3 recipes featuring Sunshine Shokupan Gold Purple Sweet Potato Loaf that scream 'Japan'

As someone who was born and raised in Japan in my early years, my tastebuds have leaned towards Japanese since I was young.

And as you may know, the Japanese make superior baked sweet potatoes.

If you have been to Japan, you may have noticed stalls selling varieties of sweet potato-flavoured treats and the smell of baked sweet potatoes as you walk down almost every famous street.

So when I heard about Sunshine Bakeries’ new addition to their Shokupan Gold range — Purple Sweet Potato Shokupan Loaf, I knew it was in my blood to try it.

Nothing can stop me from trying anything sweet potato.

The bread promises to be lusciously soft with a rich and natural sweetness from real purple sweet potato.

It even has actual purple sweet potato bits in every bite. Yums.

To add the icing on the cake, every slice is now thicker than the usual loaves by Sunshine and is retailing at just S$3.90.

Sweet and fluffy

The first bite of the purple sweet potato bread really took me by surprise.

The texture of the bread was soft and fluffy, but the real kicker was the aroma — it smelled just like that of my beloved baked purple sweet potatoes.

I felt like I was transported right back to Japan.

My colleague Alena, noted that it was slightly too sweet for her, but I felt the sweetness was perfect as it meant I didn’t need to bother with adding any jams or doing anything to it.

Toasted version

I was curious anyway, so I went ahead to do some fun recipes with the purple sweet potato bread.

First up, I simply toasted it as it is.

On first bite, or rather crunch, I could only nod in satisfaction.

There’s nothing to fault about toasted bread, much less a sweet potato toasted bread.

Sweet and crispy — a perfect snack to go with my morning coffee.

My colleague Natalie took a bite and instantly exclaimed that the sweetness of the bread tasted natural.

She also preferred the toasted version over the untoasted one.

+1 for the team.

Tamagoyaki sandos

Next, I tried out a lunch menu with the purple sweet potato bread.

I paired it with tamagoyaki to make a sando — an easy and simple meal for everyone to enjoy.

I let my colleague Rei give a go at the sando, and the first word she said was, “Nice!”

However, my other colleague Huisi thought that the tamagoyaki overpowered the sweet potato taste and suggested it might be better to enjoy the bread by itself.

A valid point, but I felt the sando was still an enjoyable and fun lunch idea with minimal preparation.

Honey butter toast

My big-brain idea was to make a honey butter toast with purple sweet potato bread.

The last time I went to Japan, I had the best honey butter toast I have ever had the pleasure of putting into my mouth.

That was when I decided to make it for myself one day, and with the sweet potato bread in my hands, I thought, “Why not now?”

I added butter, brown sugar and honey and made it into a spread, which I slathered all over the thick slices of bread.

I popped them into the airfryer, and I’m not kidding; the whole pantry smelled so delicious.

There were also many curious glances in my direction, to say the least.

Ting! Some 5 minutes later, it was finally time to try my very own honey butter toast.

Here’s how it looks when broken into pieces — soft and fluffy inside, crispy on the outside.

As for the taste, it reminded me of honey cornflakes, my favourite snack to munch on during Chinese New Year.

The sweet potato bread gave an extra burst of flavour, that adds on to the taste of Japan.

My colleague Michelle also enjoyed the toast and couldn’t help but reach for more pieces.

Alena also tried the honey butter toast and didn’t come back with the plate. So I’m guessing she reaaaally enjoyed it.

Same girl, same.

Puffy bag

You can also get a chance to win a Sunshine Puffy bag if you participate in their giveaways.

Here’s how to join the fun:

From Oct. 11 to 12, share the Sunshine’s Facebook post (#ShokupanPurpleMagic video) to your feed.

10 lucky participants will win a Sunshine Puffy Bag.

Alternatively, from Oct. 14 to 27, you can post a creative photo featuring Sunshine’s Shokupan Gold Purple Sweet Potato Loaf on your Instagram and tag Sunshine (@sunshinebakeries).

There’ll be 70 winners for this giveaway.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

This sponsored article by Sunshine Bakeries gave this writer a taste of Japan and home.

Top photos by Khine Zin Htet and Sunshine Bakeries