Japanese Food: Momiji Manju

Itadakimasu!

Momiji Manju

Momiji manju is a traditional omiyage, or souvenir/present, from Hiroshima. It is a cake baked in the shape of a maple leaf and most often has filling. Common fillings are made from bean paste and, in particular, the one I had was filled with adzuki bean(red bean) paste that was only lightly crushed. In other words, it was like eating crunchy peanut butter inside a cake. Well… without the peanut flavor. Haha! But it was quite good.

The cake itself had a soft, spongy texture. Though, the red bean paste was not quite as sweet as I had expected it to be. American desserts are generally quite liberal with sugar  and yet the adzuki paste only had small traces of sugar. What can I say? I’m a sugar-holic. :p

Gochisousama!