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Our reporter with the larger-than-life character gives us his verdict on the equally giant sweet.

‘Tis the season in Japan right now for retailers across the country to start tempting customers with their limited-edition Christmas collections. Mister Donut is one of the first to the party, releasing their range of holiday season doughnuts on 16 November, and the star of the collection this year is a giant, 18-centimetre (7-inch) wide sweet that looks more like a cake than a doughnut. Our food-loving Japanese-language reporter Mr Sato decided to face-off with the giant treat, and give us his verdict on the latest sweet to come to town.

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Mister Donut has been enjoying a collaboration with Snoopy this year, and continuing on from their Snoopy-shaped Halloween offerings, their holiday season lineup is also showcasing the character in their packaging and doughnut designs. The “Big Doughnut” comes packed in its own special box, making it a perfect centrepiece for a Christmas party with friends. Available by preorder, the sweet will be on sale until 25 December.

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The cute packaging continues inside the box, with Woodstock encouraging eaters to cut slices of the doughnut for themselves, as the special numbered design underneath will reveal different fortunes for each slice.

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Mr Sato had no time for fortunes though, seeing as he was eating this beast on his own, which meant he’d already won in the good luck stakes. It wasn’t going to be an easy task, however, seeing as the Big Doughnut was several times bigger than an ordinary one. Suddenly, it seemed like the chocolate-covered snowman in the centre was taunting our reporter, daring him to open wide and make an attempt to devour it all.

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To really get a good idea of the task ahead of him, Mr Sato placed Mister Donut’s signature sweet, the floral-shaped Pon de Ring, on top of the giant doughnut. Considering that the regular-sized doughnut retails for 151 yen, the 864 yen (US$8) retail price for the larger version was pretty good value for such a big serving.

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With a hearty “itadakimasu” or “bon appétit!” as the French would say, Mr Sato opened his mouth as wide as possible, sinking his teeth into the soft treat for his first bite.

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▼ These are the eyes of a man fearing for his waistline.

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Mr Sato’s first impression was simply “cream”. Underneath the creamy topping was even more cream inside, with each round mound containing alternating flavours of chocolate, strawberry, custard and plain whipped cream.

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It was soft, chewy, and delicious, but nothing like a doughnut. According to Mr Sato, this tasted a lot more like a cream-filled sponge cake. And at 1,224 kilocalories, it would take him days to work it off at the gym.

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While our reporter has guzzled his way through all-you-can eat KFC dinners, a Whopper with 100 slices of onions, and a Lotteria mega ramen burger, it seems we may have finally found his kryptonite. Mr Sato’s mettle against sweets isn’t as strong as his appetite for savoury feasts, but that could be due to his emotional turmoil following a recent trial of body fat-burning bottled tea, which actually left him heavier than before. Don’t worry, Mr Sato – we’ll love you no matter what weight you are!

Photos © RocketNews24
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