Wife cakes (aka 老婆餅 - Loh Poh Peng) are a traditional Chinese pastry made with a very flaky dough, filled with a paste of sweetened winter melon. There are quite a few variants to the recipe, and having taken a class at Wing Wah Bakery a few months ago to learn the tricks of the trade, I couldn't wait to get some more practice at home.
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| Wife cakes |
I made some changes to the basic recipe we were given (like, making the oil dough with lard instead of vegetable shortening) and found a recipe for the filling that included toasted sesame and dessicated coconut on top of the melon, which I thought would be more tasty... et voilà !! Obviously this needs more practice on the layering of the pastry and the filling, but for a first try I am quite happy it did not turn out to be a complete disaster. I gobbled one I had just popped from the oven (and burned my tongue in the process... greedy Froggie) and they are quite tasty! I will definitely try using fresh winter melon to make the filling next time.
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| The main ingredient in the filling: candied winter melon |
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| Oil dough (made with lard) and water dough (made with butter), split |
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| Wife cake, brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with sesame, ready to pop into the oven |
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| Bake for about 20mn, until the egg wash browns nicely |
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| Wife cakes, freshly baked and ready for "beautification" for the final shot :-) |
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