Tottori is synonymous with the nashi pear in Japan. Located on the northern coast of western Japan, nashi pears have been cultivated there for over a hundred years. So, it stands to reason that the fruit featured prominently in the omiyage from that prefecture. D and I are avid fans of refreshingly sweet and juicy nashi pears, so we picked up this Nashi no Kajuen Tottori Nashi Cake from a food fair in the north tower of the Tōkyō Metropolitan Government Building in February 2018. Perhaps we’ll visit Tottori some time?
Each box has six steamed cakes.
Each cake is wrapped individually in the same pale green-yellow colour as the fruit. It uses a species of nashi pears called 20th Century.
The cake is composed of steamed nashi flavoured sponge with a custard cream centre and topped with a cube of nashi flesh.
The pale green-yellow colour of the cake and the darker nashi flesh creates the appearance of the cake that resembles a flattened nashi pear.
The cake has a fresh and gently sweet aroma much like a nashi pear at peak ripeness. Upon tasting, the same crisp sweetness came through from the pillowy soft steamed cake, while the cube of pear flesh adds a firmer texture and more intense pop of sweetness. The custard centre adds a creamy richness to the very light cake. It’s a delightful play of textures, capturing the distinctive crisp sweetness of fruit while avoiding any acidity. A sencha would pair well with the lightness of the cake without dominating its subtle flavour.
This Nashi no Kajuen Tottori Nashi Cake contained 6 pieces. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Shinjuku, Tōkyō, Japan in 2018.