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A truly sweet affair — high fashion meets high dessert at the Tokyo Sweets Collection!

Kay Nov 20, 2014
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We’d like to think that all things sweet and beautiful have a certain universal appeal, regardless of country and culture. Japan is no exception, and the Japanese public certainly loves sweets in all shapes and sizes, so much so that the word pâtissier, French for “pastry chef,” has become an established part of the Japanese language. From that viewpoint, an event that brings delectable desserts, beautiful fashion and entertainment all together in one package is something of a dream experience, at least for this writer. And just recently, we were fortunate enough to attend exactly such an event — the Tokyo Sweets Collection 2014!

Join us as we take you along on a sweet journey through this unique show in which six renowned pastry chefs serve up heavenly plates of desserts in a fantastical setting complete with lights, music, dancing and models in beautiful clothes, all designed to tantalize not just your taste buds but all of your senses!

The event, which has offered guests more than a simple sweets tasting experience since its inception in 2008, took place this year last weekend at the Club Ex located within the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Complex, returning to the venue where the very first Collection was held six years ago. A ticket to this year’s show cost 6,800 yen (US$58.32) including the six desserts (yes, we know that’s a lot of sweets) and also a box of confectionaries to take home.

▼When we reached the venue, we were first greeted by a dazzling display made of berries — lots of them!

▼The bright red color was certainly eye-catching …

▼… and the sight of all those berries made our mouth water!

▼Another display we saw at the entrance, this one a tall cake.

▼Just look at the intricate details!

▼And this is what the hall at Club Ex looked like.

▼There was a large stage and walkway in the center.

▼We were shown to our seat and served a welcome drink.

▼The drink was a strawberry and almond milk smoothie. It was a bit sweeter than a typical fruit smoothie (this was a sweets event, after all), but was still full of strawberry flavor and incredibly creamy.

▼We were also given a lovely pamphlet …

▼… which gave the profiles of the six pâtissiers participating in the event …

▼… as well as the themes each of the chefs were basing their desserts on.

The six talented chefs performing in the show were: Koichi Izumi (chef and owner of Asterisque), Koutatsu Kanda (L’automne), Jiro Tanaka (Calva), Yasuhiro Takagi (Entrée), Toshihiko Yoroizuka (Toshi Yoroizuka) and Yoshinori Matsushima (head pastry chef at Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel). This year, each chef was given a fairytale theme or similar storyboard concept which they were expected to create a dessert around. During the show, there was a short performance for each dessert relating to the theme — sometimes dancing, other times a video shown on the large screen on stage or even a live sand drawing act in one instance — after which each pâtissier appeared on stage and spoke briefly about his creation before it was served to the audience.

▼First up was chef Izumi, whose theme was “Hansel and Gretel“.

▼His creation was a dark red berry mousse-coated dome cake with pistachio mousse inside and topped with a beautiful strawberry, embodying “the magic of sweets that can take you back to your childhood”.

▼Edible flowers were used so you could eat the petals too! The petals added a lovely fragrance to the dessert.

▼The mild flavor of the pistachio mousse contrasted nicely with the tangy tasted of the outside berry mousse. There was also a liquor soaked cherry inside the cake, although not visible in this picture.

▼Next we had chef Kanda, whose dessert was based on “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland“.

▼His dessert was a soft, mousse-type cheesecake with a citrus sauce served on a round yellow base of hard sugar. The broken pieces of hard sugar represent the character Humpty Dumpty, the egg appearing in the Alice tales, who falls from the wall and breaks.

▼The cheesecake was delightfully smooth, the sauce complementing it with a nice bit of flavor and the cookie pieces adding a crunchy texture.

▼Next was chef Tanaka, pictured in the center below, who worked with the theme of “Sleeping Beauty“.

▼Chef Tanaka’s cake was an irresistibly soft and jiggly item consisting of a mild vanilla-ish flavored mousse with prune ice cream inside .

▼What was particularly unique about this dessert was that it came with a bottle of lychee fragrance which you sprinkled onto the cake. Imagine, a perfume for cake! Chef Tanaka said he wanted his cake to be reminiscent of a sweet kiss, like the one that woke Sleeping Beauty. Yes, it was sweet, all right!

▼The outside mousse almost looked like poached egg!

▼Chef Takagi’s dessert was next, based on the story of “Little Red Riding Hood“.

▼ His cake was an adorable little apple pie, made with filling containing apples cooked for 10 hours! The color red apparently inspired the use of apples, and the idea of a wholesome home-baked apple pie seemed to fit nicely with the image of something Little Red Riding Hood may have had in her basket to take to her grandmother.

▼The thin crisp outer layer of the pie looked incredibly tempting, and it came with an almond sorbet on the side.

▼Just take a look at the beautifully cooked apples inside! However it’s presented, apple pie never fails to please.

▼Next up was chef Yoroizuka, whose theme for his dessert was “Marie Antoinette“, a historical figure who is well-known and quite popular in Japan (not in small part to the manga and anime Rose of Versailles).

▼He created a Baba cake made from brioche soaked in rum syrup — a traditional French dessert with a long history, which Marie Antoinette most surely would have eaten during her time. The Baba cake is actually a specialty of the Pâtisserie Stohrer, the oldest pastry shop in Paris, where chef Yoroizuka spent two years working in the late 1990’s.

▼The cake was garnished with a cherry and whipped cream and served with a crème anglaise. The flavor of rum was quite strong, and yes, it was blissful.

▼Last up was chef Matsushima, who worked with the concept of “The Last Supper” to create his cake, which he hoped would be something worthy of carefully savoring as if it was your last meal.

▼His dessert was a square cake made from layers of ganache and praline cream as well as biscuit Joconde, a kind of almond sponge cake, topped with a mild vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

▼Yes, it was a beautiful creation that we wanted to savor mouthful by mouthful. And see those delicate layers of sweetness!

So, those were the six desserts that we sampled during the afternoon, and if that isn’t sweet bliss, we don’t know what is.

But the show also included several other live attractions as well. At one point, the chefs all got together and baked some small madeleines right on stage.

▼Here the chefs are preparing the madeleine batter. They even brought an oven onto the stage, so it really was baked right in front of us.

There was also another live performance in which three of the chefs created chocolate and sugar art objects on stage.

▼Here, chef Izumi is adding the final touches to his elaborate tower of chocolate.

▼Chef Tanaka created a gorgeous statue of sugar adorned with flowers and ribbons.

▼And Chef Matsushita painted a magnificent dragon in chocolate.

▼The event concluded with a fashion show showcasing lovely dresses and elaborate hats adorned with sweets created by the chefs.

▼All the chefs came out for the finale …

▼… and gave the audience a parting bow.

▼And here we have some close-up pictures of the artful creations by the chefs.

▼Oh, and we can’t forget the box of treats they gave us to take home! The box was beautifully illustrated.

▼And was filled with a baked confection from each of the chefs.

▼Mmmm … we were going to have a hard time deciding which to try first!

▼Yup, we still can’t decide ….

Well, we hope you enjoyed our report of the Tokyo Sweets Collection 2014. This was our first time at the event, and yes, we know it was a lot of sugar to consume in one afternoon, but we were thoroughly impressed with not just the quality of the desserts, but the entire presentation of the show as well. In fact, to be completely honest, we can’t wait to get next year’s tickets!

We’ll leave you with a short video of the event put together by the producers of the show. Enjoy!

Photos: RocketNews24