Matcha Opera ice cream promises to make sweets fans ready to sing with joy.

Häagen-Dazs has no qualms about infusing its ice cream with Japanese flavors, and we can thank that strategy for such wonders as the Matcha Green Tea Crumble and sesame walnut mochi ice cream cup. Emboldened by such success, the American-based ice cream maker’s next Japanese release is even more multi-national in its inspirations.

The Specialite Matcha Opera is a frozen interpretation of the multi-layered French gâteau opéra, or opera cake. Häagen-Dazs’ new offering is made of alternating strata of matcha green tea ice cream, almond cookie wafer, and blond chocolate, a mouth-watering melting pot of mixed black, white, and milk chocolate. The resulting combination promises to deliver a variety of sweet, creamy, and bitter notes which complement one another elegantly in a complex yet refreshing flavor profile.

Opera cakes are generally topped by a chocolate glaze, and so is the Specialite Matcha Opera. But first thing you’re likely to notice when you pop the top of the container is a dusting of gold powder, a nod to gourmet Japanese desserts which make use of the precious metal.

Between its fancy name and ingredients, the Specialite Matcha Opera definitely sounds both high-class and high-price, and at 449 yen (US$4.10) it’s actually fairly expensive for an ice cream cup. Still, you won’t have to go to rarefied specialty grocers to find it, as it’ll be on sale at convenience stores across Japan on November 21, and with about two months to save up loose change, we think we’ll be able to afford splurging on it when the time comes.

Source, images : Häagen-Dazs press release
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