Asahi Balance Up Cream Genmai Bran Black Sesame Kinako – アサヒ バランスアップ クリーム玄米ブラン 黒ごまきなこ

Long time no review…I wish I could say the hiatus is due to my being healthy and eating fewer sweets but sadly it’s just laziness that has kept me from updating – my candy intake remains unchanged. However, I’m no stranger to the health food aisles and probably purchase soy bars and sugar-free jelly almost as often as chocolate. One product that I’ve been eating on and off for a few years now is the ‘Cream Genmai (brown rice) Bran’ from Asahi’s Balance Up range, cream-filled biscuits boasting high levels of fibre, iron and calcium.

The wide range of flavours includes cocoa, maple, apple and lemon, blueberry and mixed fruits, but today I opted for one I’d never tried before: black sesame and kinako.

Balance Up consists of two individual packets, each containing two rectangular sandwich cookies. Typically the biscuits are a pale sandy colour, flecked with assorted cereal grains, but this version looks slightly different, containing dark specks of sesame. The unmistakeable roasted, almost burnt aroma of black sesame dominates when you smell these, and also comes through strongly in the flavour upon eating. As for texture, the biscuits have the same dry crunch and crumble as thick oat cakes, but are neither floury nor buttery. There are coarse crumbs of brown rice, sesame and wheat bran which can be very hard if they catch your teeth at the wrong angle, though on the whole I like the crunchy, granular consistency. While there is enough sugar present to make these taste like biscuits as opposed to savoury crackers, the nutty, toasted flavours of the cereal keep the sweetness in check, so it does feel healthier than a typical cookie.

The peach-tinted kinako filling has an icing-like sweetness and consistency similar to that of most sandwich cookies, such as Oreos or bourbons, but I’d say it’s a little smoother and oilier, more like a thick paste than the solid creamy disc that can be extracted intact by a skillful nibbler. I found it a little oversweetened, as I couldn’t really detect the nutty, roasted flavour of kinako, but I think the contrast of dry, coarse biscuit and smooth, sugary center works wonderfully.

The packaging is covered with figures and side-notes stating that one serving contains two thirds of your daily recommended fibre intake, and ten kinds of vitamin and so on, but it’s usually best not to place too much faith in all these attractive claims. That said, despite their sweetness, these biscuits won’t set you off on a sugar high that’ll leave you craving more later; the feeling of satisfaction is fairly long-lasting, which makes them suitable as a diet food. Personally I’ve eaten them as both part of a health kick and to satisfy a sweet craving, so would recommend them to just about anyone!

7/10

(the above rating is for this particular product but I would rate some of the fruity flavours at 8/10 as I think the tartness of fruit compliments the sweetness of the filling better)

Asahi Balance Up Cream Genmai Bran Kurogoma Kinako   2packs   169kcal/pack

Quick update: Zero calorie tea and jelly, Apollo Matcha, Tirol Choco, Ichigo Milk Yoghurt, Matcha Oreos – ゼロカロリーティー・ゼリー、アポロ抹茶風味、チロルチョコ、いちごみるくクヨーグルト、オレオ抹茶風味

I haven’t had a chance to review anything for aaaaaages – I take the pictures but just don’t have time to write up reviews because of work. Soon it will be the summer holiday and there’ll be time to catch up but for now I’m just going to put up photos with a few notes~

Zero calorie peach and rosehip tea from Daiso (hundred yen shop) and zero calorie white peach jelly.

The tea is perfumey rather than fruity but the taste is pleasant. The jelly is absolutely delicious, it is very smooth – more like a cross between jam and fruit puree than jelly. The milky pink colour is pretty and the peach flavour is perfect. One of the best low-calorie products I’ve ever found.

Meiji Apollo Matcha (limited edition from Kansai)

The milk chocolate is not too sweet and, as you can tell from the rich colour, the matcha chocolate has a strong and earthy green tea flavour. Also the box design is ridiculously cute~

Tirol Choco Milk Daifuku, Raisin Sando, Azuki Parfait and Jersey Soft Cream

Milk Daifuku – a square of chewy mochi on a thin milk chocolate base, topped with a layer of thick sugar syrup and encased in white chocolate. This was pleasant in so much as if you like chocolate you’ll probably be satisfied, but I don’t think it’s anything special. The syrup was simply bland and sugary and it would have been nicer to have more flavours in play.

Jersey Milk Soft Cream – Buttery white chocolate with overtones of vanilla studded with fragments of crunchy biscuit. The biscuit has a similar texture and taste to Lotus biscuits, i.e. an element of dark, burnt sugar and cinnamon. A delicious new addition to the Tirol range and available as large individual pieces or a pack of eight minis.

Raisin Sando – Like the Jersey Milk Soft Cream this has a lovely butteriness and good vanilla flavour, thanks to the addition of ground vanilla beans. The picture highlights the problem that the crucial raisin element of this sweet is somewhat lacking, I’ve eaten this chocolate several times now and only get one or two small chunks of raisin in each candy. However, when you do get the raisin the flavour combination is excellent as the slight sharpness of the dried fruit is the perfect compliment to the rich dairy ingredients.

(I forgot to photograph the Azuki Parfait Tirols but they are wonderful – definitely try them if you can!)

Ichigo Milk Yoghurt

A strawberry dessert based on the popular ‘ichigo miruku’ candies. I found this product slightly confusing because the scent is sugary sweet, like the original candy, whereas the taste is actually quite tart with a subtle yoghurty sourness coming through, which doesn’t seem to match up with the sweetness of the smell. I enjoyed it as a fruity yoghurt but this will disappoint anyone hoping for a dessert that recreates the mild and milky flavour of the ichigo sweets.

Mini Matcha Oreos ~yummy~