stollen-ing

Tried the different stollen this morning

Romi-Unie lots of butter, marzipan, some fruits, spices are super light almost non-existent

Roca Bake cinnamon kinda overpowers everything, but there is a large chestnut in the middle, more bread like 

Think lots of nuts, dried fruits and spices

I'm glad we got to try these.

Each are different, each are delicious

romi-unie

When I learned that Romi-Unie would be selling stollen, I reserved one for us to try

Unlike most stollen we have had in the past, this one is kugelhopf style (looks like bundt shape)

This one is quite heavy!

We look forward to trying this one too in the coming days.

roca bake

When I saw Roca Bake’s stollen box, I thought it was a place in Osaka that I had been wanting to try, so I ordered it...

Well, it wasn’t, it turned out to be a tiny bakery in Hakodate Hokkaido that has been around for 19 years...boy was I surprised!

The box was supposed to arrive on Monday, but because of the snow in Hokkaido, it arrived today

Love the packaging!

"when it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile"

mini chocolate chestnut stollen (top left),  orange tea cookies (top right), slices of lemon poundcake and caramel nuts poundcake (bottom right), financier (bottom left)

close up of lemon poundcake and caramel nuts poundcake

cute magnet

"bread is better than the songs of birds"

I'm glad I ordered this and look forward sharing these with Satoshi in the coming days.

Roca 

3-6-20 Tomioka-cho

Hakodate, Hokkaido

*online sales only

think

After Vaner went out of business, Think went into its space in 2023

The lines for this bakery are always long and krazy

Plus, they only allow 4 people in the store at a time, so be prepared to wait.

I saw on social media that they were selling stollen, so I reserved one online and went to pick it up yesterday.

The thing about "just picking up" is that you still need to wait in line, so I went early and was 2nd in line...whoo

I purchased their marron hazelnut financier...so buttery, a little chocolatey, with big pieces of chestnut here and there and lots of hazelnuts...love!

Had their cultured scone for breakfast...so buttery! the outer part got a little crisp after I heated it up in the fish grill…love

Cassoulet...a piece of baguette topped with tomato sauce and cassoulet beans and a snappy sausage

I ate this with a knife and fork...delicious!

 

Sangria Red...was looking for an explanation of this online, but couldn't find one...I think they use red wine in the dough or maybe to rehydrate the dried figs and fold in dried figs and nuts...I sliced this and put it in the freezer.

And their stollen...the ingredients are almond powder, butter, orange peel and raisins...look forward to trying this in the coming days.

I don't know that I'll be back here since it isn't nearby, but I'm glad I got to try these items

Think

2-15-6 Uenosakuragi

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays & Tuesdays

Hours: 10:30-17:00

this and that

Still dunno whose kaki tree is in front of our apartment building.

This year, the kaki are still on the tree and the birds are enjoying them.
 

Ordered myself a Hello Kitty Bruno Mars t-shirt and key chain

Tokyo (furry) people: love these space type of carriers

Tokyo (furry) people: also love seeing furry ones in the bike baskets

Nearby is a party/event office and I often see them unloading these shinkansen (bullet train) rides

Presqu'ile's stollen is chocolatey with lots of fruits, nuts and cacao nibs...love!

We started eating the chocolate dates that Satoshi brought back from Dubai...delicious!

Per the back of the box: The top row is milk chocolate filled with almond, 2nd: dark chocolate filled with pecan, 3rd: milk chocolate filled with pistachio and 4th: dark chocolate filled with hazelnut

We're planning to get our influenza shots tomorrow, have a safe weekend!

bakery run

Friday I went to pick up the two stollen I ordered from Boulangerie Sudo.

The two stollen, one was a "Japanese" type called Nagomi (peace of mind), with yomogi, azuki and kinako (soy bean powder) on the outside, the other one was the orthodox type with marzipan, fruits soaked in rum and nuts...4300 yen (plus tax) each

Since I was 3rd in line to enter the shop, I decided to check out what baked items they had (since the last time it was slim pickings)

And picked up their Kouign Amann...530 yen (plus tax)

This was so flaky! but I didn't like the caramel outside though, that was a bit too sticky and hard.

