noun
heaped cakes for shrine offering
Refers to small cakes or sweets piled up in a container as an offering at a Shinto shrine or Buddhist altar. A traditional practice, not an everyday food term.
お盆には盛り菓子を供えます。
During Obon, we offer heaped cakes.
神社の祭礼で盛り菓子が配られた。
Heaped cakes were distributed at the shrine festival.
Compound of 盛り (mori, 'heaping') + 菓子 (kashi, 'cakes/sweets'). The exact historical origin is uncertain, but the term directly describes the practice of piling sweets for offerings.