Plenty of regions have specialty dishes that have become associated with the food scene both for locals and visitors. If you head to Hawaii, you can’t leave without trying a spam musubi. Spending time in Spain? Paella should definitely be on your must-try list. If you’re in Japan, a fruit sandwich is a popular sweet treat that you can find everywhere from posh boutiques and cafes to the local convenience store.
These sweet sandwiches are delicious and fun. You can enjoy one as a snack or a light breakfast or lunch. While they’re almost everywhere in Japan, outside of that country, you may have to look in specialty stores and bakeries to track one down. Fortunately, they are pretty simple to assemble in your own kitchen.
Part of the appeal of fruit sandwiches is the intricate design element. When sliced across the sandwich, the presentation becomes more like art than just food. What began as a simple way to make the most of expensive ingredients like fruit is transformed into a style all its own. When you make your own at home, this is a great way to exercise your own creativity.
Learn everything there is to know about tasty and unique fruit sandos, which might just become your new favorite snack. With sweet whipped cream and fresh fruit, it’s almost like having dessert in a sandwich on the go.
What are fruit sandwiches?
A fruit sandwich is exactly what it sounds like. This treat includes different types of fruit sandwiched between bread with whipped cream in place of condiments like mayo or mustard. The whipped cream also plays more of a role and completely surrounds the fruit and keeps it in place. Put sliced strawberries and whipped cream between two slices of super soft bread for a classic version, but you can also dress things up with different combinations of fruit.
These sweet snacks are also known as “fruit sando” for short. You’ll see them mostly in Tokyo, Japan but the fun and photo-worthy snack is getting more international attention as well. Fruit sandwiches are just one of the Japanese sandwiches that you should know about but definitely one of the sweetest. While others may use similarly light bread, they tend to favor savory ingredients like pork tonkatsu, teriyaki chicken, or egg salad. But the fruit sando is unique in its sweeter, dessert-inspired flavor.
If this sweet combination of ingredients doesn’t sound good enough, consider that they are often intentionally put together to create fun designs. These aren’t a standard savory sandwich with cold cuts, cheese, condiments, and tons of toppings. Instead, fruit sandwiches are refreshing and light. They’re often served as a snack or a part of a buffet spread.
The history of fruit sandwiches
Fruit sandwiches (and fruit in general) were a luxury item in Japan, where they were sold starting around the 1920s. Fruit was very expensive, so merchants looked for ways to incorporate it without having to spend a ton of money on gourmet ingredients. The result was the fruit sando, which included sliced pieces of fruit and smaller bites so that every mouthful had part of fresh flavor without having to include a lot of expensive fruit. The whipped cream kept everything together and light, fluffy sandwich bread provided a stable base for the handheld snack.
Over the years, this popular item got its own place in the culinary scene in Japan. The sandwiches still include smaller pieces of fruit, but now they are artfully arranged to create designs when sliced. Some varieties of fruit can still be expensive but are generally more accessible and available than in years past. Luxury fruit in Japan has its own following as well as higher prices. If you want to experience a unique fruit-buying experience, go by a luxury fruit parlor. If you just want to enjoy a tasty (and cost effective) fruit sando, look elsewhere or make your own.
Fruit sando varieties
Strawberry fruit sandwiches are popular, but you’ll also see kiwi, pineapple, and oranges. In the early days of the fruit sando, a lot of the fruit used depended on what each shop owner could get. Some customers were constantly surprised with the daily offerings. Many shop owners still use seasonal fruits both to keep costs down and to provide a fun variety.
Now, strawberry is considered a classic fruit sando and widely available. A trio of strawberry, kiwi, and orange is also popular for the both splashes of color and full flavor. But you can find just about any variety and dream up your own combinations if you make these treats at home.
Other tropical fruits are often incorporated to add both flavor and color. They are arranged inside the sandwich to create designs. Of course, you can get as creative as you want with the varieties that you use. If you have access to fresh fruit, that’s a great option. But canned peaches or mandarin oranges can also be used in a pinch. Just be sure to drain them since the last thing that you want is a soggy sandwich.
