Lao Por Bing ( Wife Cake)／老婆饼

Wife Cakes are actually made by men for their wives. It seems that long ago a wife sold herself as a servant to get money to pay for medical treatment for her father-in-law. The husband was so impressed by her dedication and wanting his wife back that he created the Wife Cake which he sold in the market. They became very popular so he was able to earn enough money to buy his wife back.

Lao Por Bing ( Wife Cake) has a long history and is popular in Hong Kong, and among Chinese. My Family loves this cake.

For the water dough, oil dough and how to assemble the pastry, please refer to this chinese video








This recipe is from Do What I Like
Water Dough:
100g top flour
25g icing sugar
20g margarine
20g sunflower oil
20g water



Oil Dough:
100g top flour
45g sunflower oil

Filling:
55g candied winter melon, chopped to bite size( I rinsed off some of the sugar)
55g castor sugar
70g cooked glutinous rice flour (Koh Fun)
18g margarine
15g roasted white sesame seeds
12g dessicated coconut
120g boiled drinking water (at room temp.)

Egg wash
1 yolk + 1 tsp. water + pinch of salt

Method:

1. Put all Filling ingredients into a big bowl, mix until combined. Divide into 14 equal portions.

2. Water Dough: Rub butter into sieved flour and icing sugar till bread crumb state. Add in the water till a pliable dough is formed. Cling wrap dough and rest for 30 minutes. Divide dough into 14 equal portions.

3. Oil Dough: Pour oil into flour and rub into an oily dough. Cling wrap and leave aside to rest for 30 minutes. Divide dough into 14 equal portions.

4. To Assemble: Flatten a piece of water dough and wrap in the oil dough. Press and roll out dough into a longish flar piece with a rolling pin. Roll it up Swiss roll-style. Turn the dough 90 degrees and then roll it into a longish flat piece. Roll it up Swiss roll-style again. Pinch the 2 side edges and shape it into a flat circular shape. Put a piece of filling in the center of the dough and wrapped it. Flatten it. Apply egg wash.


5. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 200C for 9 minutes. Apply egg wash again. Bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown.