The culmination of a year's work, for a moment on Christmas Eve.

Christmas comes once a year. The cakes that decorate Christmas Eve carry not only deliciousness and brilliance, but also the excitement of opening the box and the time spent with loved ones.

THE CAPITOL HOTEL TOKYU 's Christmas theme for 2026 is "Champagne Glow—a moment filled with the heart to surrender in refined brilliance." Continuing the gratitude for the 15th anniversary of the previous year, it expresses the exhilaration that sparkles like champagne and the festive time enveloped in soft light.

Reflecting this worldview are the seven Christmas cakes and breads. Chef patissier Tetsuya Asato says, "This is truly the culmination of a year. We prepared each piece with the intention of incorporating the delicious ingredients encountered that year, as well as the new technologies and designs we have worked on, into each one." We unravel the trial and error from each concept to completion, along with the ingenuity that creates deliciousness, through Asato's words.

Joined NAGOYA TOKYU HOTEL in 2000. Won Top of Pastry Chef at 'Japan Cake Show Tokyo' in 2009. Appointed chef patissier at THE CAPITOL HOTEL TOKYU in 2010. Has also served as an instructor for the Japan Federation of Western Confectionery Associations and as a judge for contests.

Regarding the design of the Christmas cake, Asato says the following:

"For every product, the most important thing is that it looks delicious. We want to pay attention to how the layers of ingredients look when viewed from the side, and what kind of appearance emerges when it's sliced. We want to create something that is not only noticeable, but also has subtle details."

The "Rouge Noël," which was very popular the previous year, has also been redesigned with detailed improvements to become a new product for 2026.

"We wanted to enhance the fruitiness compared to last year and give the berry flavor even more depth. That's why we added lime. The refreshing aroma enhances the sweet and sour taste of the berries, creating a more balanced flavor."

The red mousse combines strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, layered with the elegant aroma of violets. Inside, a lime cream is hidden to bring the whole flavor together, and strawberry and griotte cherry jam is piped between the strawberries decorating the top.

"Jam serves to hold the strawberries in place, but that's not all. Adding griotte cherries creates a depth and subtle bitterness that you wouldn't get with strawberries alone. It also adds a glossy finish, making it look beautiful."

With its rich berry fruitiness, refreshing lime notes, and violet aroma, "Rouge Noël" carries on the legacy of the previous year while offering a fresh new taste.

Diameter 12cm, 7,020 yen

淡いクリーム色に、杏の黄金色が美しく映える「ノエル アブリコ」。着想の原点は、安里が数年前に出会った長野県の杏でした。旬を迎える夏に仕入れ、コンポートに仕立てて冬まで大切に保存。夏の盛りに出会った果実が、時を経て聖夜の主役となります。

「杏は、ザッハトルテのジャムやチーズケーキの仕上げなど、洋菓子ではよく使われる素材です。ただ、収穫できる時季が短く、都内では新鮮な果実を手に入れることが難しい。杏そのものを主役にしたケーキも意外と少ないんです。でも、これほどお菓子に向いている果実なのだから、そのおいしさをもっと知っていただきたいと思いました」

シナモンを利かせたダックワーズに、杏のピューレやコンポートを使ったムースを重ね、その上には軽やかな杏仁のムースを。ひと口の中で、まず杏仁のやわらかな香りが広がり、そのあとを追うように杏の甘酸っぱさが現れます。

「杏仁と杏を一度に感じさせるのではなく、あえて時間差をつくっています。杏仁の香りがふわりと立ったあとに、杏の酸味や果実味がやってくる。その移り変わりを楽しんでいただきたいです」

夏の果実を、冬の祝祭へ。旬の一瞬を閉じ込め、杏の新たな魅力を引き出した一品です。

縦10cm×横10cm　6,480円

"Bouche de Noël" features a form reminiscent of a stump, wrapped in layers of delicate cream. The various expressions of chestnuts are depicted through layers of aroma and texture. For the dough, instead of wheat flour, rice flour is used, and the hardest outer skin, "oniki," taken from Ibaraki chestnuts, is ground into powder.

"Kikawa has a fragrant and powerful flavor that can't be produced from chestnuts alone. When I ground it into powder and added it to rice flour dough, I got a very delicious dough."

Among them are French chestnut compotes and Ehime-grown Nakayama chestnuts. After tasting chestnuts from all over Japan, the Nakayama chestnuts selected are highly praised by Asato as having a distinctive chestnut flavor. They combine different chestnuts to create flavor variations depending on where you eat them.

And what catches the eye is the unique expression of the cream layered in multiple layers. To realize that look exactly as envisioned, Asato started by making the tools themselves.

