Japanese Fruit Sandwich (Fruit Sando) フルーツサンド

Brighten your day with Japanese Fruit Sandwich! Colorful fruit sando have juicy fresh seasonal fruit and dreamy whipped cream tucked inside fluffy Japanese milk bread. Learn how to make this sweet and creamy showstopper for your snack or breakfast!

With Japanese milk bread stuffed with fresh fruit and whipped cream, you might think these bright and colorful sandwiches called Japanese fruit sandwich or fruit sando (フルーツサンド) are slightly outlandish. But once you give it a try, you’ll know instantly why fruit sando is so popular in Japan. You may even wonder why you have never thought of this combo yourself!

What is Japanese Fruit Sandwich (Fruit Sando)?

Simply put, it’s a sandwich filled with fresh fruit and whipped cream between two slices of Japanese milk bread known as shokupan. You can find them all over Japan at fruit-themed cafes (fruit parlor in Japanese), basement food halls of department stores, and convenience stores (konbini).

While the fluffy and pillowy shokupan bread is delicious on its own, the colorful fruit filling steals the show. Strawberries, oranges, kiwis, mangos, and blueberries make the centerpiece of the sandwich. Smooth and dreamy whipped cream binds it all together.

Just like you’d imagine, every bite bursts with juicy sweetness. It’s refreshing and light, like sunshine in sandwich form!

The Origins of Fruit Sando

There are two theories on how fruit sandwich originated in Japan. One is that it started in Kyoto around the early 1920s since there are a lot of cafes there specializing in fruit sandwich. The other theory is that it was created by Tokyo’s Senbikiya (千疋屋), which is the very first store that started a fruit parlor in Japan in 1868.

Either way, the pairing of fruit and soft white bread does not surprise me. Anyone who has tasted fresh fruit in Japan knows that they are extremely flavorful, so sweet and juicy, that they sometimes taste like candy. So, I can see why somebody decided to use fresh fruit as a sweet filling with dreamy shokupan as the pastry or cake element!

Ingredients You’ll Need for Fruit Sando

• strawberries
• kiwi
• navel oranges
• shokupan (Japanese milk bread) slices – fluffy white sandwich bread that’s the thickness of a square loaf cut into 8 slices
• heavy (whipping) cream
• sugar – about 10% of the heavy cream by weight
• rum – optional

How To Make Fruit Sando

Here’s a brief overview; see my recipe card for step-by-step instructions with photos.

1. Core/slice and dry the fruit.
2. Make the whipped cream. Whisk the heavy whipping cream in bowl with a mixer on low speed. Add the sugar and rum. Whisk on medium-high speed to medium peaks for a spreadable texture.
3. Assemble the sando. Spread whipped cream on each slice of bread. Line up the fruit on one slice along the center diagonal for an attractive cross section when sliced. Add whipped cream to fill the gaps. Add the top slice.
4. Wrap with plastic wrap and compress between plates. Refrigerate and keep chilled until ready to cut and serve.
5. Slice the sandwich in half with a clean knife. Cut off the crusts. Serve immediately.

5 Tips for Making Fruit Sando

To make a beautiful fruit sandwich, consider these tips:

1. Plan the orientation of the fruit for a pleasing cross-section when you slice the sando.
2. Use the same-size fruits and arrange them in a nice line.
3. Wrap the sandwich tightly with plastic wrap to secure it.
4. Weigh down the sandwich with plates and refrigerate it before you cut it.
5. Clean your knife after each cut so the whipped cream doesn’t smear.

A Worthy Sandwich for Any Occasion

With the bounty of berries and fresh fruit available in the spring and summer, you’ll want to make fruit sando over and over again. Try a strawberry sando or mixed fruit sando for breakfast, afternoon snack, picnics, or dessert. They’d be a hit at a children’s birthday party or bridal shower, too!

Fruit and Whipped Cream Recipes

If you love fruits and whipped cream combination, you may also enjoy these recipes:

• Fruit Parfait 
• Japanese Strawberry Shortcake
• Homemade Crepes

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Japanese Fruit Sandwich

4.76 from 110 votes

Brighten your day with Japanese Fruit Sandwich! These fun and colorful Fruit Sando have fresh whipped cream with strawberries, oranges, and kiwis tucked between slices of pillowy Japanese milk bread. Bursting with juicy fresh fruit, they're a perfect breakfast or snack.

