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[[File:HK Food Sweetheart Wife Cakes @ Sheung Wan Morrison Street 老婆餅.jpg|thumb|Wife cake]]
A '''sweetheart cake''' or '''wife cake''' or '''marriage pie''' is a traditional [[Chinese cuisine|Chinese]] cake with a thin crust of [[flaky pastry]], and made with a filling of [[winter melon]], [[almond paste]], and sesame, and spiced with [[five spice]] powder.<ref>[http://indochinekitchen.com/2008/11/chinese-sweetheart-cake/ Chinese-sweetheart-cake] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120703032520/http://indochinekitchen.com/2008/11/chinese-sweetheart-cake/ |date=2012-07-03 }}</ref>
"Wife cake" is the translation of 老婆饼 from Chinese, and although the meaning is "wife", therethe literal translation is no"old wifelady oncake", paralleling the cakecolloquial usage of "old lady" for "wife" in English. In Hong Kong, it is known as a specialty of the [[Yuen Long District]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.eater.com/2019/8/6/20756863/hong-kong-extradition-bill-protest-wife-cake-sweetheart-cake-symbol-of-resistance | title=The Wife Cake Emerges as a Symbol of Resistance During the Hong Kong Protests | date=6 August 2019 }}</ref>
==Variants==
The traditional variant is from [[Guangdong|Guangdong province]], where the filling consists of candied [[wintermelon]].<ref>{{cite web|title=How to make Candied Winter Melon aka Tung Kua(冬瓜糖)|author=Phil|url=http://unclephilipsg.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-make-candied-winter-melon-aka.html|access-date=18 December 2011|year=2009}}</ref> The candied wintermelon mash is then combined with white sesame seeds and glutinous rice flour.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chinese Wife Cake Recipe|url=http://chinese.food.com/recipe/chinese-wife-cake-lo-paw-bang-185732|year=2006}}</ref> Coconut in the form of mash or desiccated shreds and almond paste, as well as vanilla, are also added sometimes added.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wife Biscuit/Sweetheart Cake|url=http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2010/07/wife-biscuitsweetheart-cakelao-por-peng.html|access-date=18 December 2011|year=2010}}</ref> The paste is encased in [[Chinese flaky pastry|Cantonese-style pastry dough]]; the authentic flavour and flaky texture of the pastry is traditionally produced by using pork lard shortening,<ref>{{cite web|title=40 Hong Kong foods we can't live without|url=http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/none/40-things-eat-hong-kong-coronary-arrest-820489|publisher=CNN International|access-date=18 December 2011|year=2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105093220/http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/none/40-things-eat-hong-kong-coronary-arrest-820489|archive-date=5 November 2012}}</ref> then byand glazing with egg wash.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wife Biscuit/Sweetheart Cake|url=http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2010/07/wife-biscuitsweetheart-cakelao-por-peng.html|access-date=18 December 2011|year=2010}}</ref> Due to its rising popularity in Western countries, brought about by immigration, butter is sometimes substituted in place of lard,<ref name=Lifeofguangzhou>{{cite web |title=Cantonese Pastries: Husband and Wife Cake |url=http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_228/node_233/node_243/2008/10/17/122422747853278.shtml |publisher=Lifeofguangzhou.com |access-date=18 December 2011 |year=2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229122835/http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_228/node_233/node_243/2008/10/17/122422747853278.shtml |archive-date=29 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> though this will alter the taste. The level of sweetness is mild, compared to Western sweet pastries.
Southeast Asian variations can include spices such as Chinese five spice (五香粉). Although this spice is of Chinese origin, it iswas not traditionally used in sweetheart cakes. Sweetheart cake may be confused with the [[husband cake]] (老公饼 or Lao gong bing), which uses [[star anise]] in its filling.<ref>{{cite web|titlename=CantoneseLifeofguangzhou Pastries: Husband and Wife Cake|url=http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_228/node_233/node_243/2008/10/17/122422747853278.shtml|publisher=LIfeofguangzhou.com|access-date=18 December 2011|year=2008|archive-date=13 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513162007/http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_228/node_233/node_243/2008/10/17/122422747853278.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Legends of origin==
There are many legends that attempt to explain the origins of the sweetheart cake. One tells the tale of a couple that lived a very poor life in imperial China. They loved each other and lived in a small village. Suddenly, a mysterious disease spread and the husband's father became very sick. The couple spent all of their money in order to treat the man's father. The wife sold herself as a slave in exchange for money to buy medicine for her father-in-law. Once the husband learned about what his wife did, he made a cake filled with sweetened wintermelon and almond. He dedicated this pastry to his wife whom he could never forget, and sold it on the street. His cake became so popular that he was able to earn enough money to buy his wife back.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cantonese Pastries: Husband and Wife Cake|url=http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_228/node_233/node_243/2008/10/17/122422747853278.shtml|publishername=Lifeofguangzhou.com|access-date=18 December 2011|year=2008|archive-date=13 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513162007/http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_228/node_233/node_243/2008/10/17/122422747853278.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>
There is another version where the man went searching for his wife after he earned enough money to buy her back. In his search, he had a cup of tea at a local teahouse, when he suddenly recognised the pastry they were serving with the tea. The man and his wife were reunited at the teahouse.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
Another story tells of a dim sum chef's wife creating a pastry with wintermelon paste influenced by a recipe from her mother's family. The new pastry was found to taste better than the dim sums that were being sold in teahouses, and the chef proudly told everyone it was made by his wife, hence it was named "Wife Cake".<ref>{{cite web|title=Food Story|url=http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/dining/musttaste-foodstory1.html|access-date=18 December 2011|author=Jacky Yu}}</ref>
One story suggest that the husband of a wife had to go fight in a war. The wife baked these cakes for him to take along during his fights.
==See also==
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