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With winter finally over, it’s time to start gorging ourselves on frozen desserts, starting with this combination of two of everyone’s favorite things: ice cream and pudding!

Recently, our Japanese-language reporter Meg has been enjoying the finer things in life, such as snacks of tempura shrimp and the company of a handsome young butler. In Meg’s latest assignment, her dolce vita became literally sweet, as she taste tested one of the many new varieties of ice cream being rolled out as winter finally comes to a close in Japan.

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Specifically, Meg used her expert taste buds in evaluating confectioner Lotte’s Custard Pudding and Ice, which in Japanese gets the much lengthier name of Karameru Torori Kodawari Tamago no Purin Aisu Ba, or “Creamy Caramel and Premium Egg Custard Pudding Ice Cream Bar.” Lotte is promising the flavor of purin, the variety of caramel pudding loved throughout Japan, in convenient bar form, with the caramel sauce that usually tops the pudding instead waiting for you at the core.

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Fresh out of the wrapper, you wouldn’t know there’s any purin-related excitement to be had. Still, the milky white chocolate coating looks tempting enough in its own right.

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Meg took her first bite, and immediately realized a lick would have worked just about as well. The custard-flavored ice cream is incredibly soft, which means you don’t need to risk a brain freeze by using your teeth on the Custard Pudding and Ice.

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The ice cream is no slouch in the flavor department, either, as reflected by Meg’s notes:

“So GOOD! Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. No complaints…so GOOD!”

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The package touts Precious Eggs, a variety with a particularly rich taste, as one of the key ingredients, and their presence definitely lends a high-class feel to the flavor profile. Another elegant touch is the use of vanilla bean seeds, which can be seen in the bar’s cross section.

▼ Those little specks make a big difference.

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Not one to hog all the fun for herself, Meg saved some of her dessert for fellow RocketNews24 reporter Seiji…

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…and when he noticed coworker P.K.’s jealous glances…

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…he grudgingly gave him a bite too.

Although really, since the Custard Pudding and Ice bar is priced at just 173 yen (US$1.55), and we’ve got a convenience store right across the street from our offices, there shouldn’t be any problem if we all decide we’d rather not share.

Images © RocketNews24
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