Tuesday, April 01, 2008

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), Concubine Cake (小妾饼), Mistress Cake (情妇饼)!! What garbage!









75 comments:

  1. Interesting! I never see this cake and I wonder if its only sold in Singapore?

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  2. i want to taste one of those delicious cakes...

    thanks for stopping at my blog too...

    see you around...

    feel free to visit my blog anytime...

    thanks...

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  3. By the looks of the cake and its filling, I'm sure it tastes yummy. The story behind the Wife Cake is touching. Thank you for dropping by our daily happy thoughts! See you next time!

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  4. jewelle
    It's sold in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and very commonly found in Hong Kong. :)

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  5. We do need those stories! Thanks for sharing this one.

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  6. actually sometime an uncle will come arround at my place to sell "laopobing"........it is homemake=)
    nice

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  7. OMG, my fave kinda cakes! Crispy on the outside, soft and 200% yummy inside! OMG!! *faints and does not want to be revived*

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  8. I love those. We have a shop that make such delicious old-fashioned wife cakes. Okay, I don't buy them often. But when my mom does, they are very special!

    Sneak to your blog from ... I think ehon's or lb's :)

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  9. Such a touching story! I nearly cried!

    I love Wife Cake by the way. Very nice. Not sure if the ones here are as good as those in Hong Kong. I always get disappointed here.

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  10. Every good thing can be distorted. What a sweet story and I agree with your sentiments. happy Tuesday

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  11. thanks for sharing, I dont know there is a romantic story behind Wife Cake.

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  12. That's a lovely story - thank you for the great pics too. And you're right - we need more modern day real-romance stories.

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  13. What an interesting story behind the Wife Cake. Thanks for sharing it. It's amusing how it inspired the creation of other cakes.

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  14. So that's why it's called "loh-por-peng"! Thanks for the story! I was laughing so hard at all the other variants too!

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  15. the 'husband cake' is kiam-kiam wan, rite? (becos 'ham-ham sap-sap maaa.. like cocka kakakkaka)

    me no likey this lou por peng... too sweet for me... i'm sweet enuff... haha...

    *looks around, sees ppl puking* kekekeke...

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  16. Lao poa bing! Now sore throat can't eat.. sobz..

    The answer has been revealed. Do check it. =)

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  17. Nice story. I like the red bean cakes but never have had winter melon ones.

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  18. yum yum... where can i get one of those?

    thanks for visiting my blog

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  19. ar....老婆饼! My favourite! I used to eat it almost everyday, but those that I get here are not freshly baked, they are imported from Malaysia thus not very nice, So after a while of eating, I get sick of it. I have long for the freshly baked 老婆饼!

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  20. Now I got hungry thinking and looking at it.

    Just Say These Words

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  21. What does husband cake look like? Sticky, messy and not so sweet? :)

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  22. Look at all of those pastries. They sure make me crave for them. Care to pass some over?

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  23. and here i am trying to lose 10 pounds by summer - looking at those just cost me pounds!

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  24. These look yumm YUMM YUMM!!!!

    Ours is up as well at burntofferings.

    Have a great WW!!

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  25. That's a great story - thanks for sharing it with those of us who have never heard it before. And the pictures just made me hungry...

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  26. I think that's called Hopia here. Yummy.

    VERB

    Makimeji

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  27. Wow, suddenly I'm hungry. Great looking pictures.

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  28. i will buy some lbp cake for my wife when i think of her. she likes the idea and i am glad there is abundance of lbp shop in lil dot.

    good story!

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  29. Wah! 二奶饼,小妾饼,情妇饼 also can arh!?!
    Imagine a groom mistakenly go get these for his wedding cakes for his wife's family.
    ROFL!! Surely ,kena arrow left right center behind!!

    My W.Wed up :P

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  30. I was going to post something about wife biscuit soon! :) The Sun biscuit in Taiwan is almost like wife biscuit but I still prefer the wife biscuit. Also prefer wife biscuit(sweet ones) to husband biscuit (the savory ones).

