Wife Cake (Sweetheart Cake) 老婆饼 - Wordless Wednesday

In Singapore Chinatown, you can find several good Chinese traditional pastry shops. The pastries come in all shapes and sizes, colours. The fillings used in Chinese pastries are different from that of western pastry.


Some pastry has a touching story behind it. Wife Cake or Sweetheart Cake has a long history and is popular in Hong Kong, and among Chinese. My hubby loves this cake.

Long ago in feudal China, a poor peasant couple lived with their old parents in a small village. One day, a mysterious disease struck the village. The husband's father became very ill. To raise money for the treatment, the wife sold herself to slavery. She became a maid in a wealthy family... don't think crooked.

To redeem his wife, the poor farmer made a cake filled with winter-melon and sold them. His cakes were so yummy that they became popular and he was able to make enough money to buy back his wife.

Wife Cake with sweet winter-melon filling

With his wife back by his side, the couple worked hard at their business. Soon their story and cakes spread far and wide.

We need more of such love stories in these modern days. What I hear are stories of spouses leaving when times get tough. Divorces rates these days are like oil prices..... going up, up and away!!

Many years later, some baker came out with a Husband Cake. It's just to complement the Wife Cake, there's no significant story behind it. Unlike the sweet Wife Cake, Husband Cake is savoury in taste.

You can find these cakes in Singapore Chinatown, there are two shops along Pagoda Street that sell yummy Wife Cakes and also at the famous Tong Heng Confectionery.

When I was in Guangzhou, I found confectioneries selling Second Wife Cake (二奶饼), Concubine Cake (小妾饼), Mistress Cake (情妇饼)!! What garbage!







Wordless Wednesday