Sweetheart Cake

Name: Sweetheart Cake
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 60 g plain flour; 9 g lard; 5 g caster sugar; 26 ml water; 35 g plain flour; 15 g lard; 60 g candied winter melon; 25 g cooked glutinous rice flour (gao fen); 30 ml water; 12 g caster sugar; 6 g white sesame seeds; 10 g ground almonds; 0.25 tsp five spice powder; 1 egg yolk; 2 g white sesame seeds; salt

Lo po beng, the Cantonese teahouse pastry: a soft, chewy candied winter melon filling scented with almond, sesame and five spice, wrapped in a thin, many-layered flaky pastry and baked until pale gold. This makes two cakes, one person's plateful with tea.

Snacks Lunch & dinner

70 min45 prep · 25 cookMedium916 kcalper serving

Method

Make the filling first so it can firm up. Dissolve 12 g of caster sugar in 30 ml of hot water in a small bowl, then stir in 60 g of finely chopped candied winter melon, 10 g of ground almonds, 6 g of toasted white sesame seeds, 0.25 tsp of five spice powder and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle over 25 g of cooked glutinous rice flour and work it in with a spatula until you have a soft, sticky paste that just holds its shape; add a few drops of water if it is crumbly. Cover and chill 20 minutes, then roll into 2 even balls.
For the water dough, rub 9 g of softened lard into 60 g of plain flour with 5 g of caster sugar until sandy, add 26 ml of cool water and bring together, then knead on an unfloured board for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with cling film and rest 20 minutes at room temperature so the gluten relaxes.
For the oil dough, mash 15 g of softened lard into 35 g of plain flour with the back of a spoon until it forms a smooth, pliable paste with no dry flour. Wrap and chill 15 minutes; it should stay soft but not greasy, roughly the same firmness as the rested water dough.