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Prep Time: 1 hour hr

Cook Time: 0 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr

Servings: 4 (as a snack)

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 12 strawberries
• ▢ 2 kiwis
• ▢ 1 navel orange
• ▢ 4 slices shokupan (Japanese milk bread) (the same thickness as those from a square shokupan loaf cut into 8 slices)

For the Whipped Cream

• ▢ 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
• ▢ 5 tsp sugar (10% of heavy cream by weight)
• ▢ 1 tsp rum (optional)

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

Before You Start…

• Please note that this recipe includes a chilling time of at least one hour or up to overnight.
• Gather all the ingredients.
  

To Prepare the Fruit

• Use a small (paring) knife to remove the core of 12 strawberries.
  
• Use the knife to cut off both ends of 2 kiwis and peel the skin.
  
• Use a knife to cut off both ends of 1 navel orange. Peel the orange by hand and separate the orange segments. Using your fingers, carefully peel back and remove the membrane from the sides of each segment (leave the membrane on the outer edge in place). Continue with all the orange segments. Tip: Using your fingers to segment the slices keeps the pulp is intact and minimizes the juice.
  
• Set the prepared fruit on a tray or plate. Using a paper towel, pat the fruit dry to remove any excess moisture.
  

To Make the Whipped Cream

• Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl about half full with iced water. Then, set a medium bowl on top of the iced water in the larger bowl. Make sure the medium bowl is clean and dry. Next, add 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream to the medium bowl and whisk on low speed using an electric hand mixer.
  
• Once bubbly, add 5 tsp sugar and 1 tsp rum (optional) and whisk on medium-high speed.
  
• The cream will thicken as you whisk.
  
• When you lift the whisk out of the cream and it shows peaks, remove the bowl from the ice bath and switch to a hand whisk. Whisk until you achieve the right consistency and check as you go. Aim for medium peaks where the cream holds its shape when you lift the whisk, but the peak’s tip folds back on itself. The cream should be spreadable but not runny because it goes between the sandwich bread.
  

To Assemble the Sando

• Line up 4 slices shokupan (Japanese milk bread) on your work surface. Next, add a dollop of whipped cream to each bread slice and spread it evenly. Reserve some whipped cream for later to fill in the gaps after you add the fruit. Tip: I prefer to keep the crust on the bread until the end. When you put your fruit between the two slices of the bread, the crust helps the sandwiches keep their shape.
  
• Add the fruit next, placing it on only one slice of bread per sandwich. Think carefully how you want the cross section to look when you cut your sando in half, and align some of the fruit attractively along the cut line. I plan to cut the sandwiches diagonally into triangles, so I lined up my strawberries along the center diagonal to show their lengthwise cross section once sliced. For the kiwis and oranges, I chose a crosswise cross section. Tip: To keep track of your cut line, I recommend that you take a photo of your fruit's alignment and don‘t change the orientation of your sandwiches when you move them.
  
• Add more whipped cream to fill in any gaps between the fruit. You don‘t have to use all the whipped cream. Tip: If you have leftover whipped cream, you can dip fruit in it or make Fruit Parfait.
  
• For each sandwich, put the top slice of sandwich bread on the fruit with the whipped cream side down.
  
• Prepare sheets of plastic wrap large enough to encase each sandwich. Wrap each sandwich tightly on all four sides. Remember, don’t change the orientation of the sandwiches as you wrap them.
  
• With a marker pen, draw a line on the plastic wrap of each sandwich to mark your cut line with the attractive cross section.
  
• Put the sandwiches between plates to gently compress them. Refrigerate them for at least one hour (and up to overnight). In Japan, putting weight on a sandwich prior to cutting them in half is a standard method.
  

To Slice

• Remove the sandwiches from the refrigerator. Unwrap one sandwich and slice it in half along the marked cut line with a clean knife. Keep the sandwich halves closed (don’t open it up to show cross section yet). Clean the knife with a hot wet towel and repeat with the other sandwich.
  
• Gently hold down each sandwich and cut off the crusts, cleaning the knife with a hot wet towel between cuts. Tip: Don‘t throw away the crusts; repurpose them to make Shokupan Crust Rusks. These crunchy, buttery snacks are so delicious! You can make them now or freeze those crust strips to make them later.
  
• Now, you can reveal the cross section for the first time!
  

To Serve

• Serve immediately. If you plan to transfer the sandwich, make sure to keep it chilled all times.
  

To Store

• It‘s best to enjoy Fruit Sando as soon as possible after you cut it. You could keep it in the refrigerator overnight BEFORE cutting it in half.

Nutrition

Calories: 347 kcal · Carbohydrates: 33 g · Protein: 5 g · Fat: 23 g · Saturated Fat: 14 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 82 mg · Sodium: 147 mg · Potassium: 329 mg · Fiber: 4 g · Sugar: 15 g · Vitamin A: 1005 IU · Vitamin C: 84 mg · Calcium: 140 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: fruit, sandwich

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