Japanese cakes

Here's the ad from Il Rosa.

They have, as you can see, gorgeous cakes and cute cakes. I wish I could say they have delicious cakes, but they're just sort of okay in the taste department. Like nearly all Japanese patisseries, their cakes lack the depth of flavor that you would expect from someplace where they take such care with how the cake looks. They're sweet and creamy and the fruit toppings are fresh and attractive.

I mention them because we have four chou au crème in the refrigerator right now. When we went to the wedding on Saturday, my daughter made friends with another little girl and invited her over. Her parents dropped her off for two hours yesterday while they went shopping. They brought over a box of what is called in Japanese "shoe cream" or at least least, that's what it sounds like. These shoe cream are pretty popular here, and Il Rosa has the best, at least the best I've had so far. Too bad I don't really like them. I prefer anything with chocolate. (Valentine's Day is just over the horizon!)