MUNCHIES . Look Cake Shop Maroyaka Montblan

by Kris   ⋅   November 3, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

Oh the sacrifices I make to keep you guys entertained. I despise chocolate. The texture, the sweetness, the aftertaste, blech blech blech! But as I do eat it occassionally to report munchies reviews, be aware that I am not enjoying it. I know it’s odd but oh wells. So I dunno why, but I continue to torture myself by buying those cute little boxes of chocolate at the Japanese grocers, but am thankful that they are mostly “box” and only contain a few candy pieces. I can’t say I am thrilled at how the excess packaging is reminiscent of now-banned styrofoam fastfood burger pods and CD longboxes, but at least you can recycle it, right?

The new line of “Cake Shop” bonbons from the “Look” subsidiary of the Fujiya candy conglomerate (did you get all of that?) features asian pastry favorites strawberry, and chestnut. Montblanc, or “Hong Kong style loopy chestnut cake” as I’ve called it for years because I’ve only ordered it in Hong Kong style bakeries, is one of my favorite cakes ever. Earthy and light, usually with layers of fluffily whipped cream with chestnut bits, all topped with a creamy chestnut paste finish. It is named after the tallest snow-covered (doi) Alp peaks on the border of Italy, and it is actually an Italian creation. Traditionally, the chestnut paste is piled high on a plate (no cake) and topped with frothy whipped cream chantilly. Aww, it looks just like the mountain! Mont Blanc is naturally sweet so it’s not too sweet. It’s creamy creamy but not too rich. Now why would you go and ruin it by covering it with chocolate?! What’s worse is that the chocolate is waxy and bland. What’s worse than that is the candy filling is kind of mushy (like awful awful “softcenter” cheapo chocolates everyone’s aunt or grandma adores) with hard stale chalky bits of (I think) chestnut. Again, I am letting you know how thankful I am that there are only ten tiny pieces in the box.

NOTE: I’m not sure why they chose to drop the “c” and spell it “Montblan”, but I can tell you that “maroyaka” means “warm and pleasing”, which is a feeling already emoted from chestnuts anyway, but I guess it’s nice of them to reiterate. Oh the many mysteries of this confection for me go hand in hand with the reasoning of those who enjoy chocolate.

About the Author:

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson has zero cavities and has had dentists place bets against her. Although she’s a candy addict, she is no chocoholic; she thinks milk- and white- chocolate are disgusting. Kris does enjoy Cucu Azuki and Cream and assorted types of yummy gum.

Related Articles

• No Related Post