Deli Manjoo (Delimanjoo): Korea's Corn-Shaped Custard Cake, Prices and Recipe

The corn-shaped iron you can buy: Lodge 6-well cast iron cornstick pan — on AmazonAffiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, EpicKor earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Deli Manjoo (델리만쥬) — the brand prints it DeliManjoo, and people search it as Delimanjoo, Deli Manju or, by ear, "doli manjoo" — is a small sponge cake with a custard centre, baked to order in a corn-shaped iron mould and sold hot in Korean subway stations. It is a franchise brand, not generic street food: the first store opened inside Myeongdong Station (Line 4) in 1998 and the chain grew to about 90 station kiosks. At that first store it still costs ₩500 a piece. There is no corn in it. The corn is only the shape of the iron.

Last updated: 9 October 2026. Prices and the frozen-pack label were checked against DiningCode, Kurly and the CU October promotion list; sources are at the end.

Quick Guide

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Watch the 7-minute episode: Corn With No Corn: Why Korea's Street Snacks Are Shaped Like Things They Aren't — Korea's corn bread has no corn in it, the fish bread has no fish, and the 10-won bread costs ₩3,000.

What Deli Manjoo Is, and Why It Is Called That

Deli Manjoo is a 생과자 (saeng-gwaja, a fresh, moist confection) rather than a bread: a castella-style batter poured into a hinged two-sided iron, a squirt of custard cream dropped into the centre, the iron closed and turned. Both halves of the iron carry the kernel pattern, so the finished cake looks like a tiny ear of corn. Korean Namuwiki adds a detail you can check on your next one: the custard tends to collect on the side with the kernels drawn on.

The name is a portmanteau. Deli is short for "delicious" (it has nothing to do with Delhi or a deli counter), and 만쥬 is the Korean spelling of manjū, the Japanese word for a small filled cake. It is not 만두 (mandu), the Korean dumpling, even though the two words sound alike and several English pages repeat the "delicious mandu" explanation. A manjoo is sweet; a mandu is savoury.

What it tastes like

Straight off the iron, the edge is very slightly crisp and the shell gives way to soft sponge and a pool of warm custard. The flavour is vanilla, butter and egg, sweet but not heavy. If you know Japanese taiyaki or the Korean bungeoppang (붕어빵), the logic is the same: batter and filling baked in a hot iron. The differences are the size (one or two bites), the corn pattern and the classic filling: custard, not red bean.

The smell is the real advertisement. In an enclosed station corridor the vanilla-and-butter smell reaches you before you see the stall — the snack was built for people walking past.

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What It Costs in October 2026

Deli Manjoo is sold by bag size, and each franchise stall sets its own prices, so the first store's board is the useful benchmark. Sizes are 소 / 중 / 대 / 특대 — small, medium, large, extra-large.

Myeongdong first-store menu as listed on DiningCode (under the name 델리델리, 퇴계로 124), checked 9 October 2026; the most recent review there, from November 2025, complains that "₩500 a piece" is steep. The Edit reported the same prices in May 2024. USD at about ₩1,350 to the dollar. At Sadang Station, near Exit 5, the 만쥬킹 stall lists a small bag at ₩3,000 next to its walnut cakes. ₩3,000–5,000 is the normal entry point anywhere.

You do not need Korean to order. Point at the size, pay, take the bag. If you want to say it: 델리만쥬 소 하나 주세요 (delli-manjyu so hana juseyo, "one small Deli Manjoo, please").

Two other ways the name shows up in Korean shops this month:

• Frozen packs. Kurly sells [델리만쥬] 달콤 만쥬 in a 300 g bag of 19–20 frozen pieces for ₩6,500 (about $4.80), heated from frozen in an air fryer at 180 °C for 5–6 minutes or in a microwave for 30–50 seconds.
• A convenience-store flavour. CU's October 2026 2+1 list includes Haitai's Osatsu × Deli Manjoo (해태 오사쯔X델리만쥬맛), a sweet-potato crisp in Deli Manjoo flavour, at ₩2,000 a bag. A crunchy novelty, not a cake.

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Where to Find It in Seoul

Start at the first store. It has been in Myeongdong Station's underground shopping centre (명동역 지하쇼핑센터, 퇴계로 124) since 1998, nearest Exits 4–6 and closest to Exit 4; DiningCode lists it as open roughly 11:00–23:00 with no official hours posted. On DiningCode it now appears as 델리델리; a November 2025 review there puts it in front of Exit 4. Per The Edit (May 2024), it bakes to order, mixes its own batter instead of using the supplier's dough, and fills more custard than the guideline.

Since you will surface into the district anyway, EpicKor's Myeongdong street food and K-beauty guide has the current price ladder up on the street.

