{"id":8154,"date":"2023-02-08T15:15:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T22:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=8154"},"modified":"2023-02-09T12:57:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T19:57:24","slug":"christmas-cakes-of-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=8154","title":{"rendered":"Christmas cakes of Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve gone on big vacations in Japan several times now – and I’m always astounded at the artistry and sublime tastes<\/a> of their food and pastries. In recent years, this artistry and their masterful creations have graced the tradition of Japanese Christmas cakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The history of the Christmas cake in Japan started in the waning days of the Meiji period. In 1910, Fujiya, a European-style pastry shop in Tokyo\u2019s port city of Yokohama, introduced what is widely considered to be the very first Japanese Christmas cake. According to a representative from Fujiya\u2019s PR department, \u201cthe base of the cake was a rich, liqueur-soaked fruitcake\u201d in the European style. But the bakers considered its plain brown appearance not eye-catching enough, so they decorated it with snow-white royal icing, complete with little Christmas trees. Over the next decade, bakers around the country decorated their Christmas desserts with strawberries after growing methods made them available in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Christmas cake is synonymous with strawberry shortcake, a light and fluffy confection with alternating layers of soft sponge and delicate whipped cream, topped with perfectly sweet fresh strawberries. Some of the most amazing creations are found in the highest end hotels and come at astounding prices (the Renne (\u2018reindeer\u2019 in French) cake shown above from the Palace Hotel Tokyo is topped with a tall sculpted cone depicting reindeer antlers. The cake and the cone collectively are about a foot wide and 20 inches high, contains more than 100 perfect strawberries, and sessl for the hefty price of 70,000 yen ($640))<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After fried chicken, Christmas cake is the most popular food consumed during Japan\u2019s yuletide season.<\/a> In 1997, strawberry shortcake was immortalized by the Japanese software company SoftBank in what is arguably the world\u2019s first set of emoji<\/em>s about the confection.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n