By MAKI HOSHII/ Staff Writer
July 16, 2021 at 07:00 JST
MAEBASHI--A high school student’s delectable dream of tasting a "baumkuchen" German layered cake inspired by "yaki manju," a local specialty, has become a reality.
Gunma prefecture residents young and old take pride in yaki manju, a skewered steamed bun that is glazed with sweet miso sauce and then roasted over charcoal. That gives it a soft, sweet inside and a crunchy, savory outside.
Baumkuchen, for its part, is an enormously popular pastry across Japan.
The student’s idea to combine the two delicious baked goods has been turned into a new commercial product, now available at convenience stores across the prefecture.
"There are fewer and fewer yaki manju shops, but we hope many people will enjoy this flavor," said a representative from Towa Bank Ltd., which is behind the project.
In 2019, the regional bank turned to three high schools in the prefecture as it searched for ideas for new promotional products. The company had previously made connections with the schools through a business networking event.
The bank received 48 project proposals.
It had asked Sweet Baum Corp., a Maebashi-based bakery that manufactures and sells Western pastries, to collaborate on the project.
After much consideration on the feasibility and appeal of the product pitches, the baumkuchen project proposed by the prefectural Seta Norin (agricultural and forestry) High School was given the greenlight.
The new product is made by mixing baumkuchen dough with red miso paste before baking. The cakes are then glazed with an original miso paste and baked again, creating a toasty, savory taste and crunchy texture.
Priced at 324 yen ($2.90), tax included, each package contains two sliced pieces of baumkuchen, about 8 centimeters in diameter, pierced on a skewer.
The product is now available at FamilyMart Co. convenience stores and at the Gunma Iroha shop at JR Takasaki Station.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it took more time than expected to roll out the unique baumkuchen. The student who came up with the idea has already graduated from the school.
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Yaki manju flavored baumkuchen with a package made to authentically look like the local specialty (Maki Hoshii)
