Cake-Ya had been long on our list of places to visit. Actually, it was more on Suanne’s list because truthfully, I am indifferent to desserts and sweet stuff.
This would have been a perfect place for her cake meet but since this place is over 1.5 hours drive from Richmond and back, that pretty much rules out this place for her cake meets. So who do you think she looks at to accompany her there?
We would not have gone to this place recently if not because we had to drive Nanzaro to Port Coquitlam for his scholarship interview. Nanzaro is trying to snag a precious spot for a six week scholarship training in Ontario this summer. He seems confident he will get it and if he does and if we can figure out something for Arkensen, Suanne and I will have our summer vacation this year!
The name of this place Suanne wanted to go to is called Cake-Ya. Simply put, this place can be sort of called Cake House … sort of because “ya” means house in Japanese.
Jenny (My Secret Eden) was the one who alerted us to Cake Ya in this post on Kurumba in Port Moody. We would not have found it on our own not only because it is located in Port Moody, but it is on Clarke Street which is not a main route that many would take at all. Even when we had the address, we missed this place because the signage is so small.
I thought this place would have been bigger but it’s just a small two person bakery type of operation with an open kitchen in full sight.
The whole place is sparsely decorated with a small counter for retail sales. What they offer is simply all you see above. What they are famous for is the Cream Caramel and a few other cakes — all of them Japanese style.
The two Japanese ladies who worked there were polite and friendly. They told us that they don’t really sell a lot of their food in the store but people do come here for them. Most of what they make is sold all over the city. When we told her that we are from Richmond, she told us we can get them from Izumiya … and for the same price too.
The above is what they are famous for. In English they call this Caramel Cream.
In Japanese, this is called purin. I think perhaps that the name purin is sort of translated from the English word … pudding. Anyone who knows Japanese who can confirm this for me?
They have a total of six flavours:
- Custard,
- Matcha,
- Coffee,
- Cheese,
- Black sesame,
- Milk tea
We got two of each flavours except for Cheese which they did not have on that day. Each of these are about $2.50 each. I find it expensive because I *think* they are easy to make and that the ingredients nothing special.
These creme caramel are steamed unlike the western way of baking. It is apparent because it came in a plastic container. There is a liquid-y syrup at the bottom of the cup.
The purin is silky smooth. Suanne likes that it is not too sweet and it is also lighter. We scooped the pudding using a spoon and then had to dig deep down into the cup to get to the liquid-y syrup.
I thought that something is not right having to dig into the cup.
So I did some research. There you go. I learn new things everyday. LOL!
And I found another youtube that has a huge jiggly purin. Gosh, this must be awesome to eat. I hope Suanne will make a giant purin at home some day
*nudge, nudge, wink, wink*
Even the pokemon has a character called purin, whose English name is JigglyPuff.
Gosh it took me so long to locate it but I found it. JigglyPuff is on the second row, 14th from the left. If you care to see how JigglyPuff looks like, click on the picture above to blow it up.
Only kids of the current generation would know these characters! When I was a kid, all I ever played was marbles and Ultraman was the high-tech superhero.
Cake-Ya also has cakes.
Suanne has a soft spot for cheesecakes. If you want Suanne to help you with anything, all you have to do is to give her a nice cheesecake and she cannot say no. Don’t believe me, try it for yourself. LOL!
The cheesecake is $5.25. It is not too sweet, not too rich nor is it too heavy. The texture was creamy. She likes it but to me it was just so-so.
Ya, you don’t have to drive all the way to Cake-Ya for the purin in future. Just head to Izumiya on Alderbridge and No 3 Road in Richmond. They are available in many other places too but you gotta call them for a place nearer to where you live.
BUSINESS HOURS
Tuesday to Saturday: 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sunday: Noon to 5:00 PM
Monday and Holidays: Closed
Ive been wanting to try Cakeya. Heard a lot about it from food blogs. Good to know its just 5 mins drive to get their goodies. BTW, a chocolate store on the entrance of Izumiya sells some unique flavoured chocolates. Another one I want to try there.
Hi Crispy: The Choc store in Izumiya is probably you will like but not buy. It is very expensive (and small). It is more like the type of chocolates you buy for a girlfriend … something like that. Ben
Hi Ben, yah they are a bit expensive but they do sell 4 pc package for 4.75. Its still expensive at about dollar twenty five per small piece but its worth a try because of their unique flavours. Im sure its also not too sweet compared to Western chocolate candies.
