TOKYO: Don’t know what to get your pet dog for the
holiday? Depending on whether they were naughty or nice, nothing
will say Christmas quite like a special Japanese holiday cake for
canines.
Pastry chef and Italian restaurant owner Naohiko Nagatani
came up with a dog-friendly take on Japan’s Christmas cake, which
is usually based on sponge and laden with whipped cream, that can
be eaten by both dogs and their owners.
“The birth rate’s declining here in Japan, so dogs have
pretty much become like children and people want to share Christmas
with them,” Nagatani said.
“But if it’s just the humans eating cake, the dogs put on
a really sad face. They want to have some and get upset if you
don’t give them cake, too.”
To make his creation canine-friendly, Nagatani leaves out
chocolate and alcohol. He makes the sponge from spelt, a type of
wheat that he says causes fewer allergies than regular flour.
The cake, which he began selling six years ago, has proved
popular. This year, the restaurant has already filled orders for 70
of them, priced at ¥6 000 (R641) each.
Akiko Uchida, whose six-year-old mongrel Kenji is a cake
shop regular, said the special cake is a guilty pleasure.
“I share out the cake between us, take photos and shoot
videos to capture the moment,” Uchida said.
