We now don’t have long to wait until sakura season starts and people go outside to walk and picnic under the blossoms as part of a traditional pastime known as Hanami or looking at flowers. While the emphasis will be heavily on pink drinks and sakura-matching foods, it’s also a traditional time of year when Japanese sweets are a perfect accompaniment to flower viewing, and that’s what McDonald’s is giving us this year, with the new limited edition Matcha Kuromitsu Warabi Mochi Pie.
This new spring-style pie is a first for McDonald’s in two ways: Not only is it the chain’s first-ever matcha-flavored pie, it’s also the first to feature a three-layer flavor. The three layers inside the crispy pie dough consist of soft warabi (fern) mochi, smooth matcha bean paste, made by kneading Uji matcha with white bean paste, and kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) sauce.
According to McDonald’s, the original concept for the cake was that it would feature a two-layer combination of matcha and warabi mochi, but in an effort to create an even more exciting product, they decided to add brown sugar syrup, and that’s what warabi do. Mochi is served traditionally.
The biggest challenge was how to encase the filling so that the three layers fit together in a balanced and visually appealing way. Through repeated trial and error, the resulting cake is said to be an excellent combination of not only flavor but also texture, with the matcha paste providing a chewy contrast to the light and fluffy warabi mochi and the thick and syrupy brown sugar sauce.
▼ The new release includes a commercial to promote the new product, starring Japanese actress Aoi Miyazaki.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlClyLZwjCQ
In the ad, Miyazaki is sitting with her kohai (“junior”), who asks her: Matcha, suki desu ka? (“Do you like matcha?”), to which she answers in the affirmative, saying: suki, suki (“like, like”). He further asks if she likes kuromitsu and then warabimochi, to which she says suki and then Daisuki (“love”), making it clear that she likes them all (Zenbu). In fact, she can’t get enough of it (tamaranai desu), and if the cake really tastes as good as it looks, we will soon get that feeling when we try it.
The new cake starts at 200 yen, depending on whether you order it for takeout, dine-in or delivery. However, if you’re in Japan, there’s a chance you can get it for free as McDonald’s is giving away 1,000 yen gift cards to 100 randomly selected people.
There are two chances to win, both of which require you to follow the official McDonald’s Japan Twitter account. On March 12, from 8:00 AM to 11:59 PM (JST), followers who reply to the tweet with the hashtag “#抹茶黒蜜わらびもちパイ明日発売” (“The Matcha Kuromitsu Mochi Pie goes on sale tomorrow”) will use the same hashtag has a chance to win.
Alternatively, followers can enter another sweepstakes on March 13 from 7 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., with 100 people replying to the tweet with the hashtag “#抹茶黒蜜わらびもちパイ好き” (“I love the Matcha Kuromitsu Warabi Mochi Pie “) with the same hashtag will win a 1,000 yen gift card.
As the campaign states, the new pie will be on the menu from March 13, but only for a limited time until mid-April. So if you want to try Japan’s first-ever matcha pie, you’ll want to be quick while it’s available, although we’ve got our fingers crossed that it’ll make a comeback next year, just like McDonald’s Tsukimi Pie, which has become a popular pie. mainstay during the lunar season.
Source, images: press release
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