I tried recreating the Iwatobi Cream Bread from Free! I got to experience the flavors that Nagisa likes…?

Have you ever heard of Iwatobi High School’s Iwatobi Cream Bread from the anime, Free!, an anime about Haruka and his friends and their life at school?

 

I tried making this Iwatobi Cream Bread in real life!

 

You can use store-bought bread to make this recipe easy, so please feel free to try it yourself.

 

 

 

Nagisa from Free! also loves it! I tried making Iwatobi Cream Bread the specialty of Iwatobi High School

 

The Iwatobi Cream Bread, a specialty of Iwatobi High School, appears in the Episode 4 “The Somersault Turn of Promise” of Free! – Eternal Summer.

 

In the “unannounced lunch check” conducted by Gou, Nagisa presents this bread and fruit-juice-less orange juice and receives a score of zero…

 

In this post, I will actually make this bread that is part of Nagisa’s cuteness!!!

 

 

Ingredients

 

The following are needed to prepare the Iwatobi Cream Bread!

 

• Choco Pan (as long as it’s round, any bread is OK. This will become the face)
• Hotdog bun (it’s easier if it is pre-sliced as we will fill the middle with cream and more.)
• Whip cream
• 3 colors of chocolate pens (brown, yellow, and white)
• Strawberry jam
• Orange marmalade

 

I thought for a moment about making bread from scratch, but this time I decided to go for the easy way out and use store-bought bread to make the recipe!

 

 

How do you make the Iwatobi Cream Bread?

I will break down the process into 5 main steps!

 

1. Working on one side of the hot dog bun.

2. Warming up the chocolate pens.

3. Filling to the bread.

4. Drawing Iwatobi-chan’s face.

5. Attaching Iwatobi-chan’s face and body.

 

Once you finish these 5 steps, you… should… have a cute, completed Iwatobi Cream Bread right in front of you!

 

Now, for the most important part… not worrying about the calories!!

 

Have an attitude like Nagisa, and think to yourself that “calories don’t matter if I like it!”

 

 

1. Working with the hot dog bun.

 

We are going to make Iwatobi-chan’s face using the chocolate cream bread and his body with the hotdog bun.

 

In order to make it easy to attach the bread together, cut off a little of the top of the hot dog bun to make it a flat surface. (We will attach the bread later)

 

 

 

Important point:

Cut down the size of the bread for the head if it seems too big.
（If you cut it down too much it will seem like Iwatobi-chan is wearing shoulder pads!）

 

 

2. Warm up the chocolate pens

 

These chocolate pens are necessary to create the Iwatobi Cream Bread, so be sure to warm up the pens in advance!

 

The instructions for the chocolate pens I bought said to “warm up the pens in hot water until soft to the touch,” so I put my pens in a cup of hot water.

 

Important point:

You can easily heat up water by heating it up in a cup in the microwave! (I’m lazy) (Don’t heat the pens themselves in the microwave)

 

 

3. Add the filling to the bread

As you are warming up the chocolate pens, it’s time to fill the bread!

 

Iwatobi Cream Bread is a cute and colorful bread that has cream and orange marmalade filling on the left side and strawberry jam on the right side of the bread.

 

I thought to myself “…if you first put in the cream, and then the other fillings, won’t the cream be hidden under the other ingredients?”

 

So I began to brush the inside of the bread with the orange marmalade…

 

 

 

…but now the orange marmalade will be hidden by the cream!!

 

So, I just filled the bun with plenty of whipped cream and then spread the jam and marmalade on the sides.

 

 

 

 

In order to make the yellow from the orange marmalade and the red from the strawberry jam stand out more, I spread some of each to stick out some from the edges.

 

As soon as the chocolate pen has been warmed up, drizzle it all over the top of the bun…!

 

Important point:

• Depending on the jam you buy, it may be more stiff, like a jelly consistency. In this case, mix it with a spoon to soften it up to make spreading it easier!
• Adding only a little whipped cream is OK! The jams will fill up the bread… and your heart.
• DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE CALORIES.

 

 

4. It’s time to draw Iwatobi-chan’s face with all your heart

 

Now it’s time for the most important part…!

 

…Anyways, let’s draw Iwatobi-chan’s face on the circular bread with the chocolate pens.

 

 

 

 

Somehow I managed to make the basics of okay-looking eyes and a mouth.

 

We will draw the pupils and the three-dimensional effect for the beak after the chocolate dries.

 

After drying for a few minutes…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh…!!! (The pupils have appeared）

 

It-it’s Iwatobi-chan!!!

