[Taste Test] FamilyMart’s New “Nama Canelé Stick Cake” Is Surprisingly Chewy

「生カヌレスティックケーキ」イメージ — Image of the “Nama Canelé Stick Cake”

FamilyMart launched its new “Nama Canelé Stick Cake” (生カヌレスティックケーキ) at stores across Japan on September 8, 2026. Priced at ¥238 including tax, the unusual new convenience-store dessert caught our attention, so we picked one up on launch day to put it to the test.

The dessert is a new take on FamilyMart’s popular “Nama Canelé Cake,” which debuted in 2022 and sold a cumulative 9.4 million units by April 2023. This time, the canelé has been transformed into a long stick and sliced horizontally, with whipped cream made with fresh cream sandwiched inside.

One of the main attractions is the contrast in textures associated with canelé: a crisp exterior and a dense, chewy interior. The sandwich-style design also allows you to enjoy the canelé and smooth whipped cream together from the first bite to the last.

The first thing that stands out, however, is its appearance. The surface is deeply browned, with an almost charred-looking finish. Combined with its long shape, the more we looked at it, the more it started to resemble a thoroughly roasted Japanese sweet potato.

Before buying it, we were slightly worried that the cream might get crushed and squeeze out while carrying it around. In practice, however, the dessert is wrapped in clear plastic film that helps keep the cream securely in place.

Thanks to its stick shape, it is also very easy to hold. Being able to eat it with one hand without a fork is a major advantage, especially if you are grabbing a quick snack while traveling. That said, the surface of the canelé is somewhat moist and can feel a little sticky on your fingers, so having a wet wipe or napkin nearby is a good idea.

Naturally, we also wanted to see what it looked like inside. We took out a knife and tried cutting it in half.

It was tough. Really tough.

Even after pressing down firmly, the knife simply would not go through. All we managed to leave was a faint mark on the surface. Rather than slicing into a dessert, it almost felt as though we were trying to saw through a small piece of wood.

So we gave up on the knife and tried pulling it apart with both hands instead. With enough force, we finally managed to split it in two. The downside was that the pressure pushed much of the whipped cream out from between the layers, leaving our once-neat dessert looking considerably less photogenic.

But when we looked at the exposed interior, roasted sweet potato came to mind once again. The dense canelé dough, both in color and texture, looked surprisingly similar to the inside of a Japanese roasted sweet potato. We had not expected the resemblance to continue all the way through.

Our conclusion: do not bother trying to cut or break this dessert apart. Just pick it up and take a big bite.

Once we did exactly that, the appeal became much clearer. The canelé was dense, springy, and pleasantly chewy. Even its bouncy texture somehow reminded us of roasted sweet potato. The soft, smooth sweetness of the whipped cream balanced out the substantial canelé dough, making the dessert easier to eat than its sturdy appearance might suggest.

Turning a canelé into a stick and sandwiching cream inside is certainly an unconventional idea. It may put up a surprisingly strong fight against a knife, but biting into it is another story. With its convenient one-handed shape, distinctive chewy canelé texture, and smooth whipped cream filling, it turned out to be a fun and satisfying convenience-store dessert.

For travelers visiting Japan, FamilyMart is an especially easy place to look for this dessert: the chain launched it at roughly 16,100 stores nationwide, excluding Okinawa. Look for the Japanese name “生カヌレスティックケーキ” in the refrigerated dessert section. It costs ¥238 including tax, though availability may vary by region and store and popular new products can sell out. The product also contains alcohol, something travelers avoiding alcohol for dietary, religious, or other reasons should keep in mind.