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  31. a concubine cake? oh my goodness ...!
    that's a lovely story, though, and I, too, wish that there are more reality stories like that these days.

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  32. I dont like fruit filled anything but they look quite tasty from far away:) Happy WW.

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  33. Hmmmm yum yum! Now you make me drool with your entry lol! Those are indeed delicious looking! Happy WW!
    Oh by the way i just got back from one month away of participating the WW so these are my entries now.
    A Dozen Pupppies
    Beautiful Sunset

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  34. They look good they look not as sweet as some here which is good in my book

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  35. I want some of this cake, it looks so good.

    What I have for you on my site is not just the big bang but the award too. Keep looking you will see it.

    Love and Blessings,
    AngelBaby

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  36. For a wordless wednesday you speak like a waterfall, lol ! but I love these stories ! I also loved the books of Pearl S. Buck and the old uses and history of China. We have a nice museum here in Brussels about China. There are also some of these very little women shoes exposed which were fashion for wealthy people.

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  37. That cake looks delicious. I wish I could try some. And what a sweet story.

    FYI, my WW post is up too.

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  38. How coincidental. I'm SWEET and my husband is Savory. giggle..

    I do think I'd love to taste that melon cake, tho. Looks yummmmmmmmy.

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  39. When I was in China last year I saw nothing that even resembled cake! I'm glad at least you found some.

    My WW post for this week is up.

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  40. That's a wonderful story behind the wife cake!! Yes: we need more love stories like this one :)
    Happy ww!

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  41. What an interesting story that is.
    These are delicious stuff too.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  42. I might have had one of those cakes (Philippine version) when I was in Manila's Chinatown :D Boy, what colorful names you give to your cakes!

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  43. Looks delicious. Thanks for stopping by my place.

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  44. you always facinate me reading the story behind the photo.Who could refuse this wife cake now?I surely wont!
    Happy ww!!

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  45. I so much enjoyed reading this story! When I was a child stories of Chinese origin were very popular and wise, like Aesop's faibles.
    Those cakes must be delicious. I am glad I stopped by. Thanks for sharing.

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  46. Oh, love this story. But the other cakes' names are not that nice :)

    Have a great week, ECL

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  47. Lovely story, eastcoast! But then I laughed at "Second wife cake" and "Concubine cake" Ha!

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  48. They look delish and I love that there is story to go with the pastry. Happy WW!

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  49. I think I've seen this in HK but I still have to taste it.

    Thanks for the visit.

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  50. Looks yummy, I want to taste that.

    Happy WW!

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  51. i love chinese pastries! now you made me miss them. :( we have a lot of good ones in the philippines. but here in the US, even if they're being sold in the Asian markets, they're just not as good and expensive, too! :( hu hu hu!

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  52. Yummy! I love pastries! Great photos, now you've made me hungry. :) I hadn't heard of Wife Cakes before, they sound good.

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  53. Interesting tale! Go easy on the cake, though.

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  54. So sweet,
    I think I have to think twice which of these delicassies to choose, unless be charged for overweight on my flight back;)))

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  55. excellent photos... and thank you so much for the wonderful story that goes with them.

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  56. how i missed this sweet treat, my best friend from Taiwan often brings me this goodies whenever she comes.

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  57. Everything looks delicious!! Happy WW!

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  58. Those are look delicious! "droool"..I want to try some of those..hmm wonder if they sell that at Asian market here? Happy WW!

    My so called life

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  59. Interesting story about wife cake. Are those also considered Moon cakes or totally different? looks yummy!

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  60. Hmmmm this makes me hungry...Thanks for sharing and happy WW...
    Mine is up From The Bottom Of My Heart

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  61. I love to eat "wife cake" too. But over here, the filling is peanut.

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  62. I miss Wife Cake as well... can't wait to go back to HK and have some. I can't believe that people would think of second wife cake etc. - rubbish!

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