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Japan Post released two sets of dessert-themed stamps on February 1, 2019. Designs are based on Tokyo's famous desserts and sweet gifts as listed in Brutus, a Japanese men's magazine devoted to pop culture, lifestyles, and culture in Tokyo, Japan.
The ¥82 sheet which is covered in this post features ten desserts you would find at Japanese cafés.
An Toast あんトースト (An tōsuto)
By: Toraya Cafe in Shinjuku
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Toast with two kinds of paste, koshi-an (こしあん) and ogura-an (小倉あん) Served with butter. Retails for JPY 486 (USD 4.56)
Anko (餡子,あんこ) or An (餡, あん), is sweet red bean paste made from azuki beans. There are several types of red bean paste.
Koshi-An (こしあん) is fine, pureed azuki beans whereby the beans are cooked until soft and passed through a sieve to get the finest texture sans skins.
Ogura-An (小倉あん) is a mixture of koshi-an and tsubuan which is cooked in sweet syrup. Tsubu-an (つぶあん) is when the beans are cooked until soft and the mixture is not pureed but that there are still whole beans left.
![ãããã¼ã¹ã [å°åã»ãããã] ãããã¼ã¹ã [å°åã»ãããã]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8fec9d0c-3cb4-4c9a-adb3-05dfccb8d1e8_1320x1320.jpeg)
This image from Toraya Cafe allows you to see clearly the different textured paste.
Strawberry parfait ストロベリーパフェ (Sutoroberīpafe)
By: Shiseido Parlor Salon de Café in Ginza
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Made with strawberries from the Nagano Prefecture. Retails for JPY 1,890 (USD 17.73)
Shiseido Parlour Salon de Café is a fancy dessert place in the middle of Ginza. Shiseido (yes, the cosmetics giant) opened its pharmacy in 1872 in Ginza. In 1902, it introduced a soda making machine aka a soda fountain. When that became popular, Salon de Café came to be.
Unlike American parfaits that are made with yogurt, Japanese parfaits are made withice cream, fruits, and whipped cream plus other sweet ingredients, and are served layered in a tall glass.
Ganzo Anmitsu 元祖あんみつ (Ganzo an mitsu)
By: Ginza Wakamatsu
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Retails for JPY 950 (USD8.91)
Anmitsu (あんみつ) is a summer dessert made of small cubes of agar agar jelly, sweet azuki bean paste, mochi, various fruits, ice cream, and boiled peas. It is usually served with black sugar syrup (kuromitsu) that is poured over the jelly prior to eating.
Anmitsu = Anko or sweet red bean paste from azuki beans + Kuromitsu (黒蜜) or black honey.
According to Ginza Wakamatsu’s website, the shop started making anmitsu in 1945. The red beans are sourced from Tokachi, red peas from Furano, agar from Miyake-jima, and black honey from the island of Amami Ōshima. The original recipe does not have ice cream.
Hotcake ホットケーキ (Hottokēki)
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Basically pancakes and maple syrup — not your typical 2016 fluffy souffle Japanese pancake craze. Retails for JPY 750 (USD7.04)
Cafe Casa’s Instagram will make your mouth water. There’s also a wonderful feature about the cafe itself here.
Watered coffee jelly 水出しコーヒーゼリー (Mizu dashi kōhīzerī)
By: Coffee Parlor Hilltop Hotel in Chome-1
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Coffee jelly, served with ice cream. Retails for JPY 850 (USD 7.97)
Hilltop hotel is popular with writers and novelists, including Japanese author Shōtarō Ikenami (1923-1990) who particularly loved the watered coffee jelly.
Cheesecake レアチーズケーキ (Reachīzukēki)
By: しろたえ (Shirotae) in Akasaka
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Made out of Danish cream cheese and baked biscuits and garnished with slivers of fresh pistachio. Retails at JPY 260 (USD2.44)
Sirotae was founded in 1976 and only makes 500 slices of the cheesecake daily.
Grass dango 草だんご (Kusadango)
By: Takagiya Rōho
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Grass dango or dumplings are made with rice flour, Japanese mugwort, and red beans. Retails at JPY 400 (USD3.75) for 5 (in-store dining) or JPY 700 (USD6.57) for a dozen (souvenirs).
In general, dango is a Japanese sweet dumpling made from rice flour and served on a skewer, shown in this emoji 🍡. The emoji depicts hanami dango, a stick with 3 dumplings in pink, white, and green (top to bottom in that order), popular during cherry blossom viewing.
The Japanese idiom ‘hana yori dango’ (花より団子), literally translated as ‘dango instead of flowers’ means substance over form or practical over aesthetics.
Pudding プリン (Purin)
By: Ginza West
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Japanese caramel custard pudding, made using eggs, sugar, milk, and water only - no vanilla essence. Served with whipped cream and strawberry.
Marron chantery マロンシャンテリー (Maronshanterī)
By: Tokyo Kaikan
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Made of only cream and chestnuts to melt in your mouth. Retails for JPY 980 (USD9.19)
![マロンシャンテリー マロンシャンテリー](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7e671925-378a-4ec2-ac4e-93bb4422e03e_680x520.png)
Described as “golden cream chestnuts hiding in the mountain of fresh cream like the fresh snow on the summit”, this image from Tokyo Kaiken shows you what the inside contains.
Seasonal fruit tart 季節のフルーツタルト (Kisetsu no furūtsutaruto)
By: Qu’il Fait Bon
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Fresh fruit, smooth custard cream, and crispy puff pastry. Retails for JPY 718 (USD6.74) a piece
![季節のフルーツタルト 〜夏バージョン〜 季節のフルーツタルト 〜夏バージョン〜](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdf3b403f-8bed-4f83-9bc8-b25804e59953_738x426.jpeg)
The whole tart shown on the Qu’il Fait Bon website is a visual assault of the senses.
References:
Japan Post: https://yu-bin.jp/kitte/special/04/ - all photos of the stamps are from here