This is the second in the series of Oddeaties posts that I’m archiving. Most of this was written by my girlfriend, and I throw my thoughts in at the end. Enjoy.

I’ve always marveled at Japanese snacks transposing other food’s tastes in varied and alien snack forms. When looking at these Hot Cake snacks (a variation of Japan’s Yaokin “Dora-Choco” snacks), I think to myself, “Did someone wake up one night and feverishly want chocolate chip pancakes, but didn’t want to cook them up?”

The snack is part of a larger Dora-Choco line of sponge cake and chocolate snacks, and this one mimics two chocolate chip pancakes and maple syrup in taste, if not in form. The package features a smiling stack of pancakes holding up a fork and knife. I was really not sure what I expected when I tore it open but I’m always up for snacky cakes. The two small (half-dollar sized) cakes are light and spongy with a thick paste between them. The texture is a little odd but not unsettling. The flavour is really what was remarkable – it really does taste like pancakes and syrup with a little chocolate hint. It might not be as maple-ish as one might expect, but rather nutty. This is probably to do with the intricacies of making a maple paste but I liked it none the less. Overall, the product was moist and not a bit stale with just the right amount of sweetness. Not too sweet and definitely not bland.

With its size, it won’t replace a good hearty breakfast, but its definitely a novelty snack that I’d eat on a regular basis when I want something maple and morsel-sized. The packaging and concept is very cute and would definitely be a hit with kids.

Breakfast for lunch, dinner and now snacks is always good with me.

Alex’s Two Cents: I left this particular item to Nicole, but took a bite out of the last one we had laying around just to get a taste. They’re interesting, but I would say they’re not great. I actually think I would have liked them better without the maple cream (?) in the middle. The cake bits were very pancakey, it was surprising how breakfasty they felt, but the cream was just not very flavorful and had a texture somewhere between caramel and white glue. Where Nicole said they were, “Not too sweet but definitely not bland,” I would have to disagree. The cream/paste was pretty bland. There was a hint of maple, but it served more to make the pancake feel funny in my mouth than taste good. Then again, I do like my candy on the sweeter end of the spectrum, so I might be the one off base.

They were okay. At 50 cents per package, they’re a pretty decent treat if you happen by them. I personally wouldn’t make special trips for them though.

As I stated last night, I’ll be rolling out the Oddeaties posts that ended up being nuked when I took that blog down, just to preserve them somewhere. I hate throwing out “finished” products. This first one was written by my girlfriend, who now writes for the Empowered Fire World of Warcraft blog. If you’re not into food, feel free to skip over this post. Really. I won’t be offended. I promise.

For my first entry on Oddeaties, I thought that maybe I’d start off with something that is only naturally odd, as opposed to jumping into the weird foods niche with my mouth open.

My first choice for a blog entry came to me in a rather mundane and surprising way. I was browsing the local supermarket circular and spied a rather unusual fruit – pluots. Maybe I’m just uncultured, but it was a SIGN! Nay, an omen, that I must use it as my first entry.

Pluots are quite interesting and maybe not be as unfamiliar as you think though.  According to Wikipedia:

It is a complex cross hybrid of plum and apricot, exhibiting more plum-like traits. The pluot, like the aprium, is derived from plums, apricots and or hybrids called the plumcot.

While some of the varities look more like their plum forebears, others have a disinctly spotty or mottled look, earning them the name “dinosaur eggs.”

Upon picking up the variety that I had, I could easily see where the plum came in. The skin was dark purple with black. Cutting it open, however, revealed a very deep rich red flesh. The fruit was not too firm or mushy and very juicy and pulpy. I spilled some of the juice in the counter while cutting it and it was a vivid blood color. The taste was very reminiscent of a plum but more mellow and sweet. Nothing about it was tart or even overpowering. This could easily go well with some pears or herbed cheese for a nice afternoon snack.

If you want to eat a pluot yourself, make sure you look for it in your local store during the summer months – most varieties run only between May and August. Hopefully there will be other fruit hybrids coming up for me to sink my teeth into.