Imagine finding a Twinkie that had a sponge cake that was fresher and softer. Further, imagine the cream filling is actually made with whipped cream and milk rather than vegetable shortening. If you can wrap your head around such a fantasy notion, then you can imagine what the Twin Dome cake by Fujipan is like. This cake is the closest Japan has ever come to the Twinkie in my experience.
You can pick up a package with two cakes for about 100 yen (about a dollar) at some convenience stores. The cakes are 202 calories each and each is about 8 cm (3.1 inches) in diameter at the widest point along the base. Note that a Twinkie, which is the closest comparison, has only 150 calories for 1.5 oz. of cake and cream filling. I'd say that the Twin Domes are about the same total volume as a Twinkie, but the higher calorie count is the price you pay for the real cream filling with its higher fat content.
Each cake is blessed with a generous dollop of very soft and smooth whipped cream in the center. The cream is lightly sweet and the cake tastes like good, fake vanilla and is sweeter than the filling. The cake is a soft, fresh sponge. It's not really dry, but also not really moist. It's an excellent combination of textures and mild flavors. It's a little more on the sweet side than usual for Japanese cakes, but not cloyingly so.
I recommend sampling these with no reservations. This is one of the best snack cakes I've ever had, and even my fussy husband likes them. The only thing is that I'd recommend buying one only if you have someone to split it with so you don't end up gobbling down 400 calories of delicious cream-filled cake in one sitting.
2 comments:
I've always wondered about America's fascination with Twinkies. We don't have them in Australia, though I have tried a box from an import store and I wasn't really impressed. Plain cake with cream...hmm would be better with some jam in there at least.
I have varied reactions to Twinkies depending on my mood. Most of the time, they don't do much for me. The cake is too greasy and the taste isn't very pronounced. However, when it hits me at the right time (which isn't very often considering I have no access to Twinkies), they seem so right in a very wrong way. I think it's mostly about the texture, especially of the cream filling.
Since coming to Japan, I think we've had boxes of Twinkies around about 4 times and my husband has eaten most of them every time.
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