**A Taste of Japan: Emergency Ration Cupcakes**

As I unwrapped the can of Japanese emergency ration cupcakes, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and curiosity. These compact desserts were designed to provide sustenance in times of crisis, and I was eager to try them out. The first thing that struck me was the unique honeycomb pattern on the can, which seemed almost like a work of art.

As I cut into the first cake, I was greeted by a sweet aroma that hinted at the flavors within. The texture was light and airy, with a moistness that was both surprising and delightful. The flavor profile was distinct, with a pronounced maple extract note that was reminiscent of a maple bearclaw. While it might have been a bit too sweet for some tastes, I found myself enjoying the subtle nuances of this cupcake.

The second cake in the can was wrapped in a similar paper doily, adorned with an intricate honeycomb pattern. As I cut into it, I was greeted by the scent of candied dried fruit, which hinted at the flavors within. The texture was similar to the first cake, light and airy, but the flavor profile was less distinctive. The presence of candied fruit added a welcome depth to this cupcake, although I couldn't quite pinpoint what kind of fruit it was.

The final test was the chocolate cupcake, which promised to be rich and decadent despite its compact size. As I cut into it, I was rewarded with a deep, satisfying chocolate flavor that felt both indulgent and restrained. The texture was light yet moist, similar to a chiffon cake, and the level of sweetness was just right – not too overpowering, but still noticeable.

**Design Features**

One feature that stood out immediately was the safety edge on the can's lid, which made it safer to open without risking cuts or injuries. This thoughtful design element was a welcome surprise in an otherwise utilitarian package.

In contrast, traditional American cupcakes would have left me with sharp edges and a higher risk of injury. These Japanese emergency ration cupcakes were truly innovative in their attention to safety and practicality.

**A New Appreciation**

As I savored each cupcake, I began to appreciate the unique qualities that set these desserts apart from more familiar American-style treats. The textures, flavors, and design elements all combined to create a truly distinctive experience that was both fascinating and enjoyable.

Of course, personal taste plays a significant role in this assessment, and not everyone may share my enthusiasm for these cupcakes. However, I would argue that they offer a refreshing alternative to the usual cupcake fare, with a focus on texture, flavor, and practicality that is well worth exploring.

**Conclusion**

As I finished the last cupcake, I couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the engineers and designers who created these Japanese emergency ration cupcakes. They were truly innovative solutions to a pressing problem, offering both sustenance and comfort in times of crisis.

