Japanese convenience stores, particularly 7-Eleven, carry quite the tasty selection of sweets. However, ever since Covid pandemic restrictions were first introduced, their frozen sweets section has become more popular for its convenience and easy accessibility which allow you to have it whenever you want when it’s stocked up at home in the freezer.

7-Eleven frozen sweets have recently gaining more popularity for their restaurant grade quality. Today, we'd like to introduce one that's particularly getting rave reviews--7-Eleven's "Pancake with Cream & Chocolate Chunks", and how to prepare it!

Here’s the package to look for when buying “Pancakes with Cream & Chocolate Chunks” from 7-Eleven.

This can be found in a frozen section, and not in the actual dessert section.

Depending on the location and area, people say it can actually be quite hard to find. Needless to say, we felt our heart skip in excitement when we luckily found one nearby!

The picture on the label looks rather like a cake. We were doubtful that the toppings of the pancake cake would look as pretty as the picture, but we got ready to cook it up.

For this dessert, you'll need a microwave to prepare it, simply follow the instructions on the back and adjust the cooking time accordingly.

It was a nice surprise to see that the topping decoration looked just like it did on the package picture!

The toppings consisted of milk cream, chocolate chunks, almond bits, and cocoa powder. It already looked delicious, almost like an ice cream cake.

When you look at it from the side, you can see the pretty layers of two pancakes and the cream.

The picture doesn’t do justice to the thickness of the pancake and cream.

We knew this dessert had quite a visual from the package picture, but the impression of the real one was bigger than we imagined it would be.

One thing to remember in the preparation process is to take off the paper cup from the bottom before placing it in the microwave.

The side film stays at this point.

Although it was frozen, we couldn’t help but worry if it was really okay to cook whipped cream in a microwave, but here goes nothing. Wecooked it for 2 minutes in 500W as instructed. While it was getting cooked, there were no visible changes other than the frost on the side melting.

The 2 minutes passed quickly with much anticipation. We took it out of the microwave to check on the finished product.

It’s hard to see from this photo, but there was steam coming out from the top.

We gently touched the side and bottom to check, and it was warmer than expected.

The surface of the chocolate chunks was slightly melted, and we could smell a sweet fragrance in the steam.

Every microwave cooks differently, so it is recommended to keep an eye on it every 10 seconds or so to avoid overcooking.

Now it is finally time to take the side film off from the dessert.

It is the most important part of the preparation process, so we were a little worried that it may collapse, or something else may go wrong.

We carefully pulled the film up to peel it off. Perhaps, it was the sliminess of the cream, but it came off ever so smoothly without an incident.

Once the side film was off, a delicious looking, restaurant grade pancake appeared in front of us!

Just like the package described, the topping was so creamy it was falling off the side.

The visual was also as good as the package.

Once we cut in half, we could see the beautiful layers of cream and pancakes.

It was then that we noticed that there was also custard cream sandwiched in between the pancakes!

We took a big bite into the rich and thick serving.

As we took a mouth full of chocolatey pancake happiness , the vanilla flavor quickly spread in our mouth.

The pancake was as fluffy as expected, but also had some gooey texture to it. It melted in the mouth quickly, reminding us of sponge cake or Castella.

Even the surprise custard cream inside gave it a unique accent to the pancake texture which at times tends to be monotonous.

We were worried that the whipped cream may get too warm. Surprisingly, despite the warm pancake itself, the whipped cream stayed cool!

We think it could depend on the heat adjustment in the microwave, but were pleasantly surprised that there were thoughts into even the smallest details in the making of this dessert.

Once enough time passes, the pancake soaked up the melted whipped cream, resulting in more of a juicy texture.

It had volume, and was sweet enough but also enjoyable until the last bite.

It felt like such a luxury experience being able to have a quality pancake from a convenience store frozen sweets section.

Although it isn’t as instant as other convenience store desserts, and you have to warm it up in a microwave, perhaps that’s what makes it a little more special and enjoyable.

7-Eleven’s “Pancakes with Cream & Chocolate Chunks” contains about 575 kcal, and is priced at 494 yen including tax.

If you stumble upon this rare find during your convenience store travels in Japan, we highly recommend giving these café quality pancakes from the frozen food section a try!