Baking Wife Cakes

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Once upon a time, a married woman sold herself (I assume as a servant or slave, but who knows?) to pay for medical care for her father-in-law (would any of you do that for an in-law?). Her husband was so lonely without her that he developed the recipe for a special kind of cake, which he sold in order to buy her back.

The recipe was for the traditional Chinese pastry known as Wife Cakes.

Now, I'm thinking that either she wasn't worth a whole lot, or that he sold a TON of these cakes, because they are small - roughly the size of your palm - and cost mere pennies. In fact, walk into the Wing Wah bakery and ask for a taste, and you can get one for free.

I learned how to make them in yet another great activity offered by the Hong Kong Tourist Office. At the tiny Wing Wah bakery in Kowloon, I and several others lined up in front of two tables and watched our instructors demonstrate how to mix ingredients, smash, roll, shape and fill our Wife Cakes.

The demonstration was great, and a whole lot of fun to watch. Even more fun when the instructors stepped back and laughed as we tried to emulate them. After making wife cakes we learned how to make egg rolls (a pastry here, and I will not include a recipe; unless you have the right specialized equipment you can't hope to succeed!).

Crust:
• 150g white flour
• 70g vegetable shortening
• 70g water
• 1 egg

Pastry:
• 150g white flour
• 70g vegetable shortening

Filling:
• 70g Gourd/Red Bean Paste

1. To make the crust, spread flour in a circle on a clean workspace. In the center, add the vegetable shortening and egg. Mix the shortening and egg together, and begin to mix with the flour to form a dough. When the ingredients are well combined, add the water a little at a time, mixing until the dough is consistent and soft to the touch.* Refrigerate for several hours.

2. For the pastry, spread the flour out as you did with the crust, and combine it with the shortening until it forms a dough that is hard to the touch.* Refrigerate for several hours.

3. Form the crust, pastry, and filling into small balls about one inch in diameter. (+)Press the crust ball flat with the palm of your hand, then roll it out with a rolling pin until it is approximately the size of your palm and roughly circular. Form a circle with your forefinger and thumb and place the circle of crust on it; then place the pastry ball in the center of the crust, and use your finger and thumb to wrap the crust around the pastry ball until it meets at the top and looks like an onion or head of garlice (see photo of "nice balls").(+)

4. Press down on the crust-pastry ball and then, using a rolling pin, roll it into a rectangular piece that is about the length of your hand. Starting at one end, roll it into a tube. Press in the center with your finger, and fold it over onto itself. Press on one end and fold it over once more. Roll this into another ball and repeat from (+), only placing the filling inside the combined crust/pastry circle and wrapping it up.

5. Roll the entire thing out again into a palm-sized circle. Place it on a baking sheet (use wax paper or something to keep from sticking) and brush with beaten egg. Bake until golden (approximately 20 minutes). I have no idea what temperature they used. Sorry. Trial and error, anyone?

*The steps marked with a * can be done with an electric mixer.

They can be eaten hot or cold. They are almost a bit savory rather than sweet, so don't expect a taste explosion.

So gentlemen, just remember that the next time you need to buy back your lady, this is supposedly a tried and true recipe.

Ladies, I suggest you don't leave it up to the men.



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Photos

Mixing Ingredients
It actually reminded me a lot of making pasta