Miyajima Souvenir · Maple-Leaf Cake
Momiji Manju
Photo: NY066 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
A popular story links it to Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi, who is said to have joked that a teahouse girl's hand looked like a maple leaf good enough to bake and eat.
A castella-style sponge batter is baked in a small maple-leaf iron mold and filled with sweet red bean paste (or, in modern versions, custard, chocolate or cheese), sold warm from stalls along Miyajima's shopping street.
Why it's made this way: The confection is said to have been created in the early 1900s on Miyajima Island near Hiroshima, inspired by the maple trees of Momijidani park by Itsukushima Shrine, and it became the island's definitive omiyage (souvenir sweet).
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