Winter Melon Cake is a traditional Hong Kong sweet pastry. It is literally translated to ‘wife cake’ (funnily enough, there is actually another sweet pastry called ‘husband cake’!) The flavor of the winter melon comes through very delicately and is more dominated by the aroma of toasted sesame. The texture of the filling is slightly chewy and goes really well with the crispness of the pastry.
Of all the Winter Melon Cakes I’ve tasted in Melbourne, none of the seem to use enough (or some none) winter melon in the filling! Some even add banana oil which completely ruins the flavour. For those who miss the flavour of Winter Melon Cakes, this recipe is a must try!
The star of this pastry, as the English name implies is winter melon. Winter melon is a type of white gourd that is used commonly in making Chinese soups. It doesn’t have much flavour on its own but is great at absorbing the flavours of other ingredients. The winter melon used here has actually been crystallized (think crystallized ginger) into white sticks (approximately 5cm x 1cm x 1cm) and is often featured as one of the treats served during Chinese New Years. You can get it from Asian grocery stores quite easily (in Melbourne anyway!).
The recipe here calls for lard which is a big no for most people but it is essential to achieving that light and crispy pastry. Some people like to substitute lard with vegetable shortening but I prefer to stick to the real deal. After all, how often are you going to eat these?
The pastry is a puff pastry but the layered effect is created by using a ‘outer dough’ and an ‘innerdough’. It is a lot easier to handle than rolling out butter wrapped in a dough!
Ingredients – outer dough
- 2.5 oz of bread flour
- 2.5 oz of plain flour
- 1 oz of sugar
- 2 oz of lard
- 2.5 oz of water
Ingredients – inner dough
- 2 oz of plain flour
- 1/2 tsp of wheat starch (buy from Asian grocery store)
- 1 oz lard
Ingredients – filling
- 4 oz of crystallized winter melon
- 1/8 cup sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup of water
- 3/8 cup of glutinous rice flour (buy from Asian grocery store)
- Few drops of oil
Ingredients – finishing
- 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
Method – filling
- Toast sesame seeds over a pan or wok. Pound lightly in a pestle or mortar (or end of a rolling pin) to release aroma.
- Cook the glutinous rice flour in a oil-less pan or work. The flour is cooked when there is no more ‘raw’ flour smell and it is VERY lightly browned. Set aside.
- Chop up the crystallized winter melon.
- Mix the crystallized winter melon, sesame seeds, water, glutinous rice flour and oil together to form the filling. Set aside.
Method – outer dough
- Mix bread flour and plain flour together in a bowl.
- Add all remaining ingredients to the mixed flour.
- Knead to form a dough. Place in a bowl and cover with a cloth.
Method – inner dough
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
- Knead to form a dough. Place in a bowl and cover with a cloth.
Method – assemble
- Knead both the doughs into two logs and divided each into 16 equal pieces.
- Lightly flatten the outer dough in the palm of your hand and place the inner dough in the center.
- Close the outer dough around the inner dough (i.e. sealing the inner dough into the outer dough).
- Flatten the dough lightly with the palm of your hand and rolling into a long, thin strip using a rolling pin.
- Roll up the thin strip of dough from one of the short ends.
- Rolling out with a rolling pin slightly. Fold one of the short ends towards the center one 2/3 of the way. Do the same with the other short end. Looking from the side, there should be 3 visible layers.
- Rolling out with a rolling pin to about 2 mm thick.
- Place a small amount of the filling in the center. Seal the filling in by gathering up the edges and pinching the dough closed.
- Place the cake sealed side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Brush the top of each cake with egg yolk and prick with fork for 3 times.
- Bake in a pre-heated 200 Celsius oven for 20 – 30 minutes until golden brown.
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