• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Delicious Not Gorgeous logo
  • Coffee
  • Cantonese
  • Recipe Index
  • About
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Coffee
  • Cantonese
  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Toast

    Honey Toast Recipe

    Jun 7, 2020 · 3 Comments

    • Share
    • Tweet
    Jump to Recipe

    What is honey toast?

    I first had honey toast (also know as brick toast, given the shape, or Shibuya toast, since it originated from Shibuya, Japan) at Shokudo in Hawaii. I wasn't convinced at first- the name is unassuming, and I could squirt honey out of a plastic bear on a piece of toast at home for much cheaper than $9+. However, this isn't merely a slice of toast. It’s a box made of toast, filled with toast. Warm, crispy, honey-scented, buttery toast that softens slightly as the ice cream on top melts. 

    How to make honey toast

    The first step to make this honey toast is to get the right kind of bread; it should have sharp corners (not a rounded top like you might see in most grocery shops and bakeries), and not be sliced, like the shape in this shokupan. (You could make your own bread, although full transparency: I have never, and will likely never. I might be sheltering in place, but I’m prioritizing educating myself on how my prior notions and understanding of race weren’t nuanced, and what solutions could be better than our current police, than making my own shokupan). I can find unsliced loaves pretty reliably at Japanese grocery stores in the bakery sections, and occasionally at Chinese markets. 

    Could you use a rounded loaf of bread? Sure, the only difference is that one of the walls of the box will be rounded. Can you used a sliced loaf of bread? Sure; the toast won’t look quite the same as it would with one big block of toast, but it will still be delicious.

    Once you have the bread, you need to hollow out the inside. Set the bread on your cutting board so that the side touching the cutting board is shorter than the sides standing up. Make 4 vertical cuts parallel to the walls of the toast box, keeping a 1 inch border between your cut and the walls/bottom to make sure the box has structure; then gently pry/rip the loosened cube from the bottom, and you have your box! Cut the piece you removed from the box into cubes. The hardest part is over.

    Douse everything in honey butter, toast it til crispy, add toppings and serve!

    How do I make honey toast faster/easier?

    Maybe you’re thinking, it’s a Wednesday afternoon, I’m in need of a mid-day dessert NOW and I don’t care how pretty it looks. You could definitely smear some butter on a piece of soft white bread, drizzle with honey, toast it and top it. 

    What are good honey toast toppings?

    • Ice cream: my one non-negotiable. You could also make an argument for whipped cream, and I wouldn’t argue (that long).
    • Fruit: for juicy tartness. I’d use fresh fruit plain, or if you only have frozen or dried fruit, making a quick compote works (microwave the fruit with some water for a few minutes until the fruit is defrosted/rehydrated, then mash it)
    • Jam: you could thin out the jam with a little bit of water until it’s drizzleable, and use that instead of fruit or sauce!
    • Sauces: a little bit of chocolate or caramel, or even maple syrup! 
    • Cookies: pirouettes, Pocky, Oreos, or anything crunchy/crispy. These are more for aesthetic than adding needed crunch (since the toast is already crispy), though still fun to add

    How do you eat honey toast?

    Put your knives away; I can’t tell you how many times a group of friends and I circled a plate of honey toast with only forks and came out victorious.

    Is honey on toast good?

    YES. Honey drizzled on post-toasted bread is good, but when the honey gets toasted as well, it caramelizes and gets stickier (a good thing!). The bread is all crispy, buttery and sweet, and it gets a little soft from the melty ice cream. 

    1 year ago: Orange Granita | Jasmine Tea Ochazuke
    2 years ago: Roasted Tomato Crostini with Feta Dijon Spread | Tiramisu Layer Cake
    3 years ago: Beef Rice Bowls | Chocolate Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Buttercream
    4 years ago: Creamy Strawberry Avocado Yogurt Pops | Cherry Jasmine Waffles
    5 years ago: Rant Thursday #4 | West Coast Brownies
    6 years ago: Thomas Keller's Chocolate Chip Cookies | Chicken Dijon

    Close-up of all the fillings in this honey toast: ice cream, blueberries, cubed toast, matcha Pocky, cigar cookies and chocolate sauce. #honey #toast #icecream #dessert
    5 from 2 votes
    Put your tongue back in your mouth. Yep, it's a block of toast, buttered and honeyed, and then filled with ice cream, cookies and fruit. #honey #toast #icecream #dessert
    Print
    Honey Toast
    Prep Time
    15 mins
    Cook Time
    10 mins
    Total Time
    25 mins
     
    Think of the honeyed buttery toast that you love for breakfast, reimagined into dessert and topped with ice cream, cookies and fruit!
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American, Fusion, Japanese
    Keyword: egg-free, honey, ice cream, nut-free, toast, vegetarian
    Servings: 5 people
    Calories: 420 kcal
    Ingredients
    • 5" thick unsliced sandwich bread
    • 1/3 cup unsalted butter softened
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1/2 pint blueberries
    • 1/4 cup chocolate sauce
    • 3 scoops vanilla ice cream
    • cookies for decoration
    Instructions
    1. Set the bread on your cutting board so that the side touching the cutting board is shorter than the sides standing up. Make 4 vertical cuts parallel to the walls of the toast cube, keeping a 1 inch border between your cut and the wall to make sure the box has structure. Make sure that your cut stops 1 inch from the bottom of the toast as well, to make sure the bottom isn't too thin. Gently wiggle this cube out of the box (you may have to gently rip it from the bottom). Cut this cube into bite-sized cubes.

    2. Combine the butter, honey and vanilla until homogeneous. Spread on the insides of the toast box, and all the cubes.

    3. Bake the toast box and cubes at 350F for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. You can do this in your toaster oven if it's big enough (or a conventional oven if using a toaster oven isn't an option).

    4. Fill the toast box while still warm, layering in the toast cubes and fruit. Add the ice cream and cookies on top, and drizzle with more honey. Serve immediately.

    Recipe Notes

    I decorated this honey toast with blueberries, pirouette cookies and matcha Pocky, but feel free to use whatever you'd like!

    More Japanese Dessert Recipes

    The top of the custard mochi separates a bit, giving you a creamy top layer and a chewy, dense bottom layer. #buttermochi #custardmochi #mochi #hawaiian #dessert

    Butter Mochi

    This flaky Japanese pastry known as yaki manju can be filled with sweet red bean, lima bean, sweet potato, etc. #japanese #hawaiian #yakimanju #manju #redbean

    Yaki Manju

    « Milk Tea Ice Cream with Brown Sugar Boba
    Mango Pomelo Sago »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jane says

      June 10, 2020 at 4:10 am

      Never heard of this dish but it sounds GREAT! Any alternative for butter in your recipe. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
      • Heather says

        June 16, 2020 at 8:42 am

        i definitely recommend butter if possible (nothing else has a similar flavor!), but you could sub in coconut oil if you like the flavor of coconut, or a neutral oil if butter or coconut oil doesn't work for you.

        Reply
    2. Katerina says

      June 11, 2020 at 7:13 pm

      What an interesting and fun recipe! I love the presentation - stunning!5 stars

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Popular Recipes

    • Yogurt Soju
    • Loh Máih Chìh (Nuò Mǐ Cí)
    • Guava White Tea Lemonade
    • Spam Pasta
    • Mochi Tea
    • Guava Cheesecake
    • Mango Matcha
    • Oolong Milk Tea
    Picture of Chinese American woman in front of a blurred building
    Hi, I'm Heather!
    More about me →









    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2022 Delicious Not Gorgeous