Embracing Love Day : A New Kind of Celebration

What is Embracing Love Day ?

This winter, we had a small party at home

You could call it a “Christmas party,” to be honest Lol

But for me, it wasn’t so much about the religious meaning.

(In Japan,
I don’t think many families celebrate it with deep religious intentions anyway.)

What I really wanted to focus on was

enjoying the season and making my child happy.
(I believe most people feel the same way.)

For our family, Embracing Love Day is a new kind of celebration—

one that goes beyond the traditional idea of Christmas.

It’s something I personally came up with, thinking:
“Could there be a way for families to celebrate together
while being mindful of different religions—purely and respectfully?”

That’s how this new, family-only special day was born.

If you’re interested in how this idea came together,

I explain the full background in another blog post.

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Now, let’s get to the party

On the table, we had

A tree made of cream puffs
A Hexenhaus made of sweets
Beef stew (leftovers that had been resting in the freezer, haha)
Chicken (store-bought, but still great)
Mashed potatoes with cheese
Cake (from Châteraisé)

On days like this, biting straight into a big piece of chicken

is something we only do on special occasions—

and it was absolutely delicious

目次/TOC(Please scroll down for the English text.)

Making a Cream Puff Tree
My Thoughts After Making a Hexenhaus
1. What I used
Hexenhaus? Gingerbread House?
1. What’s the Difference in Names?
Our Family’s Way of Enjoying a “Winter Event”
Summary

Making a Cream Puff Tree

This time, I really wanted to make a Hexenhaus,

but I thought it might feel a little lonely on its own—

so I decided to make a cream puff tree as well

What I prepared

Since it’s basically just stacking store-bought cream puffs

after coating them with chocolate,

there aren’t many complicated steps involved.

Key points

I wanted to create a “snowy” look,
so I prepared two types of chocolate: matcha chocolate and white chocolate
Make sure the base is stable
Lightly attach each piece using cream or melted chocolate
When melting the chocolate, I used the microwave
and heated it in 30-second intervals, adjusting carefully

I used mini roll cakes as the base.

Then I filled in the surrounding area one piece at a time.

The structure

1st layer: roll cake
2nd layer: 16 cream puffs (green)
3rd layer: 8 cream puffs (white)
4th layer: 4 cream puffs (green)
5th layer: 1 cream puff (white)

It doesn’t have to be perfect—

just stacking them up instantly creates a festive, celebratory feeling.

My child honestly didn’t have the patience to do both the Hexenhaus
and the cream puff tree,
so I ended up handling this part myself.

That said,

I think it’s still something you can enjoy making together with kids,

and that’s part of the fun

My Thoughts After Making a Hexenhaus

The main attraction this time was the Hexenhaus.

A Hexenhaus is a small house made by assembling cookies and biscuits.

I used a recipe from Morinaga’s official website as a reference.

Translation by weblio ver.

While making it, I kept thinking:

“Will this actually stand?”

“Oh no—it’s falling over!”

I was nervous the whole time,

but surprisingly, it worked out in the end.

Even if things were a little crooked,

I felt that it added to the charm of a handmade creation.

What I used

Choice biscuits … 10 pieces (1 box)
DARS Milk chocolate … 1 box
Koeda Milk chocolate … 6 packs (1 box)
White DARS … 1 box
Alfort Strawberry (I wanted a pink door)

You don’t have to use these exact items.

If you want to add your own originality,

something like coconut biscuits would work too.

If you’re making this with younger children,

it might be a good idea to let them help only with the final decorations.

Personally, I wanted to create a “snow-covered” look,

so I wish I had bought a bit more white chocolate.

I also realized that I shouldn’t have held back on the

pink decorating pen—

one more would have been perfect.

A few regrets… but that’s part of the fun (laughs).

After sprinkling colorful sugar decorations

and working together,

the house was finally complete!

Hexenhaus? Gingerbread House?

What’s the Difference in Names?

Here’s a little fun trivia.

In Japan, this sweet house is often called a “Hexenhaus.”

But overseas,

it’s much more commonly known as a “Gingerbread House.”

So what’s the difference?

Hexenhaus (German)
→ Comes from the Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel
→ Literally means “the witch’s house”
→ A name rooted in storytelling and fantasy
Gingerbread House
→ Comes from the name of the baked good “gingerbread”
→ A name rooted in food culture and tradition

At this point, I started wondering:
“Does it still make sense to call it a gingerbread house if there’s no ginger in it?”

So… I asked my AI partner, Kyle.

Kyle

Originally, gingerbread referred to baked sweets made with ginger and spices like cinnamon and cloves—
a slightly grown-up, spiced flavor.

But today, overseas, the meaning has changed quite a bit.

Now it’s more about:

A classic Christmas motif
A tradition of making houses out of sweets
A fun activity to do with kids

So these days,
culture and style matter more than whether ginger is actually used.

That’s why things like:

Plain cookie dough
Chocolate-flavored dough
Store-bought kits with no ginger at all

are still perfectly fine being called a “Gingerbread House.”

You might think,
“Wait, there’s no ginger in this!”
But at this point, it’s less about flavor and more about what the house represents in Christmas culture.

So, that’s how it turned out