Hakone no Saka (Chestnut Chocolat)

Chestnut-flavored gâteau chocolat with a rich chestnut flavor and a hearty texture

“Chestnut chocolat flavor” is one of the Hakone no Saka series made by Kotohogi no Ki in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Chestnuts are often associated with the taste of autumn, and chestnuts are deeply rooted in the food culture and are familiar to people in Europe and Japan.  On the other hand, in the U.S., the outbreak of chestnuts blight disease in New York devastated most of the chestnut trees and they are now rarely distributed there.

Chestnuts are eaten everywhere you go and are an essential part of the diet in Japan, but I realized that I can hardly remember of any American sweets used chestnuts.

As well as the standard gateau chocolat flavor, the “Hakone no Saka” series is characterized by its rather chunky texture and quite volume.