 

 

 

While creating Iwatobi’s face, also use the brown-colored chocolate pen to drizzle chocolate over his body.

 

Now all that’s left is attaching the head and body!!!

 

Important point:

• It’s easier to make a good outline with the chocolate pen if you start drawing from the center of the part you want to draw and then draw outwards, rather than starting from one of the edges.
• If you are making something with several layers, as in this case, the colors will mix if the lower layer is not dried thoroughly.

 

 

5. Attach the head and body

 

The time has come!!! (Let’s gooooooo!!)

 

 

 

Spread the remaining chocolate from the chocolate pen and attach the breads together—quickly!!!

 

 

 

 

Uwaaaaa!!!

And in a moment, our project is complete!!!!!

 

 

 

If you don’t attach these two breads, you can’t recreate Nagisa “Iwatobi Cream Bread-holding Pose,” so allow the chocolate adhesive to dry fully.

 

Important point:

• While the chocolate was drying, I had to put Iwatobi-chan on a plate or his head wouldn’t sit on his body straight! (I couldn’t find a flat plate just the right size in the my house!)
• I discovered this later but I found that the adhesive power of the chocolate wasn’t strong enough. I think it would have been better to attach the two parts with a piece of pasta! (If you do this, be careful when eating the bread!)

 

 

 

 

It’s complete!!!☆

 

After several steps the Iwatobi Cream Bread is complete!!!
How is it??

 

I think that even uncoordinated me was able to make a nice looking result using the store-bought bread and chocolate pens!! (*Full of self-praise*)

 

 

As for the flavor…?

 

Super sweet☆

That’s the only word that comes to mind…!

 

How did Nagisa have two of these breads with soda for lunch!?!? He’s really intense…

 

However, the marriage of the orange marmalade and strawberry jam with whipped cream and chocolate is unquestionably delicious.

 

Just as one would expect from the famous Iwatobi High School…!!

 

 

My thoughts when making the bread

 

It took me around 1 hour to complete the bread. 

 

It was really fun to make Iwatobi Cream Bread using ingredients I’m familiar with…! 

 

By the way, I remember one Iwatobi Cream Bread was sold at 480yen.

 

The overall cost of the ingredients used in this project was about 1,300 yen, which roughly translates to… about 270 yen per piece!!! 

 

The bread I made with lots of love and effort is cheaper than buying it at Iwatobi High School…!

 

I recommend that you try making some Iwatobi Cream Bread too!!

 

 

Extra Edition: For those of you who would like to give Iwatobi Cream Bread as a gift…

For those of you who are thinking you want to give Iwatobi Cream Bread as gifts…!

 

I tried wrapping the Iwatobi Cream Bread up just for you.

 

 

 

It looks just like how a bread store would wrap it!

 

I say this but I just wrapped the bread in cooking sheets… (haha…)

 

Wrap the Iwatobi Cream Bread in cooking sheets, twist the ends, and staple them together.

 

In order to hide the staple, wrap the ends in ribbon… and you’re done!

 

Doesn’t it look like the bread would appear in a store just by adding a cute ribbon!?!

 

Important Point:

The end result will look even better if you wrap the bread in the brown-colored cooking sheets!

 

 

Since I made the bread I tried holding it like Nagisa

Nagisa version

 

 

My version

 

Ah… I can’t give off the fresh, youthful vibes of a high schooler… That’s just something that naturally oozes out of someone…

 

If you hold the Iwatobi Cream Bread up vertically like Nagisa’s pose, it’s best to have the bread wrapped in something or else the neck might start drooping weirdly… (Maybe attaching the head and body with a piece of pasta would secure it better than with a chocolate pen)

 

 

Iwatobi Cream Bread in real life

It seems like the Iwatobi Cream Bread is sold at the bakery “Yakitate-Pan Tinkle” in Iwami Town, Tottori Prefecture, the town of Free! is based off of!

 

I’m not sure if the bread is still being sold today, but a photo posted on Google Maps shows fans purchasing Iwatobi Cream Bread as recently as two years ago from this shop.

 

Not only was the Iwatobi Cream Bread sold at “Yakitate-pan Tinkle,” but other Iwatobi-chan breads such as bread of his face only and secret products were sold at the bakery too.

 

If you’re interested, please go check the bakery out for yourself.

 

 

©Koji Oji, Kyoto Animation / Iwatobi High School Swimming Club

©Koji Oji, Kyoto Animation / Iwatobi Town Support Association 2021