape. During the time in the oven, the flour gluten structures ‘pillars’ that hold the cake in it’s risen height. A noteworthy point here though is that the bicarbonate of soda starts doing it’s magic at 80 degrees+ (wiki), so you’d think that you would have time to prepare leisurely, but as the recipe also calls for baking powder which reacts straight away from when in contact with moisture (the batter), you will be required to work quick once the BP is mixed in.
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You might have noticed that the oven temperature is set at 140 degrees compared to the usual 180. That’s because honey caramelizes at a lower temperature than sugar, & it browns more than baked cakes made with granular sugar. The lower oven temperature will prevent the cake from over-browning.
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For this cake recipe, I recommend using ‘clear’ honey with all-round taste, & NOT any of the more distinctive bold flavoured ones. I once tried baking this cake with eucalyptus honey, & it was not good. If this cake recipe works for you, perhaps next time play around with different honeys – the amount of fructose honey has is different in every one of them & subsequently the sweetness too will differ.
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One last point – don’t feed honey to children under the age of one – honey has high fructose content, & the botulinum spores in it may be hazardous.
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“Boy bear’s honey buzz buzz cake” Recipe:
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Ingredients:
- 140g of unsalted butter
- 140cc/ml of clear honey
- 140g of sour cream (or if not, double cream apparently, but I have to admit I never tried)
- 2 medium sized eggs
- 200g of plain flour
- 7g of baking powder
- 2g of bicarbonate of soda
- 25g plus of almond flakes
- Icing sugar to dust the top
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Prepare:
- an 8 inch (20cm) spring-form cake tin. Butter the sides & the bottom, then line it with baking paper.
- preheat the oven to 140 degrees.
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Method:
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- 1. Cube the unsalted butter & microwave until soft. (I recommend microwaving in 10 second increments & checking that you haven’t over-melted it. Here, ‘soft’ is when you can easily dip your finger in to it & it feels soft like mayonnaise.
- 2. Whisk the butter to incorporate air. Do it until the butter is lighter in colour.
- 3. Add 140cc of clear honey. Thoroughly mix it in.
- 4. Add 140 grams of sour cream (or double cream). Thoroughly mix it in.
- 5. Add 2 medium sized eggs. Thoroughly mix it in.
- 6. Sift the dry ingredients in. 200 grams of plain flour, 7 grams of baking powder & 2 grams of bicarbonate of soda.
- 7. Fold it in.
- 8. Pour the batter in to the cake tin & spread it out nicely.
- 9. Sprinkle 25 grams of flaked almonds.
- 10. Sieve icing sugar on top. Here, sieve more than you think it requires!)
- 11. Place in pre-heated oven of 140 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes, or until your cake-skewer comes out clean.
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A little update on how things are doing:
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Exactly a week after the Japan earthquake & tsunami, my daughter S turned three. That Sunday, we celebrated with a small party. The birthday cake was our family’s one & only option for birthdays, which is the genoise cake with cream & strawberry. It was put together very quickly on that Sunday morning, while chaotically tidying the house before the guests arrive. You could probably tell the stress on my face in the first picture on the left! Lol!
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Last week, there was a little incident when our son ‘I’ turned out to be a bit of a fundraiser himself. He handed out ten of the Japan charity badges to his class-mates without my knowing, & asked them to bring one pound each. He meant well I know, but asking for money from children is not good, so I emailed the parents to tell them what happened & tried to recover the badges. Nice thing about it was that most parents just donated money instead of returning, & so in the end, my son raised eleven pounds! – Upon this incident, I realized that our son is perhaps just as affected by the news of Japan as I am…, & wanted to help. Perhaps I ought to have been a bit more careful when watching the news on telly…
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There’s two bits of news:
One: all donations from the badge sales & from the donation box on my stall will go to THE RED CROSS from now on. They are doing such a fantastic job out there. Subsequently, I am now going to shut down the fundraising page I set up 3 weeks ago on First Giving for the Save The Children charity. May I take this final opportunity to thank once again to those of you who have donated! Thank you!! xoxo You are all very special people…! I love you!
The total fund raised is… (drum rolls please…!!)Â a whopping 3,699 dollars! Woohoo! Yay, baby!!!
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Two: As I wrote at the beginning of this post, I will not be at the market on the 9th & the 30th of April. The first one because I can’t get child-care, & the second date, because it is my 35th birthday!!! ^^ Also, it’s because the day before, the 29th is the Royal wedding, & my road is doing a street party & I’m not one to miss it! ^^
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Ahh Tamami~A very happy birthday! I just celebrated mine yesterday-April 3rd! I love the pics in this post and am going to make the cake soon as I have an abundance of honey from my bees!
Your son has great tattoos!
