Halloween Pumpkin Cake

Happy Halloween!

Today I have a Halloween snack I bought from Candysan

Is this not the cutest package! Such nice colours and cute ghosts!

The package opens really nicely to reveal four individually wrapped snack sized cakes

When I opened the cake, it smelled sweet but not in the way I expected. I thought it would smell like pumpkin pie but that wasn't the case (*´ω`*)

When I took a bite, it wasn't what I expected either. The cake was soft and fluffy and tasted more like roasted pumpkin than any pumpkin cakes we have in the States. It tasted natural which was really good! It also had a slightly rich and smoky flavor thanks to the adzuki beans which was a really nice touch! They definately weren't overly sweet which was good for me and a nice change of pace from the pumpkin sweets i've had before. I absolutely loved it!

Tokyo Treat!

Today, I'd like to talk about a subscription service i've been purchaceing for the past few months. Some of you may have heard of Tokyo Treat. It's a monthly subscription that delivers Japanese sweets, snacks, drinks and other goodies to your door. There are three sizes, small, which comes with 5-8 full size snacks, Regular, which has 10-12 full size snacks and a diy kit, and Premium which has 16-18 full size snacks, a diy kit, a drink and a special item. I subscribe to the premium box so my images will be of that.

First off, the box. Isn't it cute. It always makes me happy when my postofficer hands me this bright decorative box. And it continues inside!

So adorable (๑>◡<๑)

Each box comes with a little booklet sitting on top 

This is my October box so the theme was Autumn flavours and Halloween, as the booklet clearly states. The little book reads right to left like a manga and has candy descriptions, diy kit instructions, and cultural stories or event descriptions based on what's going on in Japan that month. It's really neat and interesting to read! You can actually see past booklets on their website so check it out!

And inside the box...

SO MUCH STUFF! 

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

This month's special item was Halloween chopsticks and a Tokyo Treat sticker! And the selection of candies is great. Everything is full size and while some things are still small, others (like the chips hiding in the back) are huge! 

For me, the best thing is that while some of these are snacks I would purchase on my own (like the Koala no March) others are things I've never heard of or would never think to try! It gives me the opportunity to try things I'm unsure about which is great( ✌︎'ω')✌︎

Overall I think this is a pretty great value and it's totally fun! If you're interested, their November box is on sale until October 31'st and the theme is Japan's most iconic snacks! Sounds like it'll be a good one to me! Order Here

Samanco

I picked up this little guy at my local Asian Market. It's not Japanese (I'm pretty sure it's Korean) but it was so cute so I'm reviewing it anyway. 

It looks like Taiyaki, which is something I've unfortunately never had. It's a wafer outside with vanilla ice cream and red bean paste inside.

I thought this was absolutely delicious! The ice cream is simalar to a soft serve and is very sweet and the anko is subtle but you can still taste it. The wafer is nice and dosent overpower either flavor and it also does a really good job of keeping you clean while you snack. I honestly wish these came in packs so I could always have them! Check your local Asian Market for these because they are a must try!

• 
  

Mochi!

Back at home we had a grocery store I frequented that sold freshly made Mochi among other things. Now I've tried traditional Mochi (the kind filled with anko) a few times and while I don't dislike it, I can only eat so much anko in one go. So when I saw these and noticed that they were diffrent colours from traditional mochi I thought it might have diffrent fillings, so I picked some up.As expected, they had a diffrent filling! And each one had a diffrent flavor.

I started with green which was matcha. For me, matcha is hit or miss, so I was surprised when I actually liked it! It was sweet and creamy with the slight earthy taste that comes from matcha.

Next I tried orange which turned out to be mango. Mango! I really like mango. It tasted really authentic as well. I have no idea what the filling is made of but it tasted like a mango frosting. Very good!

Third I had pink which was strawberry. To me, strawberry is a flavor you can't go wrong with, and  I expected it to be my favorite. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Not to say it was bad, but it was too subtle in the strawberry flavor and ended up just tasting sweet. Still good, just not as good as it could have been.

Finally was chocolate! This was hands down the best. It was filled with what tasted like a thick chocolate pudding that was so yummy! I could eat a package of just these ones. 

I wound up really loving these. It was nice to be able to get the feel of mochi with a flavor other than anko and I would absolutely get them again.