Ufouu Japanese Cheesecake: Princess of Novelty Desserts
Ufouu Japanese Cheesecake: Princess of Novelty Desserts
by MadDuloque
5 Comments
MadDuloque
As novelty desserts go, Japanese cheesecake–like mochi donuts–may or may not be a flash-in-the-pan. (The Korean corndog craze has already faded a bit, but bubble tea too was “just a novelty import”…until it was suddenly on every corner of every city on the continent.) And it is a luxury, at ~$20 for a cake two people could easily split in one sitting.
So I totally sympathize with the naysayers on both counts: novelty dessert fatigue and cake-inflation fatigue are both very real and relatable. That said, I’ve had quite a few Japanese cheesecakes in Toronto and NYC, both of which have pretty serious Asian baking scenes, and Ufuoo kind of blew my mind. In fact, it’s the best Japanese cheesecake I’ve ever had, and the most unique.
The usual Japanese cheesecake (e.g. the beloved Uncle Tetsu) is basically a fluffier, breadier version of an American cheesecake, and I think it’s great. Ufuoo is doing something different: their cheesecake is actually somewhere between a Japanese fluffy pancake and a flan. Fans of both will love it. I’m a fan of both, and I love it. And upon reflection, the wince-inducing price wasn’t as bad as it seemed: each cake amounts to roughly three medium-sized slices of cake, and at $20 that would be around $6.60/slice. That’s pretty much the standard price for a slice of cake or pie nowadays. Just sayin’.
TL;DR: As novelty desserts go, I kind of adore this one.
TheMoneyOfArt
We bought one on a Sunday just to try it, went back Saturday morning to get one for a picnic. Very enjoyable and I appreciate the simplicity
Kittle42
I was recently in Osaka and had Rikuro. Ufouu doesn’t hold a candle to it, unfortunately.
sandeelishh
I tried to look up ufouu, Hokkaido, Japan… I don’t see any results other than this Chicago business. Is it wrong to suspect that they lied about being a Japanese company?
taruckus
How does it compare to Uncle Tetsu? I don’t really know what the idealized version of Japanese cheesecake is and only tried a few iterations outside of Japan, but that’s been my favorite so far.
5 Comments
As novelty desserts go, Japanese cheesecake–like mochi donuts–may or may not be a flash-in-the-pan. (The Korean corndog craze has already faded a bit, but bubble tea too was “just a novelty import”…until it was suddenly on every corner of every city on the continent.) And it is a luxury, at ~$20 for a cake two people could easily split in one sitting.
So I totally sympathize with the naysayers on both counts: novelty dessert fatigue and cake-inflation fatigue are both very real and relatable. That said, I’ve had quite a few Japanese cheesecakes in Toronto and NYC, both of which have pretty serious Asian baking scenes, and Ufuoo kind of blew my mind. In fact, it’s the best Japanese cheesecake I’ve ever had, and the most unique.
The usual Japanese cheesecake (e.g. the beloved Uncle Tetsu) is basically a fluffier, breadier version of an American cheesecake, and I think it’s great. Ufuoo is doing something different: their cheesecake is actually somewhere between a Japanese fluffy pancake and a flan. Fans of both will love it. I’m a fan of both, and I love it. And upon reflection, the wince-inducing price wasn’t as bad as it seemed: each cake amounts to roughly three medium-sized slices of cake, and at $20 that would be around $6.60/slice. That’s pretty much the standard price for a slice of cake or pie nowadays. Just sayin’.
TL;DR: As novelty desserts go, I kind of adore this one.
We bought one on a Sunday just to try it, went back Saturday morning to get one for a picnic. Very enjoyable and I appreciate the simplicity
I was recently in Osaka and had Rikuro. Ufouu doesn’t hold a candle to it, unfortunately.
I tried to look up ufouu, Hokkaido, Japan… I don’t see any results other than this Chicago business. Is it wrong to suspect that they lied about being a Japanese company?
How does it compare to Uncle Tetsu? I don’t really know what the idealized version of Japanese cheesecake is and only tried a few iterations outside of Japan, but that’s been my favorite so far.