Wife cake or sweetheart cake is the perfect pastry to pair with your hot tea or coffee. Similar to my Chinese sesame flatbread recipe, wife cake is flaky and chewy thanks to its two layers of dough: water and oil dough. You’ll love its sweet red bean paste center, the perfect sweet treat for any occasion.
What Are Wife Cakes (Sweetheart Cakes)?
Wife cake is a crowd-favorite Chinese sweet treat loved for its flaky crust and sweet filling. It is also called sweetheart cakes or lao po bing in Mandarin. There isn’t one story as to why it is called “wife” cake since some say it was created to buy back his sold wife from slavery, while some say it was made by the wives of soldiers heading to war.
These are usually made small about 3 inches in diameter. To make this pastry, you will be using two layers of dough, the water and oil dough. The two layers of dough are coiled together to create the light, flaky, and chewy outer layer of the cake.
As you enjoy its flaky crust, its creamy center bursts with mildly sweet red bean flavors. It gets its beautiful golden brown finish thanks to the additional brushed egg wash on top. You can sprinkle some sesame seeds for a nutty and earthy taste.
If you love Chinese snacks and desserts, here are some recipes to try:
- Chinese Sachima Soft Flour Pastry Cake (沙琪瑪)
- Shaobing (Flaky Chinese Sesame Flatbread)
- Taro Snow Skin Mooncake With Cheese
- Peanut Mochi Sprinkled With Coconut Powder
- Nian Gao (Chinese New Year Rice Cake)
- Steamed Salted Egg Yolk Buns (Liu Sha Bao/流沙包)
- Red Bean Cake (Gluten-Free, Plant-Based)
- Oven-Baked Red Bean Bread
Expert Tips And Recommended Alternatives
Here’s a breakdown of the ingredients I used for the water dough, oil dough, filling, and toppings. I share below my top recommendations on how to alter the ingredients if needed.
For the water dough: This is a mix of flour, lard, and water.
- All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour is one of the easiest types of flour to work with. It is a medium-gluten flour that gives the cake a light and soft texture. You can also use cake flour which has less gluten and protein content, giving the cake a much lighter and softer texture. I don’t recommend using special types of flour, such as whole wheat flour, rice flour, and glutinous rice flour since these will yield a different kind of texture. For example, glutinous rice flour creates a sticky and chewy texture, perfect for recipes like Chocolate Mochi, Tang Yuan, and Mango Mochi, but not suitable for this pastry.
- Lard: Lard is a common fat used for Chinese pastries which is great for flavor and rich texture. It is made from pork fat, adding a hint of pork flavor. Refer to my lard-making recipe for detailed instructions. You can swap this with vegetable shortening, unsalted butter, coconut oil, or vegetable oil.
- Water: The water-to-flour ratio is 1:3. This is needed to combine all the ingredients and produce a pliable dough. I recommend using warm water or room temperature water to be able to make the dough more pliable for kneading.
For oil dough: This is also a mix of lard and oil, just minus the water.
- All-purpose flour + lard: The oil dough layer is the secret to making the flaky layers of the cake. The lard-to-flour ratio I used is 1:2 to make the oil dough. Again, if you prefer non-pork oil, swap lard with vegetable shortening, unsalted butter, coconut oil, or vegetable oil. This dough may be a bit oily, but it should still be able to hold its shape after rolling into a ball of dough.
For the filling: The filling I used is sweet bean paste.
- You can typically buy sweet bean paste like red bean paste in Asian grocery stores or online markets like Amazon, which is labeled as adzuki bean paste, red bean jam, or hong dou sha (红豆沙). The filling is made from mashed red beans, also known as adzuki beans. The beans are mixed with oil and sometimes with sugar for extra sweetness. If you have extra time, you can make it yourself from scratch by following my full recipe for red bean paste. In this recipe, the beans are soaked before boiling and blending. Then, the blended beans are cooked in the pan with sugar and oil until it becomes pasty. I recommend making a large batch of red bean paste so you can make other red bean paste recipes, such as red bean paste buns, red bean mochi, and red bean bread.