The best bread for fruit sandwiches
Japanese white milk bread, also called shokupan, is ideal for fruit sandwiches. Bread didn’t get a place in Japanese cooking until World War II, but once the slightly sweet bread was developed, it became a staple. It has a distinct square shape that makes it ideal for building sandwiches or toasting for breakfast. If you make your own at home, you may have to trip the top and sides off to get a perfectly square shape. If you’re getting a fruit sando at a store, bakery, or restaurant, the chef has almost always taken care of this step already.
The fluffy texture pairs perfectly with whipped cream. It keeps the sandwich very light overall. Shokupan has a milky flavor thanks the dry milk powder, plus a little bit of sugar and honey to give it a sweeter taste than other types of bread. It is pretty easy to whip up at home and you can use it for other types of sandwiches as well. It may not hold up to really heavy and savory options, like pulled pork sandwiches, but it’s perfect for a fruit sando. Of course, you can use standard white bread for fruit sandwiches, but it won’t have the same texture and airiness that makes the snack so distinct.
If you’re worried about making an entire loaf only for one sandwich, don’t be concerned. This sweet and airy bread is perfect for other dishes, like french toast, as well.
Where to get fruit sandwiches
You can find fruit sandwiches in many stores and cafes in Japan, specifically Tokyo. Started as more casual street fair meant to be taken away and eaten as a snack, today there are fruit sandos everywhere from upscale dining restaurants to bakeries and cafes. Fruit parlors boast some of the best fruits and fruit-centric desserts in Japan, with high-end price tags to match. But if you want the best of the best, head to one of these traditional shops to browse.
You don’t need to look for a super fancy and gourmet shop to get a good fruit sando. In fact, many of the simplest grocers make their own delicious options. Even supermarkets and convenience stores stock fantastic options. If you want to go with an iconic fruit sando hot spot, go by Sembikiya Nihombashi in Tokyo, which has a fruit parlor, a cafe, and a larger restaurant. You can also go by 7-Eleven or other convenience stores to keep things simple.
Fruit sando are a bit harder to track down in other countries. If you’re in a major city in the U.S., look for a Japanese restaurant or bakery. Some of the best Japanese restaurants in New York City have traditional dishes, but not all cities have such a diverse culinary scene as the Big Apple. Depending on what’s available in your city, you may find that making your own is the fastest and easiest way to get your hands on this treat.
Slicing fruit sandwiches
Part of the appeal of the fruit sandwich is its impressive presentation. While other sandwiches like a classic American peanut butter and jelly are more about the ratio of ingredients to get the perfect sandwich, a great fruit sando also takes the look into account. Many bakeries and Japanese fruit parlors create intricate designs that can only be fully appreciated once the sandwich is sliced.
Originally, fruit sandos were sliced into rectangles but now they’re usually sliced diagonally into triangles. This helps better show off the fruit inside. You can arrange the fruit, in both large and small pieces, to take advantage of the cross section. This is generally where the design comes in. You can achieve similarly spectacular results where you slice your sandwich into triangles or rectangles, but you should plan ahead to make sure that you arrange the fruit in the way that you want for the final presentation.
Use a sharp knife when slicing so that you get a clean cut. If the knife is too dull, it will pull at the fruit and create a bit of a mess. The taste will still work, but since a big part of what people love about fruit sandos is the look, making sure it slices well is key.
If you’re making them at home, you can slice the sandwich however you want. The most common thing is to cut off the crust so that the bread is super fluffy and light.
Artful fruit sandwiches
Earlier versions of the fruit sando had small slices of fruit to make sure that each bite included a little taste. This was to take advantage of every morsel of the pricey but delectable star ingredient: the fruit. Now, larger pieces are often used to create designs, which you can see when the sandwich is sliced.
Strawberry fruit sandos tend to have two or three larger strawberries with whipped cream. You can place them with the bottoms pointed toward the center so that you get a circular cross-section of the fruit or end-over-end for a heart-like shape. These will often be listed on the menu as an “ichigo sando.”
