If you’ve ever watched Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro or Spirited Away, you might be familiar with the little black soot sprites, or susuwatari, with big eyes that feature in both films. They’re super popular side characters that have spawned a huge amount of merchandise and recipes themed off of them. I’ve collected a few of the latter to share so that you can have your own soot sprites too (albeit edible ones).
Vegan Bunny Elle has created these little mochi bites. I love the use of multicoloured star sprinkles to represent the konpeito sweets they enjoy so much in Spirited Away. If you want to see a video of these being made, then check out the YouTube video too.
Teak & Thyme’s little soot sprites look like they’ve dived headfirst into the chocolate frosting and they’re enjoying it as much as I’m sure I would! I think the chocolate cake reflects their dark colour, but you could use any recipe you wanted and use this for the decoration.
The soot sprites in i am a food blog’s recipe are made from a chocolate truffle-like cookie and as they’re made with ground almonds, they’re gluten-free too. The sugar makes them a little rough around the edges like a misshapen dust ball, but it also makes them a little sparkly and magical, which these soot sprites definitely are.
Did you ever make cornflake cakes when you were younger? This is what these soot sprite treats remind me of, except they’re made with potato stick crisps and chocolate (I actually used to make Easter nests like this). If you enjoy the mix of sweet and salty, then these treats from Brownie Mischief might be right up your street
Nana Pastries uses the famous Crumbl cookie as inspiration for this recipe and tops them with soot sprites for a little something fun and extra. The sprites don’t actually have arms and legs in the recipe, they’re drawn on for a fun effect, which you can see in the Instagram reel too.
I’ve actually shared this cupcake recipe from Chelsweets in a Ghibli post last year, but it’s been updated this year and I couldn’t help but share these again. The way that the icing tip has been used to create a textured surface is so clever. Plus, those star sprinkles bring a pop of colour to an otherwise monochromatic colour palette.
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