![]() ![]() He came across the whimsical water cakes online in 2015 and was intrigued. Wong, originally from LA, has never been to Japan. He modeled his dessert after mizu shingen mochi, which – he said – roughly translates to “Japanese water cakes.” The Raindrop Cake website – – describes the confection as “a light, delicate and refreshing raindrop made for your mouth.”īoth the website and the cake were developed earlier this year by Wong, a 36-year-old digital brand strategist in New York who has since quit advertising to focus on his new food business. It’s about everything: the presentation, the visual experience, the toppings.” ‘Playful food’ ![]() Raindrop Cake is not just something you eat. “I’m not just selling a food item,” Wong said. The texture is supposed to be part of the appeal. I think the American palate finds jelly things kind of weird.” “People are nervous about it,” said Raindrop Cake creator Darren Wong. It’s a conversation starter, something that piques curiosity, maybe even a bit of awe, uncertainty, incredulity. Raindrop Cake is glassy-looking and shaped like an oversized drop of dew. By then, it was already an internet sensation. I had come across photos online of the see-through sweet, which debuted in spring at Smorgasburg in New York and arrived at the LA event in mid-June. Raindrop Cake was the reason I made a beeline for Smorgasburg. I had flown down for a three-day beach weekend. I was standing in one of the few shady spots at Smorgasburg LA, a weekly food fair held at the 5-acre Alameda Produce Market in downtown Los Angeles. It was wiggly, jiggly, but not as thick nor as firm as gummy candy or Jell-O or gelatin – all things to which it’s been compared. But before my first bite, I couldn’t resist the urge to poke the thing. ![]() The first time I had a Raindrop Cake, I chose black sugar syrup. Black sugar and matcha green tea syrups provide a gentle sweetness. Toasted soy flour lends a mild nuttiness that, when mixed with the melty “cake,” tastes a little like peanut butter. But water still.Īccompaniments add to the taste and texture. Use distilled rather than tap water to achieve a perfectly clear cake-I realized this six cloudy cakes in.It tastes wet. If you don’t want to buy a mould, a small rice bowl with a round bottom works wonderfully (the raindrop slides right out). Kitchen supply stores will also have silicone moulds to achieve the raindrop shape. Opt for the powdered stuff as it’s easier to measure and dissolve. A very blank canvas,” he says of the original raindrop cake.Īgar can readily be found at Asian grocers (it’s a staple in southeast and east Asian desserts) in the form of dried strips or powder. He also topped a bunch of the cakes with gold leaf, mango puree, mint leaves and dehydrated avocados and raspberries. At his home kitchen in Mississauga, Placko made a version that uses 1/8 tsp agar, and added sugar and rosewater for flavour. Too little agar and the drop won’t hold its shape, too much and it becomes cloudy and more silicone than raindrop. “Gelatin gives a more elastic texture whereas agar will provide a more crumbly texture, which I think is the effect it’s going for.” He says the key is getting the right balance of water and agar, a jellylike substance derived from seaweed, to achieve that delicate effect so that when you tap it with a spoon, the cake collapses rather than bounces (much like a raindrop). I asked chef John Placko, a molecular cuisine instructor, for some raindrop cake tips. This month, Australian Japanese restaurant Harajuku Gyoza got into the action by making their own sweetened version.īy now you can find online recipes on how to recreate the raindrop cake at home but I wanted to get some local help. Wong, who works at a digital marketing firm, got the idea to bring it to the States. The cake first went viral in 2014 when Japan’s Kinseiken Seika Company made a clear version of its shingen mochi, a soft mochi rice cake topped with roasted soybean flour and syrup. Since I refuse to spend $8 on flavourless jelly, I sought to make my own.īut first, a backgrounder. The dessert has been making the rounds across international media outlets for the past two months, spurred on by New Yorker Darren Wong, who started selling it for $8 a pop at a Williamsburg (of course) food market called Smorgasburg in April. After 30 minutes or so, the whole thing is supposed to disintegrate. When bitten, the raindrop yields a soft, melty texture that falls apart rather than giving off a chewy, bouncy, Jell-O-like texture. OK, it’s actually called a raindrop cake and it’s essentially a half-sphere of colourless, flavourless jelly that’s supposed to look-and taste-like a large, freshly fallen raindrop. This year’s answer to the cronut is an edible breast implant. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |