Ecstasy among fans of Kofun tombs! Naramachi Kashi Kobo Petit Marchet’s popular Kofun cake

The little café in Naramachi

The Kofun-shaped cake is served in “Naramachi Kashi Kobo Petit Parche & Puchimaru Café”, located about 5 minutes away from Nara Park’s Sarusawa Pond in Nara city. This shop offers baked sweets and order-made cakes which are additive-free and appropriate for people with allergies. The motto is “Good sweets for the body and the soul”.

The Kofun-shaped cake was originally created for a friend who was into old Nara, but during the Shosoin exhibition in Nara National Museum last year the shop started selling small Kofun-shaped cakes which became quickly popular in the social media. After that the number of orders for that cake increased dramatically. Note: The official name of the Kofun cake is “Kofun-gata cake”. I call it “Kofun cake” here for short.

Must read! How to buy the Kofun cake

The Kofun cake cannot be purchased anytime. Please read the instructions below to learn how to purchase it:

First about the café: - It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays - During weekdays it works only as a shop for baked sweets and order-made cakes - During weekends the café is open too. You can eat what you buy inside and order drinks.

As for the Kofun cake: - Only sold on Saturdays and Sundays (except during special events) - Reservation necessary - 500 JPY per cake

As the Kofun cake is additive-free, it cannot be shipped by post to other places. You can only buy it at the shop. Those of you who find it difficult to go during the weekends or make a quick reservation, but nevertheless want to give a cake as a present to someone who likes Kofun tombs, should consider ordering a big cake. Orders are accepted any day and the cake can be made in any shape you desire, not only a Kofun shape. Note: Not all shapes are possible. Additional fee may apply. As a last resort, you can get the Kofun cake without a reservation during rare special events! But be prepared for the queue…

Cute! This is the small Kofun cake!

Thank you for waiting. Now let me present you the real Kofun cake! The shape is the typical Kofun keyhole tumulus shape. Also called “Hyotan” shape, it is what most people think of when they hear about Kofun tombs. The cake is rather small, about 10 cm long and 7 cm wide. But this small size makes it cute! A note explaining the ingredients of the Kofun cake is attached. Be sure to buy also the special spade-shaped spoon for 350 JPY and make a set with the cake.

The main body consists of a sponge cake and fresh cream made in the keyhole shape. This is all covered with chocolate cream icing over which pieces of crumbled green tea sponge cake have been dusted. The cylindrical pieces at the edges are made of cocoa meringue. So real!

Scoop and eat!

So let’s try it! Of course, use the spade-shaped spoon to scoop. Eat and scoop further. But where to scoop next? And how sad it is to destroy the shape!…

As you scoop further, you will find cashew nuts which remind you of comma-shaped jewels and pieces of pecan nuts which remind you of potsherds! You’ll be fascinated by the discoveries hidden in the tomb cake. You can take the spoon with you. Clean it with a tissue and put it back in its original wrapping. It will be an item to remind you of the cake.

Also try the baked sweets

There are also various baked sweets on sale. One of the recommended ones is the “Shika no Shiro-chan” cookie on the photo below. Shiro-chan was a female deer with a characteristic white lock of hair on the forehead which used to live in Nara Park about 40 years ago. The white lock of hair looked like a crown! Local people thought it was a miraculous deer! Shiro-chan died in a traffic accident, but its popularity still remains. One cookie costs 150 JPY, while a pack of 5 cookies costs 750 JPY. It’s a good souvenir from Nara.