"Since there wasn't a rim that fit the shape I had imagined, I made an original one. Items that fit perfectly to the size of the cake are often not available on the market."

Asato also sketched and shaped the stump patterns. From the chocolate plates and letters to the size of snowflakes, the design was done while observing the overall harmony.

"I believe that only these details shouldn't stand out. We must carefully craft even the most subtle details that go unnoticed. I believe that building up these kinds of things is important."

23cm (length) x 7cm (height) ¥7,560

Strawberries, fresh cream, sponge. Because it's a simple combination, the key to "Noël Chantilly" is how to layer each character's unique qualities.

"With shortcake, you shouldn't let any of the sponge cake, fresh cream, or strawberries come out too much. I believe the balance when eating all three together is the most important thing."

The sponge is soaked with strawberry syrup to enhance the fruity flavor. The surface is coated with finely shaved white chocolate, adding a snow-like texture and a soft milky texture. Paired with this is fresh cream from Hokkaido, rich in milk flavor. To achieve a light melt-in-your-mouth texture while bringing out its natural flavor, extra effort is taken to whip it.

"Since we make a lot of cakes at Christmas, it's certainly more efficient to use a large mixer to make 20 liters at once. But the cream at the bottom gets heavy and can't hold enough air. Even if it looks the same, the lightness when eaten is different. That's why we carefully set it up one liter at a time."

Diameter 15cm 7,020 yen
*In addition to this size, we also offer four other sizes: 9cm, 12cm, and 18cm in diameter.

Asato creates freshly baked tarts using seasonal fruits, with a different variety each month. They are baked that morning, and the flavors are tailored to the fruit. This year-round dedication led to the creation of this Christmas cake.

"While using various fruits depending on the season, I was reminded once again that tarts are truly delicious. I wanted people to enjoy that charm at Christmas as well."

The star of this dessert is the juicy strawberry. To complement its fruity flavor, we've created a vanilla-infused shortcrust pastry base filled with pistachio almond cream and baked it. We then layered it with raspberry jam, pistachio cream, and custard cream, and generously topped it with fresh strawberries.

"With just strawberries and tart dough, it's difficult to create a cohesive flavor. So, we added cream to act as a bridge between the two. The tartness of the strawberries, the aroma of the tart, and the richness of the pistachios combine to create a complex flavor. I hope you'll find it a little different from your usual strawberry tart."
We used pistachios in three different forms: roasted, raw, and crystallized sugar. By giving each ingredient a different character, the aroma and texture change with every bite.

When freshly made, you can enjoy the crisp texture of the crust, and the next day, you can savor the moist flavor as the moisture from the fruit and cream blends in. The way it changes its character over time is one of the unique deliciousness of a tart.

Diameter 14cm, 7,560 yen

The creation of the Stollen's flavor takes years. The fruit mix, soaked in brandy for over a year, and the raisins, soaked in rum for over a year, are prepared separately to give the Stollen a complex flavor.

Even after baking, it's not finished immediately.

"When freshly baked, the flavor of the alcohol is still quite prominent. Then, we coat it with butter and vanilla sugar and let it mature for about four months in a place where it is not exposed to air. This gradually mellows the flavor, the dough itself becomes moister, and the umami flavor intensifies."

Furthermore, what distinguishes this stollen is its rich vanilla aroma. While typical stollen often uses multiple spices, Asato considers vanilla as a type of spice and uses its aroma in a striking way. He uses the vanilla pods after they have been used to infuse vanilla ice cream and custard cream with their fragrance. He dries them, grinds them into a powder, and then kneads it into the dough or uses it on the surface.

It takes over a year to soak the fruit, and four months to mature after baking. A single stollen is crafted with time spanning multiple seasons.

17cm (length) x 8cm (height) ¥4,400

On the other hand, essential to "Panettone Plain" is the daily maintenance of the starter culture. The base is a yeast inherited from Italy. Asato continues to cultivate this starter culture every day without letting it die out.

"When I come to work in the morning, I take out the starter culture, let it ferment, and then re-start it. I repeat this twice a day, then wrap it up and let it rest. I do this every day."

From the seeds grown in this way, a starter dough is made and fermented for a day before the final kneading. The final dough is also fermented for about 12 hours, so it takes about 3 to 4 days until it's ready to bake. Furthermore, the candied citrus fruits kneaded into the dough are also homemade. Asato wants to make as many of the auxiliary ingredients as possible from scratch, so she uses citrus fruits that are available at the time, such as Natsumikan oranges and Hassaku oranges.

This year, we've made our carefully crafted panettone slightly smaller than last year, creating a more manageable size.

Diameter 10cm x Height 14cm ¥2,332