Chestnut Kuri Kinton Dorayaki by La Creer (Rakuri) in Gifu Prefecture, Japan

Usually, dorayaki comes with red bean filling, so when I saw this unusual Chestnut Paste Dorayaki, I wanted to try it. La Creer (transliterated "Rakuri" in Japanese) is apparently a signature brand of Gifu specialising in chestnut products. 

Kuri means chestnut, and Kuri Kinton refers to a chestnut paste usually made with sweet potatoes. However, based on the ingredients list (image further below), this version only uses pure chestnuts for the paste, and the chestnuts are specifically grown in Gifu Prefecture in Japan. Furthermore, on the ingredients list is also white beans, so it seems to be a chestnut and bean paste.

There is no whole chestnut - only chestnut paste, as you can see in the picture below. It is a glistening golden paste.

The taste was quite remarkable indeed - very different from the normal dorayaki. Because of the chestnut paste, there was a very strong fragrant roasted chestnut aroma, with sweet, woody and nutty notes. Like the freshly roasted roadside chestnuts. 

This was complemented by a somewhat candied and honey-like sweetness, similar to candied chestnuts or marron, possibly due to the other ingredients in the paste such as sugar and maybe mizuame, which provides malty and caramelised notes. But it was better than marron because usually candied chestnuts do not have that strong roasted chestnut aroma.

And all this paired very well with the traditional Japanese dorayaki pancake which uses mizuame, enhancing the grainy, malt-like caramelised taste. 

This is possibly one of my favourite or preferred dorayaki fillings and highly recommended.

Finally, here is the ingredients list for reference (click to enlarge image).

Discover other chestnut treats

• Marron Pie by Dulcet & Studio
• Black Sesame with Mung Bean and Sugar-Free Chestnut Lotus with Black Sesame Mooncakes
• Whole Chestnut Bread by Bakery 1946