The hottest topic in Japan right now! A Mont Blanc cake with a best-before-date of 10 minutes!

Did you know there is a café that serves a Mont Blanc cake with a best before date of only 10 minutes? If you also got to know this café shown in many television programs could only be had here in Kyoto, you would have to go, right? So, does this all too ephemeral Mont Blanc taste good? Shiho and Vanessa went to find out!

This Mont Blanc cake might look normal, but it has a best before date of only 10 minutes. The reason for this is in the meringue inside the Mont Blanc! 

The meringue is baked for three hours at low heat, and it is very delicate. Its texture changes quickly if it is in contact with air. It is because this café wants you to taste this Mont Blanc when it is at its absolute best that they put the best before date at 10 minutes. This doesn’t mean that you can’t eat the Mont Blanc after 10 minutes, just that the texture changes to a more soft and smooth one.

This best-before-time-of-10-minutes Mont Blanc can be had at the Sweets Café Kyoto Keizo, which is a snug little café in the shopping arcade close to the World Heritage Site of Nijo Caste. 

The inside of the café that is in a renovated town house is really sophisticated. On weekends people line up to get a chance to taste the Mont Blanc, but if you go on a weekday afternoon, you shouldn’t have to line up.

They also have terrace seating, but only in spring and autumn. 

Time to taste the Mont Blanc we all were waiting for! (Of course including Shiho and Vanessa.)

After waiting for about five minutes, we get our Mont Blanc. Even the way it stands on our plate is beautiful… and the staff will gently guide you through the deeper aspects of this Mont Blanc cake. The proper way to eat this Mont Blanc is to cut it in half first, so you get to hear the delightful crunch of the cake. So, of course, we did as advised!

As the staff told us, you get to hear a satisfying crunch when you cut the cake. This sound made us really want to dig into this cake!

 The meringue looks like a sponge cake, but once you put some in your mouth… it melts right away! Like magic! The meringue disappears before you even have time to chew! This is a cake full of surprises. 

Once you start, you can’t stop. And the reason for this is not only in the meringue. The chestnut cream that surrounds the Mont Blanc is made using Japanese chestnuts, and it is not overly sweet. But the taste is still full of chestnut! The taste is surprisingly light, and after finishing one you are left feeling like you wanted one more. There actually seem to be customers who order two or even three of these cakes. Everyone seems to be addicted to this Mont Blanc! 

This café is right by Nijo Castle, so it is easily accessed after some sightseeing at the castle. I want to recommend this café with the fleeting Mont Blanc cake with a lifetime of only 10 minutes to all of you, my dear readers!