4 days ago
Are sweet sandwiches the trend of the summer?
Caryna Camerino of Dublin's Camerino Bakery joins Brendan O'Connor on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss the rising popularity of sweet sandwiches. Listen back above.
"We have the strawberry sandwich in our bakery and, I can tell you, it is divisive," says Caryna.
While some are eager to try the social media sensation, others are downright scandalised to see fruit filling.
Inspired by the Japanese sandwich that started the trend, having been reviewed on TikTok by locals and tourists alike, Caryna's sandwich is deceptively sweet.
"It's white bread without crust, but it's a Japanese milkbread called shokupan, so it looks like a sliced pan, but it's actually a bit more sturdy. If you squish it, it's a bit more spongy and a bit more sweet."
At the time of writing, the baker insists that she makes the cakey bread from scratch as she hasn't been able to source a supplier in Ireland.
"It's filled with a marscapone or a cream cheese folded together with stiffly whipped cream, and it's a little bit sweet, so maybe some honey.
"Then you have some fruit in the centre, and it's arranged in such a way that when you assemble it, you wrap it, and you mark the way that you've arranged your fruit like an architect so that when you slice it on the diagonal, your cut fruit is exposed so it looks like stained glass."
In Japan, these sandwiches have been around for years, and may contain mangoes, grapes, or any other assortment of fruit. In Ireland, though, strawberries were the obvious choice.
"I was really interested to try it here because our cream is the best, our cream cheese is the best, our strawberries right now are the best. To me, it made absolute sense to give it a go."
If you want to make your own sweet sambo at home, Caryna suggests trying a sweet brioche bun.
"The filling is double cream, stiffly whipped, and it's folded in with Irish cream cheese - that tends to be a bit softer than a French cream cheese, so it's perfect. Sweeten with some honey and arrange your strawberries in the centre."
