Both photos courtesy of BlogD (used with permission).
It's nice to see that the Japanese merchants are really getting into the spirit of the season. That's the spirit of selling more stuff to people, of course. These are kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) cream bread which were on sale in Ikebukuro. The face is a chocolate cookie mixture, probably similar to the coating on melon pan. The bread is pumpkin flavored and inside is custard cream. I'd be happy to sample these if I were in Tokyo if it weren't for the fact that they look like a family that didn't look like cream bread created close enough to Fukushima's nuclear plant to create some unfortunate results. These are actually very unusual in that they are rather sloppily made for a Japanese bakery. Usually, they're more meticulous than this.
The cheesecakes in this picture are much closer to what one would expect from a Japanese bakery. They are "rare cheesecakes" (like New York style, except lighter, as opposed to baked cheesecake) and the stenciling is pretty perfect looking. Despite having pumpkins on them, they aren't pumpkin flavored, though those are mini pumpkin pies down below. I wonder if those pies are Japanese pumpkin (kabocha) or American. Yes, the taste is very different. I wouldn't buy one though as 845 yen ($10.65) is far too expensive for a tiny pie.
I am going to have to try kabocha pumpkin pie. I am a huge fan of pumpkin flavored goodies, I am curious to taste the difference between kabocha pie and american pumpkin pie.
ReplyDeleteI use Japanese pumpkin instead of American pumpkin all the time for pies and sweets. I don't think they taste all that different really. In fact I know lots of foreign women in Japan that make this substitution. If anything they like the Japanese pumpkin better for pies and sweets because it's much fresher and cheaper than getting American pumpkin.
ReplyDeleteI use Japanese pumpkin instead of American pumpkin all the time for pies and sweets. I don't think they taste all that different really. In fact I know lots of foreign women in Japan that make this substitution. If anything they like the Japanese pumpkin better for pies and sweets because it's much fresher and cheaper than getting American pumpkin.
ReplyDelete