Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory turns the beloved Ghibli star into a very cool character.

Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory is known for its Totoro cream puffs, produced with the blessing of Studio Ghibli as director Hayao Miyazaki is a close relative of the owner. Though it now has two stores – one opened in Kichijoji, not far from the Ghibli Museum, in 2019 – the one in Setagaya’s Daita neighbourhood has been the main location since it relocated there from Takaido in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward in 2013.

This is where a lot of new and creative limited-edition products are released, and now there’s an extra special treat coming to this location: Totoro no Yukidaruma, or “Snowman Totoro”. It’s become something of an annual summer tradition for these sorts of Totoro shaved ice desserts to appear at the store, with the icy Totoros appearing last year and the year before, but this year things look very different, because unlike previous years, the shaved ice is shaped to look like Totoro.

There are three flavours in this year’s lineup, with each one containing a scoop of ice cream, some cubes of kanten (agar agar jelly), and a special “Mini Totoro” made using the same traditional nerikiri technique used to create moulded wagashi sweets.

▼ The sweet little Totoro is designed to sit on a mint leaf atop each Totoro.

▼ The first flavour in the Totoro trifecta is Strawberry.

Bright red fruit brings colour and a burst of flavour to this Totoro, with a sauce made with “Sachinoka” strawberries from Nagano Prefecture. Containing nothing but strawberries and sugar in the sauce, which has been left pulpy so you can enjoy the sweet tartness of the fruit, this unfettered dessert keeps things simple with fresh strawberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

▼ Peach

This variety is said to be the most popular with staff at the store, and it’s easy to see why. Not only does it contain thick slices of domestically produced white peaches, it also includes a special sauce made from nectarines and plums that have been slowly simmered and carefully strained. Finished with fresh, sweet white peach syrup, the sauce showcases the gentle sweetness of white peaches, and is complemented by the refreshing flavour of nectarines and plums, creating a perfectly balanced sweet and tart taste.

▼ Matcha

Green tea lovers will go weak at the knees for this Totoro, which contains matcha ice cream and matcha syrup made with a generous amount of fragrant Uji matcha. By adding anko red bean paste, shiratama dumplings and kanten (in this case both plain and matcha kanten), this dessert is evocative of a popular traditional Japanese dessert called anmitsu, which contains all three of these ingredients. The addition of milk and fresh cream, and white chocolate as a “secret” ingredient, helps to round out the matcha-centric flavours, adding just the right amount of sweetness to complement the satisfying bitterness of the matcha.

Priced at 2,000 yen (US$12.55) each, the Snowman Totoros will be sold from 10:30 a.m. on six days only: 21-23 August and 28-30 August. As the Totoros can’t be taken home they have to be eaten on the premises, and in order to keep things moving along smoothly, customers are being asked to wait until all members of their party are present before joining the queue. They explicitly ask that people refrain from having one person line up first and then have their companions join them later, as the store is small and the queue is expected to be long, and Shirohige’s wants as many people as possible to enjoy the shaved ice. Supplies are limited, though, so you’ll want to get there early and gobble your Totoro quickly, so everyone lining up in the heat can get a cool taste of Totoro.

Cafe information
Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory / 白髭（しろひげ）のシュークリーム工房
Address: Tokyo-to, Setagaya-ku, Daita 5-3-1
東京都世田谷区代田５-３-１
Open 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Tue ( or Wed if Tue is a public holiday)
Website

Source, images: Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory
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