My Châteraisé Discovery

My Châteraisé Discovery

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been in love with sweets, especially chocolate and macaroon cookies. During my high school years in Saitama, I often went to chocolate stores to buy delicacies such as macaroons or chocolate. There was one day when my mom visited me from Taiwan, and she bought me a present in a local store; it felt like a jewelry box, and I couldn’t wait to open it. The gift was a long rectangular box with Châteraisé written on it; it was a peculiar name to me at the time, it sounded French. I was interested in the name because I had never heard of this brand, but I was certain of one thing, there was something that smelled sweet inside the box, something delicious. I was eager to open the box and to find out what was creating this alluring aroma. I opened the box to find a small round cream puff, the cream looked fluffy and plump like a wooly sheep. I took a bite, and the taste was rich and creamy, it wasn’t too sweet for me, unlike the overly sweet pastries in the US. I immediately got addicted to it. Sadly, I never had a chance to visit the Châteraisé bakery store until I started going to university in Yamanashi, there I found a store near the school, I was so excited that I started jumping from joy, I immediately started to run towards the store. The store is very eye-catching with wine- colored striped canopies, and its European design makes the building stand out beside the road; almost like you are in a European country such as France. The store is bright and welcoming inside with professional employees that are helpful and friendly. They gladly explained the various sweets to me when I was confused about what I should try or what was inside, they even provided me with some recommendations. They helped me discover the large number of sweets and pastries available at the store, which are all neatly organized into different categories. At one corner, there are displays for Western sweets like Belgian waffles. Another corner displays ice-cream, and there’s another corner in the store that is decicated to Japanese sweets like dorayaki, a pancake filled with red bean paste. I started to think, “Even their Western sweets have a distinct Japanese feeling.” Like matcha tiramisu, the way they make it is completely different. Originally, tiramisu is usually covered with chocolate powder and has coffee-soaked cookies at the bottom, but in this case, Châteraisé uses popular Japanese flavors. For instance, Châteraisé uses more layers and ingredients than a regular tiramisu, replacing coffee with matcha syrup. And instead of mascarpone, they also include an extra bottom layer of butter cream under the sponge cake. Within the buttercream layer, there is a thin line of sweetened red beans, a nice surprise for me. Also, the intricacy involved in how the cakes and other delicacies are presented; perfectly symmetrical looking and the way it has a beautiful color scheme like a painting, is something that I can only image happening in Japan. I was amazed by the quality of their products and the way they present them. The sweets at Châteraisé are wrapped and packaged in many ways. They often use flowers and leaves as decorations, and when there’s seasonal events, they use seasonal designs. One only needs to think of the way they use pumpkins and ghosts on the wrappings and boxes for Halloween, and Christmas trees and snowmen for Christmas. I could walk in with 1000 yen and walk out with a bag full of cute-looking, delicious sweets. So, I started to look into this sweets paradise. I wanted to know everything about this store.

The box is simple but practical.

Matcha Tiramisu

I found out that Châteraisé is a famous Japanese confectionary brand. They sell many types of pastries and sweets for inexpensive prices, which is perfect for budget-minded lovers of pastries and delicacies. It was originally founded in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1954. The company’s rise to fame started with their imagawa-yaki, a traditional Japanese pastry that looks like a small, thick round pancake with a center of red bean paste. Nowadays, you can also find bread and other types of non-sweet food in the shop such as curry and pizza. Depending on the season, special pastries can be found for special events such as Halloween or Christmas. They pride themselves on using fresh ingredients directly from contracted farmers to create the best sweets. They wish to reduce the amount of preservatives as much as possible. This limits production for international sales due to the time and climate conditions; some locations such as S.E. Asia are very humid, which would dramatically reduce shelf life. To overcome this issue, when they made the decision to go abroad, products are premade, frozen, then sent to various places abroad. Their stores can be found throughout Asia and as far away as the UAE. Naturally, if you wish to buy the sweets as fresh as possible, I recommend visiting a store in Japan.

Châteraisé in Kofu Showa

When I tried Châteraisé’s apple pie I was immediately sold. It’s not a traditional apple pie made in a pie dish. It looks like a shell made out of crunchy dough with a filling, and it has a golden crust which reminds me of a croissant with its many layers. It has a crunchy crust outside and a light filling within. The paste inside is a mixture of pastry cream with caramelized chunks of apple. The moment I bit into it, it was like an explosion of creaminess in my mouth. I was impressed by the richness of the butter, and when I bit into one of the apple chunks, there was a delicate aftertaste of caramel. I particularly like their apple pie because it has this creaminess with apple being the main flavor/ingredient. I can’t find this anywhere else. Other places I have tried go overboard with the cinnamon, which takes away the flavor of apple, or they use apples that lose their firmness after baking. Whenever I take a bite of a Châteraisé apple pie, the flavor brings forth vivid memories when I was a child in Texas, my mom used to bake apple pie every week when our family came over. It’s an intrinsic part of American tradition; a delicious tradition that we, as migrants, were very happy to participate in. Apple pie will always make me think of this period of my life, it gives me this warm feeling in my heart.

Châteraisé Premium Apple Pie

Châteraisé Official Website (English and Japanese):
https://www.chateraise.co.jp/global

References:
(tenshain), 愛吃愛玩愛分享. "[微風南京甜點推薦]莎得徠茲 Chateraise Taiwan/好便宜的日 本直送甜點/芒果味開心蛋糕 CP 值超高/ @ 大象愛吃愛玩愛分享 :: 痞客邦 ::." 大象愛吃愛玩愛分享, 2 Nov. 2020, tenshain.pixnet.net/blog/post/360425891- %5B%E5%BE%AE%E9%A2%A8%E5%8D%97%E4%BA%AC%E7%94%9C%E9% BB%9E%E6%8E%A8%E8%96%A6%5D%E8%8E%8E%E5%BE%97%E5%BE%A0%E8%8C%B2chateraise-taiwan-%E5%A5%BD. Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.

NAGAE, YUKO. "Nikkei Asia." Nikkei Asia - Business, Politics, Economy and Tech News & Analysis, 16 Jan. 2018, asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-trends/Made-in-Japan-cake-exports-satisfy-Southeast-Asia-s-sweet-. Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.

小哈. "[甜點] 台北‧松山‧莎得徠茲 Chateraise 雙餡泡芙‧日本直送‧微風南京甜點‧ @ 哈美食‧

美食販賣機~請投幣! Gourmet Vending Machine 『關注』◎Instagram◎『按讚』 ◎Facebook◎ :: 痞客邦 ::." 哈美食‧美食販賣機~請投幣! Gourmet Vending Machine 『關注』◎Instagram◎『按讚』◎Facebook◎, 31 Jan. 2016, justnike.pixnet.net/blog/post/62570213. Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.

株式会社シャトレーゼ. "Global | シャトレーゼ." シャトレーゼ, www.chateraise.co.jp/global. Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.

Vivian Chloé