Dorayaki
Two honey-sweetened pancakes sandwiching a layer of sweet red bean paste — Doraemon's favourite food and a Japanese confectionery staple since the 1910s. The batter is closer to castella cake than to a breakfast pancake.
Photograph credit: Dorayaki 004 by Ocdp · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia
Honey and mirin in the batter are hygroscopic, meaning they hold water in the crumb, which is why dorayaki stay soft for days where an ordinary pancake goes stale in hours. Resting the batter for half an hour hydrates the flour and lets the bubbles even out, giving that characteristic freckle-free bronze surface.
Questions About Dorayaki
How long does Dorayaki take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 30 minutes of resting, so allow 1 hour 10 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Photograph credit: An-dorayaki roll by Syced · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia
The Method for Dorayaki
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Whisk the eggs and sugar for 3 minutes until pale and thickened, then whisk in the honey and mirin.
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Sift over the flour and baking powder and fold in until just smooth. Rest the batter, covered, for 30 minutes.
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Loosen with the water a tablespoon at a time until the batter falls from the whisk in a thick, unbroken ribbon.
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Heat a non-stick frying pan over low-medium heat. Oil it with a paper towel, then wipe it almost dry — visible oil gives a mottled surface.
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Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter from a height into the centre so it spreads into an even 8 cm circle. Do not spread it with the spoon.
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Cook 2 minutes until bubbles appear across the surface and the edges look dry, then flip and cook 45 seconds more.
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Stack the finished pancakes under a damp cloth so they stay pliable. You should have about 16.
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Mound a heaped tablespoon of bean paste in the centre of a pancake, dome it slightly, and press a second pancake on top, sealing the edges together with your fingers.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Tips That Matter
- Wipe the pan almost dry between pancakes. The even golden-brown face is the point of dorayaki.
- Shop-bought anko is what most Japanese households use and is very good; look for tsubuan if you want visible bean texture.
- Wrap each one in cling film as you make it — it keeps them soft and stops the edges drying out.
Pairs Well With
Green tea, specifically sencha or hojicha · A scoop of matcha ice cream alongside · Black coffee
Leftovers and Storage
Keeps 3 days at room temperature wrapped individually, and freezes for 1 month. They are arguably better on day two.
Dorayaki Nutrition
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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