Photos by Shoji Kudaka ()
Browsing through your Instagram feed this year may have inundated you with a variety of creative food posts ranging from breads and pastries with life-like interpretations of cherished TV or videogame characters like Pikachu or Mario.
In the land of kawaii culture where anime characters and cute designs never stop finding new canvases to pop up on, it’s no surprise that “toast art” is now one of them.
Just like Japan’s Kyaraben (decorative bento) took social media by storm, colorful designs and characters recreated on toasted bread are now drawing attention, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic is moving more to cook at home. Staying at home to cook more also means people are finding new ways to change up their daily meals.
While some draw simple cartoon characters and designs, others recreate artistic works such as Japanese Ukiyo-e or cover art of Vogue magazine.
Recipes for toast art vary a great deal as well. On one hand, there are simple ways such as cutting aluminum foils in the shape of characters and patterns to put them on bread before toasting, advanced ones require you to cut vegetables in specific shapes or draw characters with fruit jam, whipped cream, peanut cream, etc.
If you are not confident of your drawing skills with food but still want to replicate your favorite characters on your slice of bread, an easy way is to make a stencil using pasteboard or plastic sheet, just like I did for a Mickey Mouse. Once the mold is ready, all you have to do is just trace it with coconut powder, cinnamon sugar, etc.
Let’s get creative and become a toast Picasso, too!
Materials needed:
Printed design
Paste board or thin plastic sheet (you can find these at the 100-yen store or even use a sheet protector)
Toast
Butter
Cocoa powder, cinnamon, matcha powder, or any sweet powder you want to decorate your toast with.
Toast Art
Draw or print out the character you want on a piece of paper.
Put the drawing over a paste board or a plastic sheet.
Cut out outlines and facial features using scissors or a paper cutter. (Have an adult do this for you).
Toast the bread and smear butter on it.
Place the stencil over the toast, then sprinkle generously with cocoa powder.
For my design, I also added a dollop of strawberry jam for my characters mouth.
Carefully remove the stencil.
Bon appetite! Get your picture for the ‘Gram, then enjoy!
