Christmas Cake! — As Seen In Japan

Dec 26

Dec 26 Christmas Cake!

In Japan, it is tradition to have cake on Christmas. In Kobe, the land of sweets, this tradition is taken very seriously, as you can see by this line of people waiting in the cold for their yearly Christmas cake:

We, of course, are no exception. Our first Christmas together was 2017, where we got this strawberry cheesecake from Depachika in Osaka. Japan is home to massive department stores that span many levels - it’s not uncommon for a city department store to have more than a dozen floors and include restaurants, clothes, home goods, and just about anything you can imagine. Very often, in the basement of these department stores, is an area called Depachika, where you can buy incredibly sophisticated sweets. This is where one can get a very fancy Christmas cake like this one.

Notice the can of Cherry Coke in the background. Not easy to get in Japan, but I did it!

Cheesecake in Japan is generally baked cheesecake as opposed to a cold-set cheesecake, meaning it has a chewy film on the top and bottom (not my favorite). This one was okay, but as I prefer no-bake cheesecake, I was left wanting a bit.

For 2018, we decided to go a different route, and got a series of cupcakes from Umie Harborland mall in Kobe:

Regardless of anything else, the decorations were spectacular.

Sadly, the Japanese do not appear to have mastered the art of the cupcake in the way Los Angeles has (thanks to what’s her name from Sugar Rush), so these cupcakes were small, dry, and a bit bland. We were disappointed. But that all changed in 2019. We spent a long time looking for just the right cake, went to several stores, and settled on these slices from Depachika at Daimaru in Kobe-Motomachi:

That’s one slice of strawberry/raspberry, one slice of orange, and one that I believe was called “Fluffydoodle surprise.” While we didn’t get the satisfaction of eating an entire cake, we did get three different flavors. To be honest, I don’t remember it much, which is why we didn’t notice when, after an exhaustive search, we settled on our 2020 choice…

Two slices of the same kinds of cake from the exact same counter in the exact same store. At least we know what we like. The orange was my favorite - the slices on top were delicious, and the chocolate was super rich. The strawberry/raspberry had a super-soft macaron on top, along with some tart pieces of fruit and was a perfect counterbalance to the strong chocolate flavor of the orange.

One of the best parts of getting fancy cakes in Japan is how they add the little Xmas trees, put the plastic around the outside, and arrange them neatly in a pretty box with a freezer pack to keep them cold. It’s a great tradition, and we can’t wait to share our Christmas cakes with you in the future!

Ho Ho Ho!