Love~Diane
Comment by Diane - April 4, 2011 9:54 pm
Thanks!!!! – And belated happy birthday to you too! Diane, do you keep bees?? If so, wow!! I heard/read that one bee collects only about 1 to 2 teaspoons in its lifetime! (I’m good with food trivia! Lol!!) And the transfer tattoos – it’s on his friends’ arms! ^^ xx
Comment by tamami - April 4, 2011 10:05 pm
a very happy birthday! the cake sounds wonderful. definitely will be baked this week. happy birthday to the 3yrold as well :) it’s kind of scary what impressions young children pick up without saying a word. a question: american cooks generally use large eggs in recipes to the extent that it requires a specific trip to the market to buy some! can i use one large egg instead?
Comment by petoskystone - April 4, 2011 10:54 pm
to buy medium eggs, that is…
Comment by petoskystone - April 4, 2011 10:55 pm
Thank you Petoskystone!!
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About the size of eggs, here is a comparison between a medium & a large:
(although please note that these are +/- figures!)
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A medium egg:
weight is 60g with shell
yolk is 20g
whites is 30g
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A large egg:
weight is 70g with shell
yolk is 20g
whites is 40g
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As you can see, if you use large, there will be more egg whites. In this recipe, it uses two eggs, so that means you’d have 20 grams more egg whites.
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Since baking is all about precision to the gram, I wouldn’t advise to use large, but then again, I haven’t tried this recipe using large eggs, so perhaps it might turn out alright for you afterall?? I guess it’s your choice at the end of the day! ^^
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ps: egg shells are always 10g & the egg yolks are always 20g…
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Happy baking!! xx
Comment by tamami - April 4, 2011 11:17 pm
Who can resist a cake with such a lovely name? Thanks for the recipe and for adding the details about the method, that’s always very appreciated.
Happy belated birthday to S.!
Comment by clotilde - April 5, 2011 10:37 am
Clotilde,
how *lovely* to hear from you!!! ^^
Yes, the name ‘does it’ doesn’t it? I’m a sucker for great cake names, although perhaps not to the extent of in the film The Waitress (2007)… Lol! Although it is fun! xx
Comment by tamami - April 5, 2011 10:46 am
I have not checked my computer in awhile and was happy to see the updates when I turned on this morning. Honey cake…what a lovely thought. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Also, congratulations on the success of your fundraising efforts! May I say that Japan has given the world an excellent example in how to handle ourselves in disasterous times. I hope we all learn from them…
Comment by heidy - April 5, 2011 2:01 pm
Heidy, thank you for your kind words – I must say, I never expected it to raise as much as that though! xx
It just goes to show how amazing & compassionate people around the world are in desperate situation! Y’know…, because of this, I’ve faith that, regardless of country, I think the people can handle disasters when faced with it, because there will always be a helping hand.
– I’m far from over with fundraising though – I’m participating in a school yard cake sale this friday for the Japan appeal, & the donation box on my stall table will be there for some time yet! xx
Comment by tamami - April 5, 2011 2:22 pm
hihi Tamami!
good to hear that the fundraising is still going strong!! (hope the book is also making progress too!)
happy belated birthday to S – the cake reminds me of a similar one my mum used to make for our b-days……urs looks way more elegant :)
Comment by little chan - April 5, 2011 9:24 pm
Hi again,
CONGRATULATIONS on raising so much for such a worthwhile cause, well done!
So, just a little update really, to let you know its my first trading day at our little Market tomorrow, it is nowhere near as big as the city markets, but a fair amount of people still turn out on Wednesdays and obviously a lot more visit on Saturdays.
I’ve literally been baking all day and my feet hurt, what have I gotten myself into!! hehe
It still doesn’t really seem alot though, and it’s been really hard to guess how much to cook, I don’t want to waste things, but I don’t want to run out either…hopefully it will get easier?
Thanks for recommending Reynards too, they’ve been great supplying all sorts for me.
Hope your book is coming along nicely by the way, it is much anticipated!
Take care
:)
Comment by Kay - April 5, 2011 9:33 pm
Hi Tamami
Made your lovely cake – came out so nice my boys had it for breakfast (and me too!)
Can’t wait for your cookbook to come out I’ll be the 1st one to buy it. All of your recipes always turn out so perfectly!
May I ask a cake question, my edges always brown more than the rest of the cake, is it my oven????
Also, any recommendations for the perfect birthday cake recipe for my son’s 7th birthday (29 April!)
Best wishes and happy birthday in case I forget!!!!
Comment by Ren - April 5, 2011 11:01 pm
Little chan,
ahh…, you’ve actually hit me on the spot…, the book writing is going very very very slow… I’m finding it hard at the moment…!! I need quality time to do it, not just here & there, because it requires so much thought… but family life + work is making it impossible at the moment…
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Kay,
oh how fantastic!!! Good luck with your stall tomorrow!! How very exciting!! Do update me on how it goes!! I remember that excitement & giddiness of starting up! hehe! I’ll be thinking of you tomorrow!
