Vegetable Breads by Bakery 1946 - Whole Chestnut, Corn and Carrot

After trying Bakery 1946's Sweet Pumpkin Bread, I found it intriguing enough to try their other vegetable breads, which were sold out then. On my latest visit, I managed to get my hands on their Whole Chestnut Bread, Carrot Bread and Corn Bread. Look how bright and pretty they are. 10/10 for artistic effect.

As with the pumpkin bread, these are all actually not breads at all!

Actually, they are even more stretchy and slightly rubbery compared to the Brazilian pão de queijo, with no crispy bits. Think of them as full-fledged mochi with filling so you'll not be disappointed.

Whole Chestnut Bread

This was not named for the filling as it did not contain any whole chestnuts, as you can see in the image of the fillings. Presumably the shape sought to imitate a whole chestnut with the flat underside mimicking a real chestnut's flatter surface. What I liked was how they took pains to make the surface look roasted, like the roadside whole roasted chestnut snacks in East Asia (although they are also apparently found in other cities in Europe and the US).

Indeed, it tasted buttery with a nutty roasted chestnut taste in bean paste, with toasty notes reminiscent of rice pops. A kind of hybrid of roadside roasted chestnuts and Japanese chestnut bean paste with mizuame-like caramel notes. (Mizuame is a traditional Japanese sweetener made from glutinous rice and malt, which gives traditional Japanese sweets such as dorayaki and Japanese castella their distinct honey-caramel taste.) I loved how complex and nuanced this flavor was, and it was the most so out of all the vegetable breads.

However, due to the rather rubbery texture of the bread and the paste-like texture of the filling, it wasn't something I could eat in great quantities, so I didn't manage to finish it.

Corn Bread

This tasted like a cheesy cream of sweet corn soup flavor nestled in slightly sweet cream cheese.

Although the flavor is more generic, it was probably the most palatable for me, as the slightly savoury profile helped to balance out the heavy starchiness of the mochi.

Visually, however, it was the least appetizing, with a texture similar to yellow play dough, as you can see.

Carrot Bread

This was fun to look at visually, resembling a lightly peppered grilled carrot. The leaf is plastic, but the green contrasted nicely with the bold orange.

Taste wise, it was the worst in my opinion. I thought it might taste like a carrot soup or something, but not at all. There was a weird synthetic taste in cream cheese, like a mixed vegetable seasoning taste with msg, or in a bad sense, like something left in the fridge for too long which ends up absorbing the garlic and other vegetable flavours. It tainted the cheese with a fakeness that reminded me of cheap nacho cheese crackers. Absolutely unappetizing, and I couldn't get beyond the first bite.

Verdict: Overall pretty to look at, but a poor gustatory experience, especially because of the rubbery mochi case IMO. This could explain why there doesn't seem to be a line for them, although their other offerings such as croissants always had people milling around them. In short, it's probably more of a marketing gimmick IMO. 

Nonetheless, it's great for instagram posts, celebrations if you love pretty platters. And the chestnut and pumpkin versions are worth trying just once to see how they combined the flavours!

If you found these vegetable mochi-breads interesting, check out these macrobiotic vegetable and herb cookies featuring gobo, carrot, pumpkin, Japanese mugwort and purple sweet potato cookies, and carrot soymilk.