Sweetheart cake

A sweetheart cake or wife cake or marriage pie is a traditional Chinese cake with a thin crust of flaky pastry, made with a filling of winter melon, almond paste, and sesame, and spiced with five spice powder. "Wife cake" is the translation of 老婆饼 from Chinese, and although the meaning is "wife", the literal translation is "old lady cake", paralleling the colloquial usage of "old lady" for "wife" in English. In Hong Kong, it is known as a specialty of the Yuen Long District. The traditional variant is from Guangdong province, where the filling consists of candied wintermelon. The candied wintermelon mash is then combined with white sesame seeds and glutinous rice flour. Coconut in the form of mash or desiccated shreds and almond paste, as well as vanilla, are also sometimes added. The paste is encased in Cantonese-style pastry dough; the authentic flavour and flaky texture of the pastry is traditionally produced by using pork lard shortening, and glazing with egg wash. Due to its rising popularity in Western countries, brought about by immigration, butter is sometimes substituted in place of lard, 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 . Although this spice is of Chinese origin, it was 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.

Source: Wikipedia