- Apart from red bean paste, you can change the flavors of the cake by using these fillings:
- Yam paste
- Lotus seed paste
- Purple sweet potato paste
- Black sesame paste
- Taro paste
- Mung Bean Paste
- Candied winter melon
For brushing: After combing the dough layers and forming the cake shape, I brushed the top with egg yolk.
- Egg yolk: Brushing the cake dough with egg yolk or egg wash on top gives the cake a nice golden hue and shiny finish. You can use beaten egg yolk alone or mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water or milk. Egg yolk is not the only ingredient that can give the cake a caramelized top crust, but maple syrup, almond milk, and butter as well. These are great alternatives to egg yolk, especially if you are going for an egg-free or plant-based cake.
For garnish: This is optional for additional decoration, taste, and texture.
- White sesame seeds: After brushing with egg yolk, I sprinkled white sesame seeds on top for a nutty taste and light crunch. You can swap white sesame seeds with black sesame seeds, but the taste is more potent than white. If you don’t have sesame seeds, this can be omitted from the recipe.
How To Achieve An Ideal Dough Texture
If you are new to pastry making, don’t skip this section just yet. I share below my best tips to achieve the ideal dough and get the best cake texture. Follow these tips before starting with the recipe steps.
- It helps to use a kitchen weighing scale to get accurate measurements of the dough ingredients. Measuring in cups is not always accurate, so it is best to use a kitchen weighing scale and measure in weight. Accurate measurements ensure that you get the ideal pliable dough texture.
- If needed, you can adjust the dough consistency gradually. The dough should be soft and non-sticky. It can hold its shape when you form it in a ball. If the dough is too soft or sticky, gradually add flour in small amounts. If it is too stiff and difficult to knead, gradually add water until you get the right consistency.
- Kneading the dough properly is needed to achieve the best texture. You should knead until you have a smooth dough. So, make sure this step is not rushed. Generally, the more you knead the dough, the smoother it becomes. In this recipe, the water and oil dough are kneaded once, before shaping it into small balls and letting it rest. If kneading becomes a challenge because the dough keeps sticking to the surface, dust the surface with a bit of flour.
- Aside from kneading correctly, resting the dough is also a crucial aspect of achieving the best results. Resting the dough is done twice. The first resting step is done after the water and oil dough is formed into small balls. The second resting step is after the two types of dough are combined and coiled together. Each rest takes about 10 minutes. I know you may want to skip this step or rush it, but please refrain from doing it. Resting the dough is key in letting the dough’s gluten relax and hydrate. This helps the dough hold its shape better and prevents it from deforming as you shape and bake the cake.
- Coiling the combined water and oil dough twice is the secret to making the flaky and layered texture of the cake. You will be able to achieve the flaky layers by rolling the combined dough twice. After combining the water and oil dough balls together, it is flattened into a flat oblong sheet and rolled up like a spring roll. Then, the rolled dough is again flattened and rolled for the second time. This technique gives you long layers of flakiness, the ideal texture for this type of pastry.
Ingredients And Kitchenware You Need
You will need the typical baking tools, such as a rolling pin to flatten the dough, parchment paper for the tray, and an oil brush for brushing the egg yolk. I recommend having a plastic wrap to cover the dough during the resting step to prevent it from drying out. Finally, to make the 3 cutout slices of the dough for design, you can use a knife or any sharp blade.
Ingredients
For the water dough:
- 150g of all-purpose flour
- 50g of water
- 40g of lard (refer to my lard-making recipe)
For oil dough:
- 100g of all-purpose flour
- 50g of lard
For the filling:
- 13 balls of sweet bean paste (from my red bean paste recipe)
For brushing:
- Beaten egg yolk
For garnish:
- A sprinkle of white sesame seeds (or black sesame seeds)
10 Detailed Steps To Make Wife Cakes
After kneading, resting, shaping, and assembling the dough, baking the cake takes only 20 minutes. To learn more about each step, you can watch my short tutorial video on Instagram or TikTok. Remember to snap a photo of your cakes and share them with me by tagging @kitchenmisadventures!
