When we heard that Mister Donut was teaming up with Hello Kitty to celebrate the opening of a new Hello Kitty cupcake ride at Universal Studios Japan, we knew there would be a sweet surprise. The result? An insanely cute doughnut range featuring Ms Kitty’s signature bow and a few unique mini cupcake-inspired creations. Plus, a Hello Kitty ribbon headphone jack charm for purchases over 600 yen (US$6)!
But what would a Hello Kitty-approved doughnut taste like? We were seduced by the cute kitten and headed down to our local store to try out her wares. Join us as we take you through the range, bite by delicious bite…
When we arrived at the store we were greeted by the sweet seductress in four different donut designs and three cupcake stick varieties.
Squee!! Donuts in cute Hello Kitty packages!
Hello Kitty greets us at the register.
First up, we have the traditional style doughnut from Mister Donut’s regular crunchy old-fashioned range (157 yen, US$1.60)
The Hello Kitty version is topped with a green apple flavoured chocolate coating. The smell of green apple candy was intense! It was like being five years old at the amusement park and catching the scent of candy in the wind.
Despite the sweet smell, we were relieved that this wasn’t as sweet as we thought it would be. It had a slight bittersweet taste, much like a green apple candy.
The green apple flavour worked well with the crunch of the doughnut. A bit like a crunchy, green apple pie. Very clever Ms Kitty.
Next up, we have the regular French style doughnut (157 yen, $1.60). Now it’s jazzed up with a Kitty ribbon and an orange flavoured cream filling.
Look at that delectable coat! The white chocolate topping should work well with the orange flavour inside…
Indeed it does! As you bring this to your mouth you can smell the sweet smell of orange. It’s like you’re about to bite into a chocolate orange. Only it’s in cream form.
The orange flavour was sweet but also a little sour, livening up the sides of your tongue like a real orange would.
The french-style donut is light and airy, much like a French croissant.
Next, we move onto Mr Donut’s famous “Pon-de-ring” style donut (157 yen, US$1.60). People in Japan are crazy for this style of doughnut because it has a chewy texture that’s difficult to find anywhere else.
This one has been given the Hello Kitty treatment with a strawberry chocolate coating that includes tiny pieces of crunchy, dried strawberries! This gives it a slight tartness which counteracts the sweetness really well.
Mmm… strawberry cream filling.
This one had the most familiar flavour out of all of them- the regular, sweet strawberry flavour that you find in most sweets.
Whipped strawberry deliciousness.
And now onto a doughnut with a whipped cream centre (157 yen, US$1.60). We were tempted to take out a marker pen to draw Ms Kitty’s face on the plain white chocolate coating. All this candy sweetness was tempting us to regress to our five-year-old selves!
Ms Kitty’s signature bow on all the doughnuts in this series may look strawberry-flavoured but it tastes like plain white chocolate.
This one’s received a green apple candy injection.
The crunchy white chocolate topping works well with the green apple candy filling. This has the same green apple candy smell and flavour as the first doughnut. Only it’s light and creamy so it’s a little more subdued.
And now onto the more unique members of this Hello Kitty series… teeny cupcakes on sticks! (136 yen, $1.38)
This one is the orange cupcake. It tastes just like a real cupcake!
The orange flavour is the same as the one we encountered before, only this time it’s incredibly creamy. The crunch of the sparkles and the white chocolate with the cream filling is surprisingly satisfying!
They’ve thought of everything! Imagine our surprise when we finished the remnants of the cupcake and pulled this put of our mouths! “Misdo by Hello Kitty” (Mister Donut is more commonly known as “Misdo” in Japan).
And Sanrio’s company trademark on the rear.
On to teeny cupcake number 2 – strawberry! (136 yen, $1.38)
Similar textured strawberry chocolate coating as the doughnut version.
Come to me my precious…
Et voila! An explosion of strawberry happiness. They’ve really excelled with the textures on these little cupcakes.
Looking forward to another kitty stick at the end of this bite.
And the last member of the series is the green apple cupcake. (136 yen, $1.38)
My what a pretty coating you have…
That’s some good pastel colour co-ordination right there.
Green apple candy goodness. We found ourselves really liking this flavour. An apple a day, right?
And to top off all this Hello Kitty sweetness we get a free present too? Ms Kitty, you’re too kind. We’ll forgive you for selling out of your red ribbon.
Which one to choose?
We’ll go with the black. Now we’ll never forget our sweet time together!
The Hello Kitty doughnut range is only available for a limited time so if you’re in Japan get in quick! The range is proving to be incredibly popular, with people of all ages feeding their desire for Hello Kitty, taking happy snaps of their doughnuts and giggling like children at a fair. It just goes to show that when you’re in Japan, if you like it then you should probably put a bow on it. A Hello Kitty bow. And the crowds will come.
Related: Sanrio
Top image: Press release
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