Tiny chocolate gets a massive overhaul, thanks to the chain known for huge desserts.
In annual surveys revealing the most popular chocolates on the market, Yuraku Confectionery Company’s Black Thunder consistently ranks in the top placings.
There’s a lot to love about the palm-sized chocolate bar — it has just the right combination of puffed rice and dark cocoa-flavoured cookie pieces, it has a low recommended retail price of 30 yen (US$0.21), and the brand’s effective marketing has made it the go-to giri choco for Valentine’s Day.
In fact, the humble chocolate has such a loyal fanbase of devotees that there’s even been a run of Black Thunder hotel rooms in Japan, along with some other surprising tie-ups with local businesses, like this latest collaboration with Japan’s Komeda Coffee cafe chain.
The soft-serve-topped pastry depicted in the image above is a famous one in Japan, as it’s the “Shiro Noir“, the signature dessert at Komeda Coffee, a chain with close to 1,000 outlets around the country. It’s usually served sans chocolate, with a honey-based syrup instead, but from 22 November, Komeda’s Shiro Noir will be joined on the menu by the Black Thunder version seen above.
For fans like our reporter Egawa Tasuku, this was a dessert that warranted an immediate tasting, so he hotfooted it down to his nearest branch and placed an order for the regular size, which is priced between 800-860 yen (US$5.77-$6.20), depending on location.
▼ And this is what he received.
The moment he saw it, it was love at first sight. The familiar scent of Black Thunder, a chocolate he’d grown up eating since childhood, permeated Egawa’s nostrils and sent him right back to his younger days. A 10-year-old Egawa would’ve lost his wits at seeing a dessert like this, but now that he was an adult, he suppressed his inner urge to jump up and down on his chair, instead pausing for a thorough inspection.
▼ On the surface, there was an amount of chocolate so great it seemed to challenge the limitations of the plate.
▼ Sprinkled on the soft serve in the centre were chocolate cookie pieces…
▼ …and scattered around the top were plain biscuit pieces that looked a bit like nuts at first glance.
Checking between the Danish pastry beneath it all revealed there was chocolate between that too! Looking closely, Egawa could even see some chocolate cookie pieces within the melted chocolate.
Egawa had read some comments online referring to the product as false advertising, but in a good way, saying the promotional images don’t accurately reveal just how much Black Thunder chocolate the dessert contains. Seeing it in person, he agreed that this was true — he never expected the Shiro Noir to be so completely drenched in Black Thunder, but he definitely wasn’t complaining.
Then, when he got a taste of it, he really wanted to jump on his chair and sing his praises for it. It tasted exactly like Black Thunder!!
Of course, there was a slight taste change in taste, due to the cold soft serve and warm Danish on the plate, but these components just added to the flavour explosion. Every bite of the warm pastry caused more chocolate to ooze out, flooding Egawa’s taste buds with the delicious flavour of Black Thunder, which was warmer and gooier than the bar he’d grown up with, but exactly the same in flavour and crunch, thanks to all those cookie pieces.
It was one of the most chocolatey desserts Egawa has ever eaten, and certainly one of the tastiest, with a great synchronicity between chocolate and pastry. Egawa seriously recommends trying it, but if you’re not game to take on a full-sized Shiro Noir, there are mini sizes available for 600-660 yen. And if you’d like to get a taste of Black Thunder at home, you can always try it on toast with these innovative slices!
Related: Komeda coffee shop locations
Photos: ©SoraNews24
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