Do you have tips and recommendations for making wife cakes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Enjoy the delightful aroma and flaky texture of the wife cakes with hot tea or coffee or with a cold drink like hand-brewed lychee tea with lemon, taro bubble milk tea, and winter melon tea.
Here are the 10 detailed steps to make wife cakes:
- Make the water dough. Mix flour, water, and lard and knead the mixture into a smooth dough.
- Make the oil dough. Mix flour and lard and knead to form a dough.
- Divide both water and oil dough into 13 portions each. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes. The water dough balls should be larger than the oil dough balls.
- After letting it rest, flatten a water dough ball into a circular wrapper and place the oil dough ball in the center. Sealing it by pinching the edges and shaping the dough into a new ball is very similar to the method discussed in my Tangyuan recipe.
- Flatten the combined water and oil dough ball into a flat oblong sheet. Then, roll it up from one end to form a rolled sheet. Repeat these steps for the rest of the dough balls. After combining and rolling all the dough pieces, let them rest for another 10 minutes while covered in plastic wrap.
- After resting, take a piece of rolled dough, flatten it again into a long oblong sheet, and roll it up. Then, press the middle part with your thumb, and fold both sides to the center.
- Flatten the dough into a circular wrapper. Prepare the sweet bean paste. Make about 13 balls of the paste. Place the sweet bean paste in the center of the dough wrapper and seal the edges by pinching.
- Place the cakes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, gently press the balls to flatten them to about 1 cm thick, and brush with egg yolk on top.
- Use a sharp knife to make 3 cutouts on the top of each wife cake and sprinkle with white sesame seeds.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes. After baking, do not open the oven door immediately or this may cause the cakes to deflate. If the cakes didn‘t puff up during baking, you may need to increase the time or temperature since the oven temperature and the cake size can affect the results. After storing the cakes in the fridge, you can reheat them in the oven at 350°F for 10 minutes or more.
Wife Cakes Recipe (AKA Sweetheart Cakes)
Ingredients
For the water dough:
- 150 g of all-purpose flour
- 50 g of water
- 40 g of lard
For oil dough:
- 100 g of all-purpose flour
- 50 g of lard
For the filling:
- 13 balls of sweet bean paste from my red bean paste recipe
For brushing:
- Beaten egg yolk
For garnish:
- A sprinkle of white sesame seeds or black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Make the water dough. Mix flour, water, and lard and knead the mixture into a smooth dough.
- Make the oil dough. Mix flour and lard and knead to form a dough.
- Divide both water and oil dough into 13 portions each. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes. The water dough balls should be larger than the oil dough balls.
- After letting it rest, flatten a water dough ball into a circular wrapper and place the oil dough ball in the center. Seal it by pinching the edges and shaping the dough into a new ball.
- Flatten the combined water and oil dough ball into a flat oblong sheet. Then, roll it up from one end to form a rolled sheet. Repeat these steps for the rest of the dough balls. After combining and rolling all the dough pieces, let them rest for another 10 minutes while covered in plastic wrap.
- After resting, take a piece of rolled dough, flatten it again into a long oblong sheet, and roll it up. Then, press the middle part with your thumb, and fold both sides to the center.
- Flatten the dough into a circular wrapper. Prepare the sweet bean paste. Make about 13 balls of the paste. Place the sweet bean paste in the center of the dough wrapper and seal the edges by pinching.
- Place the cakes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, gently press the balls to flatten them to about 1 cm thick, and brush with egg yolk on top.
- Use a sharp knife to make 3 cutouts on the top of each wife cake and sprinkle with white sesame seeds.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes. After baking, do not open the oven door immediately or this may cause the cakes to deflate. If the cakes didn't puff up during baking, you may need to increase the time or temperature since the oven temperature and the cake size can affect the results. After storing the cakes in the fridge, you can reheat them in the oven at 350°F for 10 minutes or more.
