Next time you’re at Siam Center idling about and fiending for something sweet, may we suggest a little detour to RAPL, the sister shop of Japanese bakery brand Ringo, which is well-known among Thai tourists to Japan thanks to its famous 144-layer, custard cream apple pies.
Fresh cream and subtly spiced apple filling wrapped inside layers upon layers of impressively flaky pie dough — it’s basically an American apple pie, except with the addition of custard cream, and the fact that the whole thing’s been re-engineered by the Japanese so that its flavors are more balanced and its structure and combination of textures, more elegant.
Apparently, the butter is delivered from Hokkaido – a Japanese prefecture known for the purity of its dairy products — and the fresh apples used come from Aomori, which ensures that the pies we’re getting here in Thailand come out with the same flavor and texture as the ones that they make in Japan.
The pies are available for THB125 per piece, while a box of four costs THB480.
So why 144? It’s said by the brand to be the ideal number of layers to achieve a texture that’s at once crispy and delicately light. You know, the kind crunch that goes kkkkkkpf rather than craackkk.
RAPL’s launch in Siam marks the bakery’s first store in Thailand. Like Japan’s, the Thai store is operated under the concept “built-in factory style” which uses a double baking method. This means the pies are first baked from Hokkaido, then they’re injected with fresh custard cream that’s made here, before getting baked again to make the cream melt and go along with the apple filling.
RAPL, which more commonly goes by its Japanese brand name Ringo within its country of origin, currently operates over 10 stores in Japan, including in Tokyo and Osaka.
FIND IT:
RAPL Apple Pie is on the M floor of Siam Center
Open 10am to 10pm, daily
Phone: +66 89 441 9747
BTS: Siam
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