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Ren,
o.m.g! You’ve made this cake already!? Nice one! – About edges browning, it might be one of three things:
– your oven is not precise perhaps? (Mine isn’t!) Oven thermometer would be the solution.
– Have you pre-heated the oven prior?
– Perhaps take the cake out of the oven a lot earlier than what the recipe says. Ofcourse, do the skewer test first to see if the middle is baked through! I for example am a cautious type, & start checking doneness a lot earlier!
– – – As for birthday cake recommendation, how about a banana cake? Check out the following link, you can make that in a standard size tin too! (https://www.cocoandme.com/2008/02/01/childrens-birthday-cake-trains-with-banana-cake-recipe/)
Or what about a chocoalate cake with ganache filling studded with raspberries?
Comment by tamami - April 6, 2011 12:03 am
Lovely post again Tamami, your blog is the best!
The birthday genoise cake looks delicious AND elegant. Happy birthday in advance to you and a happy belated one to S.
Good to see you back with a bang.
PS – I had carefully noted down the Nontan cookie recipe -:)
Comment by Swati - April 6, 2011 7:46 am
Swati, ^^
thank you!! xxxx I’m back with a bang!! That made me smile! Warmest regards, Tamami xx
Comment by Tamami - April 6, 2011 10:26 am
egg yolks are always 20g. hmm….now i want to scout out some bantam chicken eggs & start measuring…..otherwise, i will get out the scale & measure out egg white.
Comment by petoskystone - April 6, 2011 2:03 pm
Hi Petoskystone, yup, that’s what I understand! But there’ll be a +/-, sorry… ‘always’ was perhaps an overstatement! ^^
Comment by Tamami - April 6, 2011 4:33 pm
As a bee keepers daughter, this post makes me so happy c: Honey always substitutes sugar in every recipe in our home. I’m going to try this on my next break.
Congratulations on the successful fundraising
Comment by Cece - April 9, 2011 5:27 am
Cece, I suppose you’d be baking with your parent’s homemade honey? Wow, that’s so special…!!! Envy…!!! x
Comment by tamami - April 10, 2011 11:26 am
Hello Tamami,
I’ve been reading your blog since the beginning and I assume it was time to say hi :) I love the way you write and the story you’re telling and I hope someday I will have the chance to visit you at the market before you quit!
Your recipes are such a success each time I make one, I’m very impatient to get your cookbook, I’m sure it’s going to be outstanding :)
(I work on a little -big- project myself, aka a little tea room with old sofas, books, cakes and vintage porcelain, so I totally get that feeling of things going very slow. But it’s so great when everything start to come real eventually!)
Good luck for your book writing!!
Comment by Anne-Laure - April 11, 2011 8:54 am
Dear Tatami,
Do u think I can substitute with maple syrup as I have a bottle of it sitting in the fridge. Thanks
Comment by Ange - April 11, 2011 9:18 am
Sorry that I got Ur name. Was too quick with my fingers.
By the way I am so looking forward to your book too :)
Love Ange
Comment by Ange - April 11, 2011 9:20 am
Anne-Laure, wow! hello~!!!! You’ve been reading from the beginning??! O.m.g!! That’s fantastic!! Thank you! Good luck with the tea room! It sounds amazing! – As for book writing, yes, it is sooooooooooo-ooooooooo slow in progress…
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Ange! thank you!!! And as for maple syrup, to be honest I don’t know, but my first reaction is probably not – without any reasearch in to this I can’t say for certain, but I presume the ‘sweetness’ is different?? Happy baking! x
Comment by tamami - April 11, 2011 10:55 am
Hi Tatami,
It was so good to meet you and finally taste your cakes last week at the market. Cakes were brilliant, I am just sorry I live in Cornwall and I can’t have them every week, the kids loved them as well and husband gave a big thumb up. Truly delicious and surprisingly light. My children have been proudly wearing their badges as well, congratulations for the good job at fundraising.
I am looking forward to visit you again,
Cristina
Comment by cristina - April 11, 2011 1:56 pm
ops Tamami, my apologies, I double checked your name from the comment above!
Cristina
Comment by cristina - April 11, 2011 1:58 pm
Hello Cristina! I’m sooo glad that you liked the cakes!;) Thank you very much for visiting the market – What did you think of the rest of the market? Was it what you expected? Perhaps on the smallerside?? I’d love to visit your B&B one day – it looks absolutely charming on your website!! Til then, take care!! x o x o
Comment by tamami - April 11, 2011 2:47 pm
Hey Tamami! I made this cake immediately after seeing the recipe (I adore honey cakes) and it came out beautifully. At first I was unsure because I seemed to be adding a LOT of honey, but it came out really delicious, and I think the soured cream really makes it nice and moist. Thanks again for yet another reliable baking recipe!
