New dessert is heaven for lovers of cream puffs and Japanese puddings.

We’re always on the lookout for new and exciting finds at our local convenience store, so when we spotted a product at 7-Eleven called the “Marutto Purin Shu“, which translates as “Whole Pudding Cream Puff“, we knew we had to pick it up for a taste test.

As the above photo shows, this sweet treat is, at its core, a cream puff, but in addition to the usual cream filling, this one is stuffed with a whole pudding. Priced at 302.40 yen (US$2.12), it’s slightly more expensive than other similarly sized sweets in-store, but when you think about it, the price is warranted, given that you’re essentially getting two desserts for the price of one.

▼ Lifting the lid on the dessert revealed it had kept its shape beautifully, with the crème caramel-esque pudding delicately poking out from the middle of the cream puff.

It was an impressive display of sweet engineering, because despite its delicate look, it was much sturdier than expected, with no fears of it falling apart during transit. Examining the ingredients list revealed the structure was secured with a sponge and purin cream layer beneath the pudding, to help lock it into the bottom layer of pastry, and a caramel whipped cream on top to help meld it to the top layer of pastry.

▼ The choux pastry also seemed to be hollowed out in a way that keeps the pudding in place.

After admiring the construction, and the glossy beauty of the pudding inside, it was finally time to get a taste of the unusual sweet.

After biting into it, it became clear that the structure was even more integral to enjoying the layered sweet, because without the sponge layer on the bottom, the moisture from the purin would soften the choux, degrading the texture and flavour. Instead, each layer was perfectly preserved, with the cream maintaining its softness, the purin retaining its smoothness, and the choux retaining its crunch, merging together to create an exquisite deliciousness that’s hard to find in any other dessert.

It was well-balanced in flavour, with the taste of caramel blending with the choux pastry to create a mellow, creamy deliciousness. If you love cream puffs and pudding, this is a treat that’ll definitely put a smile on your dial, but unfortunately it won’t be available at all stores, as it won’t be stocked in branches in the Kinki region (Nara, Wakayama, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo prefectures) and Okinawa.

If you’re outside of those areas, though, be sure to keep an eye out for it in stores while it’s available, and don’t forget to try the new fresh-fried doughnuts that are now in select regions too.

Top image ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]