I dont know if you’ve already seen this but here’s a post from LD of 604munchies. http://goo.gl/OR672
Hi Crispy: Watch out for tomorrow’s post. I have a strong feeling that you are gonna quake at what I am gonna write about. I am TTOFT-ing right now and the food rocks. Garlic, butter, lemon, onions, pork, fat, chicken all in one plate. I hope you can sleep well my friend. LOL! Make a guess? Ben
Aw Ben, you’re so mean. LOL. Hmmm lemme guess. You said I will like it therefore its gotta be something like these:
1.) Asian cuisine.
2.) 10 dollars or less.
3.) Its in Richmond.
Can’t really guess it. I will have to wait till I see your post tomorrow. The suspense is killing me.
Hi Crispy: I stumbled upon a Filipino restaurant which I thought was pretty good. I thought that you would like it. It is not really cheap but still less than $10 and it is not in Richmond. Read about it tomorrow. 🙂 Ben
i’ve tried the chocolates and they’re quite sweet about the same level of sweetness as an average bon bon.of the ones i tried the raspberry dark was least so. for not too sweet chocolates i’d say thomas haas dark chocolate truffles with sour fruit gelee or the ones at chocolaterie de la nouvelle france, the flavour of chocolate is better with more complexity.
Hi Suanne
The best cheesecake recipe I have found is at cooking for engineers website…everyone raves about this dessert whenever I’ve made it =) http://goo.gl/JTxm8
Hi Foodprints, thank you for the recipe. I’ve been trying to cut back fat in my diet as my doctor advises so. The recipe will be handy for potluck though.
Hi Suanne! too bad abt the cutback, i always get excited abt the postings on sweets…. eg tres leches cake i tried it at panaderia and dona cata, liked the one at dona cata, and i went to izumiya today to get the creme-pudding(notice that the top layer is creme and bottom is more pudding consistency, and the top tasted better lol) i guess some desserts can be low-fat which i’m a fan of too, like gelato at bella gelateria is all milk no cream…… but for the love of sweets, i have to tell u abt a bakery in kerrisdale called sweet es they have the most amazing white chocolate lime tarts they’re quite pricey for the miniscule sizes but ideal for portion control lol. also the pecan toffee bar cookies and in summer they have pavlova…… i could go on and on but i prob shouldn’t……
Hi Alice, Sweet Es will be on my list to try. Thanks. It’s too bad I have to watch my diet now.
Suanne, also in Kerrisdale there is a bakery called Faubourg , they have very good French bake goods. I really enjoy their croissants with latte. It is kind of pricey though but they always sell out of their goods so i guess that is a good sign.
I’ve also wanted to check out Cake-Ya, but haven’t had a reason to drive out there yet. Good to know you can get it at Izumi-Ya too! I was just there the past week, but didn’t notice it, I’ll have to look more carefully next time 🙂
We live in Port Moody and never even noticed it. I will have to try this out on the weekend. Very few of our restaurant $ are spent near home. I would not say Port Moody is a foodie heaven by any stretch of the imagination.
Hi Sedap Makan: One place I like a lot in Port Moody is Kurumba. I noticed you commented on that post but am not sure if you ever tried it. Have you been there before? I like Kurumba and wished they are no so far away from where I live or work. Ben
Good to know that I can get baked goodies by Cake-Ya from Izumiya. I like their sweet potato tart. And had their strawberry and fresh cream swiss roll before too. Pretty good especially I can get them without driving all the way to Port Moody. I wonder if Izumiya carries everything thought.
Hi Winnie: I dropped by Izumiya on the way home today just to check this out. Yeah, for the purin/creme caramel, the refrigerated shelve has the price tags on it but it is all gone and in it’s place is another brand which is much smaller. So I think they ran out only. For the cakes, the shelve was equally empty … there are only two types of cakes left (honey cake and matcha pound cake). The shelf area is big and so I think they carry the entire selection of Cake-Ya’s cake … just that it’s mostly sold out already. Ben
Thanks! May be I will try to drop by tomorrow around lunch time. Hopefully, there will be more on the shelf.
Hi Ben, yes the word purin came from pudding. The “official” name in Japanese is “kasutaado pudingu (custard pudding)”.
Does the purin cup from cake-ya have that little “pimple” to snap off and make a pin-hole on the bottom (like the one on the video)? Otherwise, you had to dig with the spoon anyway;)
Konichiwa Miho-San. It did not occur to us to check for that little “pimple” until they were all gone. I was chatting with Suanne yesterday and we wonder if we can get those molds (with the little “pimple”) from Daiso in Aberdeen. Do you know? Arigato! Ben
Kombanwa! Sadly, I don’t think so… I have never seen anyone sells only that cup. Only factory-made purins are sold in that special cup. That’s why I wondered.
