Just now, I was asked to identify my favorite confection in a questionnaire online.

Although I easily remembered its appearance, I was unable immediately to remember its name.  After an extensive search lasting approximately 30 minutes, I eventually discovered that it was called "sachertorte" (chocolate cake filled with apricot jam and topped with chocolate icing).  It is a staple confection available at certain Starbucks chain stores (especially in Tokyo, where I live) on or around Valentine's Day.

Then I tried to take a screenshot of the screen where the question was asked, but for some reason this time, Microsoft Word crashed, and I was unable to save the screenshot.  This issue forced me to restart both MS Word and the online application where the question was asked, but when I tried to duplicate the sequence of screenshots leading up to and including that question, the application did not allow me to do so, and I was only able to save the question and my response to it (I usually save the complete sequence of screenshots including that question whenever it is asked in that application).

Then the application allowed me to view the responses of 40 other users of that application to that same question.

To my astonishment, nobody had responded to that question with my response!

To my even greater astonishment, nobody had responded to that question with my second choice, "baumkuchen" (a kind of layer cake, traditionally baked on a spit, in which the layers resemble concentric tree rings), either!

The closest approximation to my response by any other respondent was "macaron."  The next closest approximation was "rare cheesecake."  The third closest approximation was "chocolate parfait."

Unbelievable.

Now, what I would really like to eat someday would be an extremely expensive Japanese confection known as "nama choco" (literally, "raw chocolate," often translated as "fresh cream chocolate" (a special type of extremely soft chocolate made with a combination of chocolate, fresh cream, and foreign liquor, and sprinkled with cocoa power, originated in Japan)).  I once saw a small piece (approximately 1.5 square inches in size) of this delicacy sold at a chocolate confectionery shop at a small store in a skyscraper, Tokyo Midtown, near Roppongi, Tokyo, for approximately 4,000 yen (approximately USD$40) in circa 2005, but was unable to afford it at the time (and am still unable to afford it).

The piece of "nama choco" that I saw at that store at that time looked almost identical to the piece in the following image:




This type of chocolate is extremely soft (it is approximately as soft as cheesecake, with approximately the same texture) and rich, and is more of a combination of chocolate, fresh cream, and liquor, sprinkled with cocoa power, than mere chocolate.

One day, I hope to eat this type of confection (although I am somewhat hesitant because I am actually allergic to fresh cream, which usually causes a combination of an upset stomach and shivers, and am also lactose-intolerant).

For now, sachertorte will suffice.  On the rare occasion when sachertorte is unavailable, I might eat baumkuchen.

Whereas I am not picky about what I eat regularly (I usually eat Japanese-style curry rice and imported sardines in extra virgin olive oil), I do happen to be extremely picky about confections in particular.