Then look wherever commuters pass. Namuwiki lists train stations, subway stations and highway rest stops (휴게소) as the usual places. There is no public store list and it is not in every station, so treat it as "when you smell it, buy it". Myeongdong (Line 4) and Sadang (Lines 2 and 4) both have stalls. For the other snacks you will meet in the same corridors, see the Korean subway snacks guide.

Left: the striped station bag with the chef mascot and "Freshly baked cream cake". Right: a batch straight off the machine on a wire rack, kernel pattern and all. Frames from EpicKor's short video.

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Ingredients and Allergens

What the cake is made of. Station kiosks post no ingredient list. Korean Wikipedia lists wheat flour, sugar and red bean as the main ingredients, with butter, milk, egg and salt; the standard filling today is custard cream, not red bean. Most stores use the supplier's ready-made batter, which it says is made on a HACCP-certified line.

What the packaged version declares. Kurly's label for the frozen 300 g Deli Manjoo pack lists egg, wheat, soy, milk and beef, and notes that it is made in a facility that also uses walnuts. The beef surprises people; the listing does not say which ingredient it comes from.

• Egg, wheat, milk: assume they are in every Deli Manjoo, fresh or frozen. It is not gluten-free or vegan.
• Vegetarians: the frozen pack is out. For the station cake it cannot be confirmed either way; skip it if you are strict.
• Tree-nut allergy: many stalls bake walnut cakes (호두과자) on the same counter — Sadang's sells both — so cross-contact is likely.

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Left: the inside — sponge around a pool of custard. Right: a fresh one in the bag, a bead of custard on the shell. Frames from EpicKor's short video.

How to Eat It, and When to Skip It

Eat it warm, carefully. The first store bakes to order and The Edit's reviewer was warned about burns: fresh custard is hotter than the shell suggests. Keep the bag open so steam does not soften the cake, and eat it outside the gates rather than on a crowded train.

Or eat it frozen. The Myeongdong owner recommends 얼먹 (eol-meok, "eat it frozen"): freeze the bag and eat the pieces half-thawed, when the custard turns ice-cream-like.

When to skip it:

• It declines fast. As it cools in a closed bag the crisp edge goes soft and the cake turns dense and slightly damp, and the smell that sold it is gone. The Myeongdong owner's answer to a cold bag is the freezer, not the microwave.
• A tray sitting out is a bad sign. If a stall has a pile of pieces cooling rather than an iron running, walk on.
• It is not a souvenir. A bag carried home will be a different snack by the time anyone tries it. Shelf-stable boxed 만쥬-style cakes from a supermarket are drier, but they travel.

The same grab-it-and-go logic runs through Korean commuter food: see the Korean convenience store breakfast guide, or, for a traditional sweet that went from old-fashioned to sold out, the yakgwa guide.

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Deli Manjoo Recipe: Making It at Home

The franchise batter formula is not public: stores buy a ready-made mix from the supplier. This is EpicKor's untested starting ratio, not the franchise recipe. It is built from standard pastry-cream and sponge proportions, and we have not yet baked it in either corn pan, so treat the first batch as a test and adjust the bake time to your pan.

The honest gap first. The station iron is two hinged halves pressed shut, so the cake has the pattern on both sides and bakes in a few minutes. A home pan is open on top, so you get the kernels on one side and a flat back.

Pans. The Nordic Ware corn cakes pan from the box near the top (nonstick aluminium, five cobs) releases custard most easily. The Lodge cast iron cornstick pan linked at the top gives the crispest edge, the closest thing to the station iron, but must be well greased. A madeleine pan works without the corn shape.

Custard (make first, chill at least 1 hour).

• 2 egg yolks, 40 g sugar, 15 g cornstarch
• 200 ml whole milk, 10 g butter, ½ tsp vanilla

Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Heat the milk until steaming, whisk it into the yolks, return everything to the pan and stir over medium heat until it thickens and bubbles for a full minute. That full boil cooks the yolks through and keeps the custard from thinning later, so do not cut it short. Off the heat, stir in the butter and vanilla, press cling film onto the surface and chill. It should be stiff enough to pipe; runny custard sinks to the bottom and leaks.

Batter.

• 2 eggs, 60 g sugar, 1 tbsp honey (the castella note)
• 100 g cake flour (or plain flour), ½ tsp baking powder
• 40 ml milk, 20 g melted butter

Whisk the eggs, sugar and honey until pale and thick, about 3 minutes with a hand mixer. Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder, then the milk and butter. Rest it for 20 minutes.

Bake.