So glad to hear about your fundraising success, too. I had a friend in Miyagi (he’s fine) and felt so touched by all the efforts by everyone here in London to lend a hand. x
Comment by Charmaine - April 13, 2011 10:21 am
What a fantastic name for a cake! It looks beautiful, too – as does the book it came from. I’ll have to give it a try.
Comment by Gin and Crumpets - April 13, 2011 12:28 pm
Charmaine, I too was touched to see so many people fundraising & donating. – I noticed that you too have done a cake sale right? (I was scouring the net for cake ideas, & came across it!) Nice one, You!!!! ^^ x o x o
As for the honey cake, yes, it does seem to use a lot of honey but the end result isn’t too sweet right? Just perfect.
Take care hon, t xx
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Thank you Gin and Crumpets!!! As for the name, yes!! It really is fantastic isn’t it? I just love inventive names, like ‘The Nemesis’ for a chocolate cake for example! Happy Baking!! xx
Comment by tamami - April 13, 2011 1:02 pm
Tamami,
The market visit for us was a a fantastic experience. We liked the market stalls, the street food, the shops alongside the street, it was all very lively and cheerful! We went home with a lovely picnic style lunch of cheese, gorgeous salad, apples and apple juices, artisan breads and your cakes…what more could I ask?
I would love to meet your family if you come over to us one day. Here is truly even more beautiful than in the website pictures…but London always feels it is still my home! and a gorgeous city!
All the Best,
Cristina
Comment by cristina - April 19, 2011 8:16 am
Thanks Cristina!!! One day, I will visit you with my family!!! I really need a long holiday away right now… It’s all a bit too much at the moment. Yours will be my dream destination. xx
Comment by tamami - April 19, 2011 4:25 pm
Happy belated Birthday. Hope you had a smashing one! The honey cake looks really good, can’t wait to try it!
Comment by Alison - June 1, 2011 6:39 am
Alison, how lovely to hear from you!! xx :) I hear you’re back in Singapore…!!!!? Have a lovely fantastic exciting happy time there! t xx
:) :) :)
Comment by tamami - June 1, 2011 10:26 am
Dear Tamami,
I have been dreaming about your honey cake for quite some time now and have finally found an occassion to motivate me to do it.
That will be the picnic this week end, I am having with my extended family. :)
I am sure my boys will be happy helping out.
I hope you are getting on fine in writing your recipie book. I am waiting in anticipation. :)
Your Long Time Fan
Ange
Comment by Ange - June 10, 2011 7:18 am
Ange,
sorry for the late reply – I’ve been baking for Saturday!
I’m now at home, having a little break before putting the kids to bed.
I wonder if you’ve already baked by now? I hope you liked it!! Please enjoy the picnic if you haven’t already had it!
All the best,
Tamami xx
Comment by tamami - June 11, 2011 7:39 pm
Haha I did bake but the cake did not make it to the picnic :) It ended up in my boys’ tum tum instead (ok and mine too):p
I have to do it again with sour cream this time. My nearest grocery store ran of it so I had made it with plain yogurt instead. Taste wonderful too but not sure if it is different from the 1 with sour cream.
Btw, my boys 4 & 6 are addicted to your web site too and are Pastering me to make those pikachu cookies. But I m just so ‘lazy’ to do those stencils. I really salute you :)
Comment by Ange - June 12, 2011 5:23 pm
Ah! Yogurt!! That sounds good actually!! You’ve got me intrigued now… Lol! – I’m very happy to hear that your little children also like the blog!! Wow!! – Perhaps you could buy a stencil somewhere instead? I’ve seen a simpler design for ‘latte coffee art’… Or, I’ve also seen stencils in DIY shops & Art shops…
Comment by tamami - June 13, 2011 1:30 am
:) I only thought of your yogurt all thanks to you. When you said something about sour cream being acidic that tenderise the gluten :)
I will do it with the kids when the mood kick in. However I was wondering if you can share your blackforest Gateaux because I love Blackforest cakes :) but it is alright if you can’t.
So far I love all your recipes and by far I have made the brownies, the cheesecake, the banana cakes and of course the butter cookie tip you have given me. They all snap up really fast :)
I am really really looking forward to buying your cookbook :)
Comment by Ange - June 13, 2011 9:33 am
Hi Ange! W-O-W, you’ve tried so many of my recipes!!!? Nice one! Thank you very much!! This makes me smile!
: ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : )
About the Black Forest Gateaux, currently there’s not a written down recipe – sorry… But if you really want to try, try googling chocolate genoise, chantilly cream & chocolate cream recipes, & assemble them together! xx
Comment by Tamami - June 13, 2011 1:40 pm
[…] out Cocoandme blog for the “buzz buzz cake”, inspired by a story book by Machiko […]
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Comment by Tamami - October 3, 2011 9:01 am