And then I went to Blue Poppy Bakery, because I saw on social media that they started selling their stollen.

Their stollen seems to be orthodox with liquor soaked fruits, nuts and spices (I think the green on the wrapping was a real juniper berry plant, it smelled nice)...3000 yen (plus tax)

I also picked up their Autumn Quiche...780 yen (tax included)

Their quiche had pumpkin, mushrooms, walnuts and speck (like bacon)...delicious!

Since it was so huge, I ate only half and put the other half in the freezer to eat another day (or maybe with wine another evening)

All of these stollen were delicious, we tasted a little of each over the weekend.

The "Japanese" one is different because it doesn't have nuts in it and I like that it is covered with kinako

ease

Still blazing, the days are getting shorter and stollen have started appearing...

I ordered this one from Ease, they had this chestnut version last year and I had missed getting one.

Though we tried their chocolate stollen earlier this year. 

This was delicious with lots of chestnuts in it.

I'm glad we got to try this one.

comme'n

Tried Comme'N's stollens

Their original...3240 yen (tax included)

Lots of dried fruits, more bready than cakey but still moist...delicious.

And their coffee stollen (half sized) 980 yen (tax included).

Lots of nuts and coffee. 

Like the original, it is bready but moist.

So good!

We also tried their pain au tiramisu...580 yen (tax included).

Bread that is soaked in coffee then layered with marscapone cheese and a little crackly wafer crust on the bottom.

Different but so good with red wine.

I'm glad we got to try all of these.

this and that

Tokyo people...most of us put our trash out in bags, so it was the first time seeing someone with an almost American sized rolling garbage can...

I like checking out this board in front of a pre-school whenever I pass by.

Always different pictures made by the teachers (I think), always so cute 

Tokyo people...the man was walking faster than the dog.

Tried MOS burger's tobikiri avocado croquette burger, mashed avocado formed into a croquette that is deep fried...different but tasty.

Sometimes they pair avocado with wasabi but I'm glad this time around they didn't.

Tokyo people...Christmas sweater season.

Boulange D316's stollen...2160 yen (tax included).

brioche style with lots of dried fruits and topped with a glaze.

kind of also reminded me of cinnamon bread

I'm glad I got to try this one, I enjoyed the texture.

We had rain Tuesday and Wednesday...and started December with clouds and a 10 degree drop in temps.

Tokyo's case numbers are still up, hope you are doing well.

Have a safe weekend.

tolo pan tokyo

Ordered Tolo Pan Tokyo's stollen...5400 yen (tax included)...(3900 yen (tax included) 1500 yen (tax included)...shipping...kinda pricey)  it was delivered on Sunday.

This stollen was different from the ones we have tried in the past, the texture is hard to describe, it wasn't like a bread or cake.

There was a hard “crust”on the outside and the inside was dense.

A lot of dried fruits but not a lot of spices.

Maybe the texture will change over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly a little disappointed but I'm still glad we tried this.

songbird bakery

Ordered Songbird Bakery's stollen and went to pick it up today.

Fahreezing winds and had to wait in line for about 15 minutes.

When it was my turn to go into the shop, I also purchased their an butter.

A ciabatta style bread filled with a nice "slab" of butter and dollop of sweet bean paste.

Their creme brioche is made to order and is filled to the gills with rich custard cream.

Satoshi and I shared these and both were so good!

Even toasted the butter didn't melt and there was more than enough in it!

The custard was overflowing goodness...

We look forward to trying the stollen in the coming days.

hutte

Haven't been buying a lot of stollen this year, but had to get this one from Hutte because we've enjoyed their version in the past.

We'll be enjoying this one in the coming weeks.

Hope you are all doing well.

alice

Alice's stollen is super dense, moist like cake.

Lots of dried fruits and some nuts.

Delicious.

guru guru bakery

Tried Guru Guru Bakery's stollen.

Lots of spices and nuts.

Not too much dried fruits though.

The texture of this stollen was more bread than cake.

On another note, their fruit sandwich was delicious.

Chocolate bread, whipped cream, cream cheese, strawberries & bananas.

yashi pan

Tried Yashi Pan's stollen.

This version was a little more bready...but still had lots of dried fruits and nuts in it.

Hope to find more stollen to try...