Special Feature - FILE, Japan Edition: Cream Puffs

You might think, "Cream puffs? How could you possibly spin out an entire blog post about cream puffs you'd like to eat - in Japan no less!" The answer is - I love cream puffs.

I could write an entire blog about cream-filled pastries. If I went to college I'd write my thesis on eclairs. Get it man, I love cream puffs.

I mean, you probably coulda guessed that based off of my blog name. I love all things creamy - and like all patriots - I also love steak. Cream comes first though. It's cream, red and blue to me.

Anyway, I can easily come up with a multitude of cream puffs I'd like to eat. Let's start with one that I've already had and love. If ever I wake up chewing my pillow, it's because of this.

Image from Beard Papa's Website

Oh yes. You're probably thinking something like, "Gee, that looks like a lumpy white brain. In fact, I'm not sure you even know what a cream puff is, Creamy Steaks." Well, let this photo change your mind, wise guy:

Image from Beard Papa's website

That's right - it's like some cuckoo nutzoid mochi cream puff. If I recall correctly, the filling is a bit 'cheesier' than the classic Beard Papa, as if it's made of cream cheese & cream. I'll be sure to uh...try it again to make sure. But that's not all, folks! The benevolent bearded patriarchy of Beard Papa also created Mocha 'Shiro' Puffs that is all mocha flavored with bits of coffee jelly inside the cream!

 Unfortunately, they are already gone. They were a monthly special, now replaced by Golden Pineapple regular puffs. The good news is those also sound quite tasty...but they would've been better as chewy, stretchy puffs. Oh well!

It's not just Beard Papa though, oh no - cream puffs are really quite popular in Japan it seems, and there certainly were lots to choose from when I was there in 2011. It seems the trend has not waned, and really, cream puffs are timeless...not trendy. Back home in the USA they actually aren't that common, at least in Indiana, but me and my dad used to get these freezer tubs of mini-eclairs and mini-cream puffs, and I would just eat until I couldn't eat no more. They truly are one of my all time favorite foods - it's like that Wu Tang song C.R.E.A.M., you know, the one about how you need to get money to get more cream.

Image taken from FamilyMart Website

This one is from Family Mart, a line of convenience stores in Japan that is everywhere, and awesome. I think we may have went to even more Family Marts than we did 7-11s, as at the time they were running a super cool promotion with Rodney Alan Greenblat, the guy who did Parappa the Rappa. No puffs involved there, but this one is in fact banana cream. Specifically, whipped cream atop banana custard, and the puff itself is apparently covered in banana coating. Interesting! I'll definitely keep my eyes...peeled for this one.

Not to be outdone, 7-11 Japan also has a fruity cream puff out this month!

Mm, melon puff! Now, I suppose this looks a bit more like bread, but it's hard to tell without eating it. Regardless, it is filled with melon custard cream - so I'm sure it's tasty. Does it count as a cream puff or is it a cream bun? I'll find out when I eat it.

Then there is this one, available at the otherwise fairly 'classical' Ginza West:

Image from Ginza West

I had to leave the name on lest people not believe me - but this is a cream puff with added gorgonzola. It simply must be tried. I've had the 'European Cheese' flavored KitKat, and a few other strange 'cheese' sweets from Japan - they're usually not that strange, tasting more like cream cheese than anything else. However, since this specifies that it is using gorgonzola, I can only imagine that it will in fact taste like that. I'm looking forward to finding out!

So that's most all of the cream puffs I want to try in Japan. They'll come before the random things, but probably after the drinks. Melon puff & melon milkshake? Don't mind if I do.