Fresh Dorayaki Sweet Red Beans & Whipped Cream

I want to take advantage of the strengths of refrigeration in Japanese sweets.

Fresh Dorayaki Sweet Red Beans & Whipped Cream is made from light, fluffy dorayaki pancakes, refreshing sweet red bean paste made of azuki beans from Tokachi, Hokkaido, and smooth whipped cream that melts in the mouth. Unlike ordinary products that can be stored at room temperature, this product focuses on the concept and specifications of a delicious dorayaki that can be eaten chilled (refrigerated).

We spoke to Mr. H about his commitment to and thoughts on the product as the developer of Fresh Dorayaki Sweet Red Beans & Whipped Cream.

――Tell us about what led you to develop Fresh Dorayaki Sweet Red Beans & Whipped Cream?

Room temperature dorayaki are a classic item found at convenience stores, and have been available for a long time. In developing a new dorayaki, we needed to explore what we would focus on when offering it at convenience stores, as compared with freshly baked dorayaki sold at Japanese sweet shops. Because we wanted customers to enjoy a change in the flavor, we decided to add whipped cream to see what would happen.

Whipped cream can only be used in chilled products, so we went ahead with the development given the belief that this would be an easy way of showing how this product differed from others. After all, you do not need to go with a chilled product if all you are doing is changing the ingredients of the pancake. One strength of chilled products is that they can be topped with fresh ingredients. Although the shelf life is shorter than that of room temperature products, another advantage is that chilled products allow you to adjust its sweetness because you do not have to add extra sugar to the red bean paste as a preservative.

――Tell us about the aspirations you placed on Fresh Dorayaki Sweet Red Beans & Whipped Cream

The package of this product only indicates that the azuki beans are from Tokachi, Hokkaido. But we actually narrowed down the beans to a specific variety called Erimo-shozu, which is from the town of Erimo-cho.

Data show that the temperature difference in Erimo-cho is so great that the bean flavor of Erimo-shozu is particularly condensed and drawn out. Of the chilled Japanese sweets that we produce, we only specify use of azuki beans to this degree for our Mame Daifuku and Fresh Dorayaki Sweet Red Beans & Whipped Cream. Thinking about details that go unnoticed by consumers because they are not described on the package is a major commitment.

――Did you face any challenges in developing Fresh Dorayaki Sweet Red Beans & Whipped Cream?

I struggled to continue my efforts to fine-tune aspects like the flavor and amount of ingredients until I was satisfied, and also with having to think about cost. In the past I worked as a pastry chef, but at the time my emphasis was on making delicious sweets following recipes and using prepared ingredients without worrying about cost. In product development now, however, we have to think about both the cost and the process. Think of this as always having to focus on all directions at once, rather than focusing on just one thing.

When it comes to the production process, there are of course steps that I was able to handle at individual shops during my time as a pastry chef, yet that cannot be handled in plants aiming for mass production. But I feel that it is important to make every effort to find a solution whenever possible, and not to leave anything undone.