Northern Japan’s heart-meltingly cute birds inspire new mouthwatering sweets.
A lot of foreign sweets brands that set up shops in Japan create special desserts that cater to local Japanese tastes, and things get even more focused for Krispy Kreme with its Premium Hokkaido series. These donuts draw inspiration from Japan’s northernmost prefecture featuring not only ingredients sourced from Hokkaido, but which also act as sweet little salutes to the region’s culture and scenery.
So as of October 7, while you can get your sweets fix with one of Krispy Kreme’s original glazed donuts, you can also satisfy your cravings with the adorable new Premium Hokkaido Milky White Shimaenaga.
“What’s Shimaenaga?” and “What’s that thing in the middle of the donut?” are two questions you might be asking, and their answers overlap. The shimaenaga/shima enaga is a species of small bird (roughly 12 centimeters [4.7 inches] in length) that lives in Hokkaido. In winter, their white feathers puff up to help insulate them from the cold, making them look like fluffy little snowballs, and their overall adorableness has earned them the nickname of “snow fairies.”
▼ Shima enaga
The shima enaga, commonly known in English as the long-tailed tit, is a beloved symbol of Hokkaido, and so peeking out from the center of the Premium Hokkaido Milky White Shimaenaga is a snow fairy rendered in milky cream sourced from Hokkaido dairies, with a pair of amanatto (candied red beans) for wings and dots of chocolate for its eyes and beak. The donut itself, meanwhile, has a milky white chocolate coating sprinkled with crunchy bits of white chocolate and silver dragées, evoking thoughts of a glittering Hokkaido winter snowscape.
The Milky White Shimaenaga marks the third time for the snow fairy to be Krispy Kreme Japan’s muse, but this specific combination of flavors is being offered for the first time. As is the norm for the Premium Hokkaido line, it’s exclusive to select Krispy Kreme locations in Hokkaido, specifically the Sitatte Sapporo, Sapporo Pole Town, Sapporo Le Trois, Chitose Outlet Mall Rera, and Mitsui Outlet Park Sapporo Kitahiroshima branches. It’s scheduled to be available from October 7 through late April, and while Hokkaido is a little outside our usual snack run radius, delicious donuts sound like a perfectly good reason to take a trip into Japan’s north.
Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Wikipedia/Gin tonic
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