[Tasted] 'Gwa-il Saeng' Rivals Seuchosaeng... Sweet and Tangy Fruit Juiciness

Tasting Three Gwa-il Saeng (Fruit + Fresh Cream) Cakes from Twosome Place
Spoonable Mangosaeng and Peachsaeng, Petite Geumgyulsaeng
A Sweet Cake Line to Follow the Popular Seuchosaeng

The mega-hit menu item from Twosome Place, 'Seuchosaeng (Strawberry Chocolate Fresh Cream Cake)', reportedly sold at a rate of 80 pieces per minute. It became so popular that many customers visited Twosome Place specifically to buy 'Seuchosaeng' rather than coffee. However, this product also revealed the structural limitation of cakes, as most of its sales occurred primarily at the end and beginning of the year.

Twosome Place launched a new series this year called 'Gwa-il Saeng (Fruit + Fresh Cream)' with the ambitious goal of targeting year-round cake demand. This strategic line of products aims to reduce dependence on Seuchosaeng by utilizing a variety of seasonal fruits.

There are currently three products in the lineup. 'Mangosaeng (Mango Fresh Cream Cake)' uses the summer fruit mango, 'Peachsaeng (Peach Fresh Cream Cake)' features peach, and 'Geumgyulsaeng (Kumquat Fresh Cream Cake)' is made with kumquat.

From the left, 'Mangosaeng (Mango Fresh Cream Cake)' made with the summer fruit mango, and 'Geumgyulsaeng (Kumquat Fresh Cream Cake)' made with kumquat. Photo by Han Yeju

To target individual consumers, Twosome Place introduced not only whole cakes but also spoonable versions of Mangosaeng and Peachsaeng, and a petite-sized version of Geumgyulsaeng.

The most recently released 'Mangosaeng' is a fruit fresh cream cake that combines tangy mango compote (fruit simmered with sugar and then chilled), smooth custard fresh cream, and moist cake layers. The cake is characterized by its intensified sweet and tart mango flavor. The first bite delivered a substantial piece of fruit and abundant juice, with no artificial mango aroma detected. Given the wide availability of mango-related products such as mango cake, mango bingsu, and mango jelly, this familiar taste can be enjoyed by most people without strong preferences for or against it.

'Peachsaeng,' currently the most popular item, immediately catches the eye with its pink hue, which is rarely seen in cakes. I was only able to try the spoonable Peachsaeng after four attempts. While whole Peachsaeng cakes were available at stores throughout Seoul, the spoonable version was hard to find and required some effort to locate. As this product is a renewed version of the 'Peach Fresh Cream Cake' launched in July last year and is now sold year-round, it appears to be enjoying considerable popularity.

Peachsaeng is notable for its rich, sweet peach flavor, matching its attractive appearance. The peach fresh cream blended into the peach compote creates a smooth taste, while the peach-plum jam between the cake layers adds a refreshing tartness to the sweetness. Thanks to its light flavor, it seems like a cake that can be enjoyed even on hot days without feeling heavy.

After four attempts roaming around stores in Seoul, I finally bought and ate the "Tteomeokneun Peach Saeng (Peach Fresh Cream Cake)." Photo by Han Yeju

Among the three cakes, 'Geumgyulsaeng' was my favorite. This cake sandwiches kumquat mandarin compote and kumquat fresh cream between its layers. As the first product in the Gwa-il Saeng series, it differs from the other two in that its petite size retains the shape of a whole cake, making it the most visually appealing. While the other two are released in spoonable, somewhat rough square shapes, Geumgyulsaeng is even wrapped with a decorative band.

It also had the largest amount of fruit among the three products. Peachsaeng had two pieces of peach, Mangosaeng had three pieces of mango, but Geumgyulsaeng had eight slices of citrus fruit on top. The combination of sweet fresh cream and tart citrus made it enjoyable even for those who do not prefer sweet flavors, allowing them to eat it for a long time without getting tired of it.

However, although I thought a cake made with citrus would be the least fattening, it turned out to have surprisingly high calories?enough to feel betrayed. Geumgyulsaeng contains 745 kcal, which is more than twice as much as Mangosaeng at 380 kcal and Peachsaeng at 310 kcal. It was also the most expensive. The spoonable Peachsaeng was the cheapest at 6,700 won, followed by the spoonable Mangosaeng at 6,800 won, and the petite Geumgyulsaeng at 8,800 won.

One disappointing aspect was that all three products had noticeably less fruit than the whole cakes. The main appeal of Twosome Place's Gwa-il Saeng cakes is the abundance of fruit that almost spills over when sliced. The petite versions were visually lacking in this regard. The amount of jam was also less compared to the whole cakes.