Purin プリン

Friendly faced Purin cups. 

Purin is the Japanese version of what our friends in America may call pudding cups, what those of us in Oz probably call creme caramel and others may call flan - it is chilled, baked custard with caramel in the base, which becomes a sauce/topping when the custard cup is inverted. 

Purin appears on menus and in supermarkets across Japan. When something takes off in Nihon it really takes off and there are even plush toys and phone straps dedicated to the humble purin. 

There is no escape from purin in all its glorious forms and flavours - pumpkin is a bit of a person fave. That is all. 

Animal Doughnuts

Are these not the cutest doughnuts you have ever seen?

Where from: Floresta Nature Doughnuts

You'll find 'em: on the east side of Kawaramachi street just south of Sanjo street in downtown Kyoto

They are moreishly chewy and made from real ingredients  -  chocolate, nuts & fruits of the season. 

They have some wonderfully simple, traditional Japanese flavours such as red bean, green tea, black sugar etc - but I can't take my eyes off their animal range. There are all sorts of cute critters which change regularly. I'll add more next time I pass by the sweet little shop. 

But do check out their website for a peek at their range. And don't forget to switch on the automatic translator in Google chrome so you can read their titles and what goes into them. 

Now I'm hungry... what's for breakfast?

These are a few of my favourite (sweet) things....

"Western" style cakes and pastries have become extremely popular in Japan during the last few decades however very few homes (at least in Kyoto) have 'western' style ovens to bake them in. As a result there are plenty of wonderful pre-made goodies available for taking home or visiting friends.  

In the basement foodhall of Takashimaya department store (corner of Shijo and Kawaramachi streets in the centre of town) is one of my favourite places for picking up medication for my sweet tooth - 'Gramercy New York'. I'm yet to decipher the connection to the big apple but hey.... I don't actually care.  Their stuff rocks! Looks great and tastes better. 

And I love that you get to keep the little baskets or cups they are presented in (ie the ceramic or glass  versions - not plastic ok!!) . You can see from above that the prices are pretty reasonable for such quality. Currently you are looking at about 100 yen to the Australian Dollar so you'd be paying an average of about $5.50 a piece.  Absolutely worth it. (and half what we would pay in Oz for the good stuff!)

and, and, AND... in summer they sell THE most amazing almond tofu (annindofu /annin tofu -below) - served chilled with fruits in syrup. Oh god, I can taste it now. I think a container of this may have been responsible for saving my life on one particularly cruel summer's day. Refreshing, creamy, sweet and restorative.

Wagashi わがし

Hello, we are in the process of transferring all Japan-related stuff over too Jane's ZENBU TOURS site. 

This page has already been  moved - you will find it HERE.

Thank you.