#Pocky

The Big Easy is the birthplace of beignet donuts, bluesy jazz and Bananas Foster. New Orleans’ oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter, is home to Brennan’s Restaurant; the spot where the first rum-soaked banana sizzled and smoked in the 1950s.  After a tumble in an alcoholic flame, the bananas were enjoyed over vanilla ice cream. Bananas Foster was so delectable that word of the dessert spread like wildfire through the states. Bananas Flambéed rummy bananas accompanied by ice cream brought many smiles to citizens of the USA in the 1950s.

1950s Japan saw its citizens enjoying caramels, ice cream and cookies courtesy of Ezaki-Glico. (One of Japan’s oldest candy manufacturers.) Pocky – a chocolate covered biscuit stick - popped up a decade later. Once again, dessert deliciousness could not be contained. Japanese Pocky was exported abroad. Although pockets of the USA are not aware of Pocky yet, all who have tasted the chocolate coated biscuit Pocky are fans.

Banana flambé is flamboyant, dramatic and wonderful. Equally magnificent is a petite version of the dessert with half the fuss and mess. Enter Chocolate Péjoy Banana Rum Cake Pops. What is a chocolate Pejoy? A slim biscuit stick filled with chocolate cream. Basically a chocolate Pocky turned inside out.

So, using a baking mix (Bisquick), I whipped up a grownups only banana rum cake batter popping with bits of Pejoy chocolate biscuits. I skipped the milk (used in most banana cake recipes) and poured in rum! The booze is, quite frankly, not prominent. Rather, the rum tempers the banana flavor, which leaves a fruity tickle on the tongue. Of course, the coatings of melted dark chocolate and chocolaty crumbled Péjoy crunch are a double whammy of deliciousness!

Dorothy clicks her ruby red slippers and declares three-times: “There’s no place like home.” Magically, the little girl and her dog, Toto are transported back to safety and comfort. Do you ever wish you could click your heels and go back in time?  When challenged with the unfamiliar, foods singing of childhood memories do seem to beckon this Ninja Baker.

Japanese Pocky is one of those foods for me. You know the skinny cookie/biscuit stick dipped in classic chocolate or strawberry cream or green tea matcha? In my hometown of Tokyo, Pocky is the perfect snack for transporting on the train. The chocolate topping melts in your mouth, not on your hands. (Yes, Pocky could be the M & Ms of the cookie family.) Plus, who can beat the combo of chocolate and cookies in one bite?