Flowers are another popular design and the arrangements can get quite intricate. Strawberries, grapes, and larger pieces of fruit form the petals, while slices of kiwi are used to make stems and leaves. This is a fun way to incorporate multiple types of fruit, which also changes the flavor of the sandwich. Some designs are more abstract and incorporate fruits of many colors for visual interest.
How to make a fruit sandwich
If you’re not near a Japanese bakery and can’t swing a trip to Tokyo, don’t worry. You can make a fruit sando easily at home, even without specialty ingredients. While Japanese milk bread is the traditional choice, any soft white bread will work. For the most authentic fruit sando, try making your own shokupan. It’s also helpful to check at your local bakery to see if they make it or have something similar. Brioche is a good substitute that brings in a similarly sweet taste. Other than the bread, you’ll need butter or condensed milk, whipped cream, and fruit.
Once you have all of your ingredients, start by prepping your bread with a thin layer of butter or condensed milk on the inside. This keeps the whipped cream from soaking into the bread too much. Spread a thick layer of whipped cream on the buttered side and place fruit on top. Add the other half of bread, also spread with whipped cream, to complete the sandwich. You can make your own whipped cream or use the store-bought variety. The key is to put a pretty thick layer so that the fruit stays just where you want.
Experiment with different fruit combinations. As you assemble your own fruit sando, you’ll get a better idea of how to arrange the fruit to get particular designs. If you’re more interested in flavor than design, just put your favorite fruits in any order to get a tasty snack.
Chill before slicing
One important step that you need to take if you’re making your own fruit sando from scratch is to chill the assembled sandwich. After you put the whipped cream and fruit in the middle, it will still be pretty soft. This helps the fruit become fully enveloped in the sweet cream, but it also makes it a bit harder to eat. The cold temperature of the refrigerator helps the whipped cream become more solid, solving this problem. Chilling your tools before making whipped cream is another helpful trick to get the best results.
Wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. This important step helps the whipped cream get a little firmer, which keeps it from getting distorted when you slice. If you’re serving your sandwich on a buffet where it will be out for awhile, you may want to put it on ice to ensure that it stays pretty and appetizing the entire time.
Cutting off the crust
The perfect crusty bread may work for a lot of sandwiches, but a fruit sando is more delicate than your average snack or lunch option. So going sans crust is typical to keep the pillowy milk bread front and center along with the whipped cream and fruit interior.
Cutting the crust off of your bread before assembling the sandwich can also give it a cleaner look. Because this sandwich is about visual appeal as well as taste, this optional step is often done. If you get a fruit sando from a bakery, cafe, or store, it will likely be crust-free and wrapped to preserve freshness. Some use plastic containers to protect the delicate treat.
Japanese milk bread, which is used to make fruit sando, is pretty light and even the crust has a mild, slightly sweet flavor. It is also very fluffy, adding to the overall texture of the sandwich.
When you’re making your own fruit sando, you can do whatever works for your needs, of course. Leaving the crust on can help create an easier handhold. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles to find what works best. After all, the fruit sando was invented as a creative solution to show off tasty fruits in the first place.
A sandwich spread
Fruit sandos are perfect for brunch, lunch, or other get togethers. They are great for a no-cook brunch since all you have to do is assemble and slice the sandwiches. Plus, they’re even better when made in advance and given plenty of time to chill in the fridge.
Make a variety of types so that guests have choices and so that they can marvel at your impressive sandwich skills. You can keep these abstract or create an edible “garden” with flower designs made entirely of fruit. They are best served chilled to keep the whipped cream from melting.
Some cafes in Japan serve a sandwich trio, which includes a sweet fruit sando alongside a ham and veggie variety and an egg sandwich. You can replicate the same thing at your own gatherings as well. Keep the general shapes and sizes the same to provide some unity to the presentation. You can also use pillowy Japanese milk bread with other types of sandwiches, creating another common element to the sandwich spread.
It’s best to assemble them ahead of time, since the whipped cream needs time to chill. Fruit sandos don’t do well on a DIY buffet where guests assemble their own sandwiches.