I googled now and found that was an invention of “Glico” and they had patent, but it was expired. So now many companies sell their purin in that cup, but I couldn’t find if anyone sells only the cup…:(
You are supposed to unmold fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt the same way – just poke a sharp knife into the bottom of the cup to let the air in.
I read an episode of the cup’s invention on the Glico’s homepage. It says that this idea came out from one staff who accidentally has seen a chef doing the same thing you said…poke a knife into the bottom of a yogurt cup to slide out the inside!
Konichiwa again, Miho … we managed to get hold of some purin cups from Daiso yesterday. It was $2.00 for five which we think is a single use cups. Anyway, since you know Japanese, would you be able to help us look for an authentic Japanese style purin recipe? We had been looking for sometime but we only got ones that are western. BTW, do you know how purin is made … i.e. are they ever steamed? Ben
Most of the home made purin recipes I found in Japanese are steam-baked in the oven with the water tray. This recipe is same as western, I think. Other recipes are steamed in the steamer or boiled slowly in the water filled in pot like this; http://cookpad.com/recipe/240164
I think basic liquid is roughly same thing. It’s just difference of method to heat.
Then, I found Glico’s purin (one on the video) is made by totally different recipe. There are always people who want to remake the famous products. I read one of them who succeed. This version uses the “agar”. It makes the purin texture moves like shuddering.
So I guess you want that Glico’s one…?
Hi Miho: Thanks for the tips. Suanne finally found the recipe which involves steaming (not easy to find!) just like how Cake-Ya said they do. So that was our weekend project. It was successful … sort of. Ben
To steam, just make a creme caramel mix by your favorite recipe, set the mix in cups with sauce, steam in the steamer 20 min by low heat.
Another method is boil in the clay pot. Cover the cups by aluminum foil. Put water in a clay pot about 2cm high, bring it to boil. Sink a small cotton napkin in the bottom. Set the cups on the napkin. Lid. Boil about 5 min. Turn off the burner and leave like that with lid about 25 min. This one is easy and efficient because clay pot keeps the heat and helps the egg cooks slowly.
Hi Ben
I haven’t been to Karumba yet. My daughter went a couple of times and was indifferent. Carol and I still plan to try it for ourselves. I’ll comment when we do.
Hahaha Ben…Pokemon was part of my generation…but I don’t it’s the it show anymore for kids nowadays =P
We stopped by today and they were nearly sold out. I was looking forward to the cheese cake. I had a sample and was politely told that cooking time is 3 hours and to come back at 4:30.
The place is very hard to see. From two doors away their sign is obscured by other signs. Even standing outside the front door the place looked closed. No wonder I haven’t noticed it. Even with the address in hand it is not easy to find. I’ll report back after picking up some goodies this afternoon.
Sorry, all I can think about it…
PUDDI PUDDI!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B10BxYZqa1Q
Funny, Kevin. I had always wondered about that Puddi Puddi clip if it was a commercial on TV or something. It’s too long to be a commercial. Although it is terribly annoying, it is effective. LOL! Ben
We did stop by again around 5:00. Sold out of Cheese cake again. They say they don’t know why they are suddenly so busy. I told them Chowtimes should be thanked. They smiled and appologized again for being sold out. We grabbed a couple of the purins, a small bag of Okinowa short bread, and a cake. Not too impressed with the short bread ($1.25 for 4 pieces). It had a nice texture but no buttery flavor which is what makes short bread so good. The chocolate cake ($4.50) needs to be kept cold as it was much better that way. It has a nice smooth texture, not too sweet.
Will have to have the cheese cake another day. I also plan on truing the Matcha cake. I drink matcha tea mainly for the health benefits so I am interest to see how the flavor translates.
Hi Sedap Makan: What?!? Cake-Ya did not save up the cheesecake for you? What a disappointment especially having been there twice in such a short period. Ben
Thanks for the heads up! I’ve been meaning to go there for over a year but always forget, now I don’t have to travel as far.
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We get purin from cake-ya delivered to Fujiya. Sometimes the baked cheese cake too. For anyone in the east van area.
Hi John: Are you with Fujiya? Do you have the purin from Cake-Ya in every of Fujiya locations too? I went to Fujiya’s website and just realized that Hi Genki is part of Fujiya’s group. I had never been there before. Ben
Yup, I work for Fujiya. I know the Clark and Downtown locations receive the purin. Not sure about Richmond or Victoria. They sell quite fast and your best bet of buying one would be at the Clark Fujiya. Give HiGenki a try sometime!
Oh it is so good to know we can get purin in Vancouver and at Fujiya too! I think Ben your kids would love Fujiya for their take out bentos and variety of sushis!. It is our go to sushi place when we need a quick dinner!
Hi agingteen: I am sure they would!
Try their Mont Blanc too!