Ghibli-themed sweets shop puts together a cherry blossom viewing party for a pair of Totoros.
Last month, we looked at some very tasty, and cute, chocolate Valentine’s Day treats from Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory, Tokyo’s Ghibli-themed confectioner. Japan has a sweets-centered celebration in March too, though, as March 14 is White Day, when guys are expected to give thank-you gifts to the women who gave them chocolate on Valentine’s Day.
So Shirohige is getting set to start baking a lineup of special White Day Totoro sweets, and with spring here, they’ve even got a sakura Totoro cake!
Called the Ohanami, or “Cherry Blossom-viewing,” Cake, the first thing that grabs your attention is the pair of Totoros made out of nerikiri, a soft but shapable mixture of white sweet bean paste and mochi. The two forest spirits are hanging out in a grove of chocolate tress and chocolate cherry blossom petals, with the flowers falling to a floor of matcha chocolate. Inside the green tea section of the cake is a filling of sakura mousse with a core of cherry and raspberry gelee, with a pie crust-like tart at the base.
▼ The handy diagram is full of the sort of Ghibli artwork charm you’d expect from a bakery run by the relatives of studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki.
There’s more springtime fun in the air/oven with the Friendly Totoro Seasonal Cookie Set, with a pair of shortbread cookie Totoros, one plain and one chocolate, plus white chocolate-covered raspberry cookies shaped like a cherry blossom, a plum blossom, and a butterfly.
The sakura Totoro cake is priced at 3,500 yen (US$22.60), but the cookies are more impulse buy-friendly, as they’re just 500 yen for the set. You can also opt for a three-pack cookie set, for 1,500 yen, which also gets you one matcha cookie shaped like a leaf with a little bug nibbling on it.
And if you’re looking for a gift with an extra dash of mature sophistication, and also one that’ll leave part of the present for after you’ve eaten everything, Shirohige’s also has a 1,600-yen caramelized nut selection with picans, almonds, cashews, and macadamia nuts that comes wrapped in a handkerchief featuring the bakery’s mascot character.
Since these are all special White Day items, they’re only available for a limited time, March 7 to 14 for the cookies and nuts, and March 11 to 14 for the sakura Totoro cake. In addition, while the nuts and cookies will be on sale at both Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory branches in Tokyo, Daita and Kichijoji, the cake can only be ordered from the Daita branch, and must be reserved ahead of time (preorder information can be found on the official website here). Meanwhile, if you’re looking for sakura Totoro fun of the non-edible kind, we can help you with that too.
Related: Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory official website
Source: Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory
Top image: Studio Ghibli
Insert images: Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory
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