Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/20/these-dessert-fans-scour-japan.html
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American 7-Elevens aren’t known for their assortment of sweet treats
Not baked goods, perhaps, but there sure tends to be a healthy variety of sugary and chocolatey confections.
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They are French cakes that were born in Japan.
This makes it sound like the gâteau de crêpes were invented in Japan, when they’re classically French, even if the Japanese put their own spin on them. But I guess the specific version created - or renamed - by the Japanese pastry chef who likes to take credit for the whole concept does get confused with the classic French versions, which confuses things.
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They should try freezing the mochi to slice it.
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Japanese 7-11s are nothing at all like their American counterparts. They are havens of joy to a foreign traveler. The food is superb.
One can even get a thousand dollars worth of yen from the ATM, using a credit card!
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It’s more that a lot of Americans were introduced to them by Japanese coffee shops and bakeries in certain cities.
I can remember a friend raving about this amazing Japanese crepe cake around 10 or 12 years back when I was working in NYC. They were really confused that I’d grown up eating them in my French ass family because they’re Japanese!
Growing up it was literally the lazy, I can’t bake dessert. Make a pile of crepes, buy a jar of jam. Problem solved.
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I missed my vocation in life,
I’ve suspected this ever since I visited a Famima in LA. Now I know it to be true…
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I can’t see any of these images because I don’t have an Instagram account, but from the sound of it, the crepe cake is similar to one that a coffee shop near my old workplace would serve. They made it with different colored crepes for each layer, so every slice looked like a vibrant rainbow. Never being near that coffee shop again was the worst part about leaving that job.
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It’s the same.
It’s literally a pile of crepes. Traditionally with jam, pastry cream or whipped cream, or chocolate ganache spread between the layers. Then dusted with powdered sugar.
It’s a very old school, traditional cheat for a desert. Especially useful where you do not have an oven. They had something of a moment as a fancy bakery item a few years back, seemingly driven by their popularity in Japanese bakeries. The thing the Japanese are especially known for is matcha mille crepe. Green tea colored and flavored crepes layered with whipped cream. And dusted with matcha powder.
It’s ridiculously simple to make. Make a big stack of crepes. And stack them up with anything in between. To be fancy you can make the top crepe over large and roll it over the bottom. It can be frosted, but it’s more traditionally dusted with something.
This recipe works good and produces a decent crepe. Though it doesn’t have enough egg for my liking. I grew up with crepes that were just this side of noodle on the texture spectrum. My grandmother’s recipe uses 4 eggs, and probably about 1/2 as much milk (I learned to do it by eye). Flour is in the right ball park.
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Not nice, showing pictures of the great things one can find at konbini. The American version of a convenience store is a far cry from the wonder of the konbini. I miss them so!
So much this. Onigiri when it’s warm and you’re in a hurry, oden when it’s cold and any number of wonderful other things. And if you can make it to the food section in a small supermarket, you’re in real luck.
Now I’m hungry.
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There has been a symbiosis of French and Japanese cuisine since the early 1900’s. Tokyo has more michelin 3 starred restaurants then France and Britain combined. Many Japanese chefs train in France so the cross fertilisation would seem natural.
Here’s a 2 part episode of Iron Chef in France with guest judges, the legendary French chefs Joel Robuchon and Pierre Troisgros. I would think that the decorative nature of Troisgros’ ’ Nouvelle Cuisine’ is highly influenced by Japanese food culture.
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When I was little, I always got a crepe cake for my birthday. It was, as you said, just a pile of crepes, layered with whipped cream and jam, usually strawberry or redcurrant. I loved it. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind having some right now…
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