"Specially selected gateau chocolate" at Ken's Cafe Tokyo is a special dessert that you want to eat at least once!
A rich, scent of cacao that fills your mouth with a bite. KEN'S CAFE TOKYO (Kens Cafe Tokyo, hereafter Ken's Cafe / Shinjuku Gyoenmae)'s "Tokusen Gateau Chocolate" is a sweet that you want to eat at least once.
It's about the size of a palm and small, but it costs 3,000 yen per bottle. Even so, 60,000 bottles sold annually, and it was often talked about as a "gluten-free gateau chocolate" that was used as a souvenir for the ambassador to Japan and appeared in the media as a souvenir recommended by celebrities. In addition, it has won the first place in several rankings.
We asked Mr. Kenji Ujiie, the chef who was the creator, about the "the best gateau chocolate in Japan".
■ Taste that cannot be imitated even if you understand the recipe Actually, the recipe for this gateau chocolate is published in various places. However, it is ugly to reproduce the taste. The materials are completely different.
The specially selected gateau chocolate is made from couverture chocolate made by Domori, Italy, which is highly acclaimed around the world. It is the only original blend "Ken's" in Japan. Just add eggs, granulated sugar and unsalted butter to this. You can feel the taste of cacao straight because it is made from simple ingredients without adding any flour.
■ It started with dessert in the restaurant Mr. Ujiie is not a pastry chef. A "chef" who has experienced the kitchen of a famous restaurant.
About 15 years ago, Ken's Cafe, which opened as a restaurant, served gateau chocolate for dessert. This became a hot topic, and some customers wanted to take it home. Gateau chocolate that is freshly baked and eaten with a simmer. He hesitated because it wasn't suitable for To go, but there were so many requests that he made it possible to To go.
The appearance of the restaurant
In Japan at that time, gateau chocolate like a pound cake with a lot of flour was common (though this is delicious). Meanwhile, Mr. Ujiie created a moist and rich gateau chocolate to reproduce the taste of gateau au chocolat that was eaten in Brittany, France, using plenty of good quality butter. Using the luxury couverture of Valrhona, France, it caught the hearts of many people even in Japan, where the understanding of chocolate was not as advanced as it is today.
The turning point comes suddenly. One day, the top Domori company visited the store. Impressed by the gateau chocolate that lived cacao, I would like you to use your own chocolate. However, he refused to accept it because the unit price was high and he had to order at least 4 tons a year (for 40,000 gateau chocolates!).
However, after that, the wife who ate the souvenir gateau chocolate said, "It's a waste not to use our chocolate!", So he decided to use the original chocolate blended by Domori founder Gianluca Franzoni himself. became. It seems that he now buys as much as 6 tons of chocolate a year.
To calculate that about 40% of the total weight is Domori chocolate
page Pakuri hot and freshly baked!
■ One bottle is delicious three times! Specially, I was allowed to sample the "genuine freshly baked" that had just been taken out of the oven. The inside is mellow, while the outside is moderately burnt! When you put it in your mouth while being wrapped in the scent of cacao that rises sharply, it melts and disappears. The sweetness is modest, which is unique to hot and freshly baked. After a while, the whole thing will become familiar, and that moist texture will be created.
The scent of cacao is irresistible
This gateau chocolate is moist and rich when eaten at room temperature. When cooled, it becomes soggy like the popular "terrine chocolate"! When warmed, it transforms into a sweet that melts like fondant chocolate. It seems that this "one bottle is three times more delicious" way of eating was born from the idea of the customer. When I heard that it was delicious to eat chilled, he was shocked, "Why do you chill freshly baked food!", But when I tried it, I was surprised that it was surprising. Or something.
Even at room temperature, this is just moist
Even now that I specialize in gateau chocolate, I still make it every day in the kitchen of the old restaurant. There is no large oven for confectionery, so only 11 can be baked at a time.
The equipment for boiling pasta noodles, which was once a popular menu, is covered with a bowl of ingredients. Mix the ingredients with a whisk, pour them into a mold, and when they are baked, pop them into a box with the parchment paper. In this way, "freshly baked" is in the hands of customers.
If you go early, you may see what you are making
There is no mail order, and it can only be purchased at stores and some department stores. Still, in search of this taste, customers from all over Japan come to visit, and sometimes there are people from abroad. On the day of the interview before Valentine's Day, the table, which was once the audience seat, was lined with a mountain of gateau chocolates for reservations. For gifts? Or is it for yourself? It was impressive that Mr. Ujiie's eyes staring at the customer seemed happy while making an unnecessary guess.
■ White Day's big favorite Speaking of chocolate, Valentine's Day. But in fact, it seems that it will sell a lot on White Day, which has a smaller market. Many men buy in bulk. It may be said that it is a big favorite of White Day.
At the time of writing the article, it is said that reservations are accepted after February 22nd. If you are having trouble with gifts, please try this "Japan's No. 1 Gateau Chocolate" as an option. I'm sure everyone will be impressed with how delicious it is!
【store information】
KEN'S CAFE TOKYO
Business hours: 10:00 to 21:00 * Reservation is recommended as it is a limited production only for To go