Whether or not you'll enjoy them is up to you, but I hope this article has given you a taste (pun intended) of what's possible when creativity meets practicality. Who knows? You might just find yourself seeking out these delightful cupcakes at your next adventure!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGreetings my beautiful lovelies! Welcomeback to another post-apocalyptic meal --these are meals that come in a can thathave a very long shelf life.If (you) missed my previous episodes, including breakfast and lunch,I will put those episodes above and down below.Today, I'm going to be tasting cupcakes in a can.Yes I'm gonna have some post-apocalyptic cupcake desserts, and these come from Japan.Now these are Japanese emergencyrations, and they are cupcakes that come in a can.Amazing, right!? There's no reason why you can't have dessert after the apocalypse --you can have them canned!These were very graciously found and sent to me by Paul over at Critical Eats Japan --I'll put a link down below to his YouTube channelwhere he tries all kinds of Japanese treats because he lives in Japan.So big thanks to Paul for findingthese and for sending these to me,but I'm super excited about tasting thesebecause this is dessert in a can.Japan is located in an area where thereis a lot of earthquake activity,so there's a whole section of fooddedicated to emergency food rations,and that's where these fall in -- these arelittle desserts that you can keepin your pantry for quite a while althoughnow that I look at the date they say 2022and 2021 -- so the shelf-life is a few years,not so long; but they are still breads in a can they have this little kind of cocktail/tuna fish little pull release here. And Ihave three flavors :I have chocolate,I have maple, and fruit mix. So the onlyother bread product that I've had cannedis the New England style brown bread --it's made by B & M I believe, and you canfind it here locally in the supermarkets.And I had never heard of ituntil I moved to New England, but it's a prettyclassic bread but that is the only onethat I've ever found in a can, so I'mvery curious to see what these are like.Oh, I take that back!I also have had a hamburger in a canwhich did have some bread in it, and ifthese are anything like those I am about tobe disappointed, but I'm keeping my hopesup because cupcake in can soundsterrific, right!? So Paul translates thisto maple cupcake, but on the picture herethey have a picture of honey -- interesting.For reference this can is about the sizeof a Vienna sausage can, maybe a littlebit wider in diameter, but similar kindof height and similar way to open it.We've got this little pull tab here....Oh.Oh, it smells very maple-y. It smells like abear claw.It smells quite nice. I do believe that's thebottom of the cupcake,so let's invert it on the plate, and get it out.Ooh, it doesn't.... Come on, come on little cupcake.Now getting it out of the can...seems to be tricky.How'd they get it in there in the first place!?So, getting the cupcake out is proving to be a little tricky, but I think I'll manage.Oh I don't want to break it.Oof -- it is proving quite challenging to getthese cupcakes out -- I don't want to messthem up. It's a very tight fit. Look atthat. OK. Come on! Come on cupcake-y!Come out! It's a very tight fit. Oh, come on!Hah!There it is. Hehehehe!It actually looks a bit morelike a muffin, and when I imagine cupcakeat least in terms of the American senseof cupcake that means copious amounts ofbuttercream frosting and without it andin this kind of paper liner it looksmore like a muffin to me although itsmells very strongly of artificial mapleflavor -- it smells good.So why don't we unbox or un-can all these first,and then I can do a little tastecomparison. So that is the maple;this is mixed fruit cupcake.So, same thing -- ooh, I hope this paper liner is gonna be green --that would be cute yellow green and that would be brown...let's see mm-hmm this one doesn't havethat much of a smell -- it smells like abaked good but nothing distinctive, notlike the maple. Ooh, and this one too is...tricky to take out. I'm trying to shake it. Ooh, ooh! I tore the paper on that one.It's really difficult to get it go rip on it.Pull this out -- come on!Like the pull-tab is easy enough to openthe can, but then to get the cupcake outis just really difficult. How did they get them in here in the first place!?Oh maybe they bake them?Ooh, okay.Oh!Oh man -- a very snug fit.Okay there's the fruit. It looks pretty similar to the maple.It doesn't smell similar though. Saved thebest for last -- chocolate!Same yellow liner, and samedifficult to get out.Ooh!This one smells nice -- nice and chocolatey!So you got a tug pretty firmly on the wrapper here...to get the cake out. Okay, hereit comes!There's chocolate. It's a little bit ofcake on the bottom there. Ooh, I'veloosened that one a lot from its paperliner. So there we have it --the three cupcakes in a can.So I'm going to taste these in order inwhich I open them so maple first solooks quite oily this is kind ofinteresting look at the honeycombpattern of cake that's left on the linerhere that's beautifuland that's actual cake crumb so thatleads me to believe maybe the vesselthis was cooked in had this kind ofhoneycomb pattern absolutely beautifulalrighty so let's look at the crumb hereit looks to be quite dense we have somelarger bubbles here but pretty densesmall bubbles very strong smell of mapleextract and let's give us a taste let'scut this one more time and look at thatcrime again a couple large holes butgenerally speaking pretty small holesAlrighty, let's give that a taste. Itadakimasu!That's actually quite nice -- the crumb issmall and tight and kind of airy;the texture reminds me a bit of Castellacake -- a very popular cake in Japan thatuses a lot of meringue or egg whites tokind of leaven and lighten the cake.There's a little bit of sweetness inthere, but it's not overly sweet -- verytypical of Japanese sweets --very very different than a typicalcupcake you would find here in the US;not nearly as sweet and of course wedon't have the frosting on top, but avery nice little dessert -- very pronouncedflavor of maple extract kind of similarto a maple bearclaw -- it's quite cloyingand lasting. I still taste it. It tastes alittle bit nutty too -- a little bit likebutter pecan, but quite a nice little cake:very, very moist as well. Mm-hmm.It doesn't taste tinny at all, and doesn'ttaste like it has a ton of preservatives in it either.Now let's try the fruit mixed one. So this one too is wrapped in this little paper doily;and again you've got this little honeycomb pattern --interesting. So let's cut this open andsee if we can see any fruit. Ooh,indeed looks to be some candied driedfruit in there. Let's give this one ataste. It smells sweet; doesn't smell likeanything distinctive. Alright, here we go...Hmm, so the texture of this cake is verysimilar to the first one: light and airy,while simultaneously being very moist; the flavor is not as distinctive; I do taste the fruit.Hmm.I can't really pinpoint what kind of fruit that is -- I think it's candied because it has a bite to it.It almost feels like walnuts, but doesn't taste like walnut.I'm not such a big fan ofthis one. The first one I liked eventhough it had a very strong artificialmaple flavor because I felt like thatflavor combination with the cake textureworked really well. This one, not so much.So I saved the best for last: now we have chocolate.This one also has this reallybeautiful honeycomb pattern.And let's cut this one in half. Let's take that little bit of fruit off.All righty, so although this is chocolateand is darker than the other cakes...it's still pretty light for a chocolate. Cutthis in half again.but again we have that similar kind of crumb -- mostly a tight, small crumb but an occasional big pocket....but has really nice chocolateysmell to it. Alrighty, let's give this one a taste.Mm-hmm!Mmm!That's nice! It has a very richchocolatey flavor to it; but it's notheavy -- it doesn't taste fudgy or feelfudgy. It doesn't feel heavy or overly sweet;but a nice little kiss of chocolate in there. Mm-hmm.Moist yet light and not overly sweetI quite like that. The texture is verysimilar to say like a chiffon cake -- notas tender as say an angel food cake --there's a little bit more density tothese but there's similar kind of airyquality to them; but I really enjoy thelevel of sweetness. If you're a fan oftraditional American cupcakes you maynot like these as much because these aresignificantly less sweet and of courseyou don't have the frosting on top,and the crumb is very different -- it doesn'ttear or crumble nearly as easily as acake or cupcake would if you have anAmerican-style cake.Look at this -- this is brilliant!These have a safety edge on them, so you won't cut yourself.That is so smart! TYpically when you open these here atleast U.S.-style cans, these are almostrazor sharp -- you have to be very carefulbut these have a nice rounded edge. Howconsiderate! I love that!Not surprisingly, of the three cupcakes chocolate was myfavorite; and then I would say maple isnext; and a distant third the fruit mix.That one I didn't care for much of at all.On the picture here it has a pictureof melon and mango, neither of which I really tasted.Alrighty, so there you haveit: the post-apocalyptic dessert,Japanese emergency ration style. Let me know in the comments down below if you've everhad bread in a can, let alonecupcakes in a can. If you have, I want tohear all about it.Big thanks to Paul for sending these to me.Thank you guys so much for watching! I hope you guys enjoyed that one;and I hope you guys learned something. Please share this video with your friends;follow me on social media; like thisvideo; subscribe; and I shall see youin the next one. Toodaloo! Take care! Byeeee!!!Wa, wa -- wa, wa -- wa,wa.....\n"