1. Heat the oven to 190 °C (375 °F) for aluminium, 200 °C (390 °F) for cast iron. Brush every well with butter; heat a cast iron pan in the oven for 5 minutes first.
2. Fill each well about a third with batter, pipe a line of custard down the centre without touching the sides, then cover with batter to about three-quarters full.
3. Bake until golden and springy: start checking the small Lodge cornstick wells at 12 minutes (12–15 in total), the larger Nordic Ware cobs at 15 minutes (15–20 in total). A skewer pushed into the cake at the edge of a well, not into the custard, should come out clean. Rest 3 minutes, then turn out.

Eat them warm, the same rule as the station. Custard is perishable: do not leave leftovers out for more than two hours, keep them in the fridge for up to two days, or freeze them and eat them half-thawed.

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Can You Buy Deli Manjoo Outside Korea?

Not easily. The supplier's timeline lists Deli Manjoo exports to Hanoi (2013), Cebu (2014), the United States (March 2015) and Myanmar (2015), later exports to China (2019), Indonesia (2020) and Manila (2021), and an exclusive partnership for Egypt (February 2022). We have not checked any overseas stall, so look for a recent map review before travelling for one.

On Amazon US, searching "deli manjoo" returns music tracks, not cakes (checked 9 October 2026). The closest thing in taste that ships is Korea's boxed custard cake, the subject of our custard cake guide.

For more boxed Korean snacks worth comparing, see the Korean snacks guide. For an at-home Korean snack break, pair it with the Korean instant coffee mix guide, the Korean tea and grain drinks guide or the Korean pantry starter kit.

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The Company Behind It, and Why Stations

Deli Manjoo is a franchise brand, created by a Korean company called 델리스 (Delis). After the first store opened in Myeongdong Station in 1998, it grew to about 90 franchise kiosks inside subway stations, according to Korean Wikipedia. The smell on the stairs was a business model.

The original Delis later went bankrupt and the trademark was partly transferred. Today a company trading as 델리스 in Bucheon, west of Seoul, calls itself the Deli Manjoo head office (델리만쥬 본사) and sells the batter, the corn moulds and the baking machines, alongside walnut-cake and taiyaki batters; its online shop is run by 주식회사 델리테크 (Delitech). The stalls are independent businesses buying from a supplier, which is why price, size names, custard and freshness vary from station to station.

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FAQ About Deli Manjoo

Q: What is Deli Manjoo?
A corn-shaped sponge cake filled with custard, sold hot in Korean subway stations. There is no corn in it. The brand, 델리만쥬, began in Myeongdong Station in 1998.

Q: How much does Deli Manjoo cost?
As of October 2026, the first store in Myeongdong Station charges ₩3,000 for 6 up to ₩10,000 for 20, about ₩500 a piece. Other stalls set their own prices; ₩3,000 for a small bag is typical.

Q: Is Deli Manjoo the same as mandu?
No. Mandu (만두) is a savoury dumpling. Manjoo (만쥬) comes from the Japanese manjū, a small sweet filled cake.

Q: What allergens are in Deli Manjoo?
Egg, wheat and milk. The frozen pack sold on Kurly also lists soy and beef and is made in a facility that uses walnuts.

Q: How long does Deli Manjoo stay good?
It is best hot off the iron; as it cools in a closed bag it loses its crisp edge and turns dense. Eat it the same day, or freeze it and eat it half-thawed, as the first store's owner suggests.

Q: Can I make Deli Manjoo at home?
Yes, roughly. Bake a castella-style batter around chilled, pipeable custard in a corn cake or cornstick pan, about 12–20 minutes at 190–200 °C depending on the pan. Our ratio is an untested starting point, not the franchise recipe, and the home version has the pattern on one side only.

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Video Insight: The Deli Manjoo Scent

Sources and further reading:

• 델리만쥬 (Korean Wikipedia) — Delis, the 1998 Myeongdong Station first store, about 90 station franchises, base ingredients, the bankruptcy and trademark transfer
• 델리만쥬 (Namuwiki) — the name ("Delicious" + 만쥬), where it is sold, custard on the kernel side
• 델리만쥬 본사 델리스 (online shop, Delitech) — batter, machines and moulds; HACCP batter line
• 델리만쥬 official site, history page (델리스, Bucheon) — export timeline 2013–2022
• 디에디트, "명동역 델리만쥬 1호점, 얼마나 맛있길래?" (May 2024) — piece counts per size, in-house batter, bake-to-order, 얼먹
• DiningCode: 델리델리, Myeongdong — menu prices and hours, checked 9 October 2026
• DiningCode: 만쥬킹, Sadang Station — small bag ₩3,000
• Kurly: [델리만쥬] 달콤 만쥬 300g — price, allergen label, storage and heating instructions, checked 9 October 2026
• CU October 2026 promotion: 해태 오사쯔X델리만쥬맛
• Wikimedia Commons: 델리만쥬 사진.jpg (CC BY 2.0 KR)