Arrivederci maritozzo, ciao bombolone!
Identical to Italian desserts like tiramisu and panna cotta trended in Japan within the early Nineties, the early 2020s have seen Italian pastries trending as well. As a few of our readers may recall, maritozzo was the primary craze, and we saw myriad variations, some featuring seasonal produce like grapes or pumpkin last fall, and even creating hybrids with Japanese sweets.
But now that Japan’s infatuation with maritozzo has faded, the lastest Italian darling of the Japanese pastry scene is the bombolone. These filled donuts, primarily connected to Tuscanny but additionally traditional to other regions of Italy, are also sometimes called bomba (meaning “bomb”). Traditionally leavened for a day and a half to create a soft, fluffy dough, then powdered with sugar and crammed with all the pieces from custard or chocolate to Nutella or fruit jams, bombolone began emerging in Japan in early Spring and at the moment are trending more widely.
Identical to the maritozzo before it, variations unique to Japan are also popping up, equivalent to Hokkaido patisserie Morimoto Shinya’s red bean paste and mascarpone-filled bambolone (far left in image below).
Nonetheless, similar to the maritozzo before it, the preferred filling for bombolone in Japan is custard or whipped cream just like the ones now offered at Hankyu Bakery.
FamilyMart’s Bombolone
A author at our sister site Grape was desperate to try one, so when he learned that FamilyMart convenience stores were selling them, he decided to make the leap.
Photo: grape
Here’s what it looks like. Should you know Italian, it’s possible you’ll wonder why it says bomboloni although there’s obviously just one within the package. It’s one maritozzo, two maritozzi, one bombolone, two bomboloni, but for some reason, in Japan, the formerly trending pastry was generally known as マリトッツォ maritottso, whereas the newcomer is generally known as ボンローニ bonboroni. Capisci?
So, what does this convenience store bambolone taste like? As soon as our author got home, he wasted no time checking out.
Photo: grape
First, he opened the package to disclose a round doughnut with a fluffy texture. As expected, it was powdered sugar and looked sweet.
He tore it open to see the filling inside.
Photo: grape
He found that it was crammed with tasty-looking custard cream!
He took a bite and wasn’t disenchanted. The custard cream was sweet and melted easily in his mouth. The doughnut was also soft and fluffy, so he had no trouble eating the entire thing. It was a sinful pleasure!
It seems to have attracted loads of interest on the Web, with a wide range of comments being made on Twitter, equivalent to:
“I like Italian pastries, so I need to do this one, too!”
“The dough is deep-fried, but not too thick. The feel was melt-in-your-mouth and different from atypical doughnuts.”
“It looks prefer it is likely to be dense however it’s actually very light. That is going to be popular!”
“They were cool and engaging when stored within the refrigerator!”
Should you need a bombolone from FamilyMart, it would set you back 138 yen including tax.
They go great with coffee, so why not buy one for breakfast or as a snack?
Read more stories from grape Japan.
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— Six cute hime cut hairstyles based on illustrator Narumi Hosokawa
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