Chinese birthday cakes
I have been feeling pretty uninspired lately. I started several posts but left them sitting on the draft folder because they felt boring and irrelevant. But inspiration can be found any moment and I have to thank Leona from My L(e)onely Planet for the idea to write this post! A conversation about weight made me think about Chinese cakes and how difficult it is to find good western-style cakes in China.
Let’s start by stating the obvious: Chinese sweets are very different from western ones. Where we have chocolate or custard, Chinese have red bean or sweet potato paste. The concept of birthday cake did not exist in China before, it was introduced by foreigners. Chinese people traditionally eat noodles for birthdays because they symbolize a long life. It is also very hard to find a good chocolate bar. (Insider tip: if you are in China, raving for real chocolate, and don’t want to spend your salary buying expensive imported chocolate in the supermarket, try the one from Ikea. It is very decent and only costs 9 or 10 kuai). So, because Chinese sweets are so different, it is kind of understandable that good western sweets are scarce here. However, I was surprised to find out that cheap chocolate pastries from Family Mart in Japan taste actually good. Why can Japanese people make good western sweets and Chinese cannot? There must be historical reasons. But I digress.
Have I ever mentioned that I have spent all my birthdays in China since 2006? So I have a lot of experience in birthday cakes. During my second year in Beijing, I celebrated my birthday together with a Bolivian guy in a bar in Wudaokou. We got a cake from a bakery that was in the first floor of that building with many KTVs and Korean bars next to the subway station. After blowing the candles, we cut it and gave a piece to all of our friends. When I tried that cake… oh my God, I can’t even think about it. It was SALTY. There was something salty sprinkled on top of the cake. That was definitely the worst cake experience I’ve had in China.
The disgusting salty cake. I just threw up a little bit remembering it.
But there’s been many more.
The most common type of birthday cake here is a huge mess of whipped cream covering a very unremarkable inside of plain sponge cake and topped with pieces of fruit. It is a shame that this is even called birthday cake.
Typical Chinese birthday cake.
The inside of a typical Chinese birthday cake.
Sometimes bakeries get creative and offer a different version of the whipped cream mess, but with the same flavour:
Doggie cake.
After a couple of years of continuous disappointments in the cake department (not only for my birthday, also for my friends’ birthdays), I finally learnt my lesson: the only type of cake that is somewhat acceptable from a common Chinese bakery is cheese cake. It doesn’t look like a birthday cake, but at least it can be moderately enjoyed.
Then I moved to Shanghai, the paradise of foreigness in China. There I discovered a shop called Awfully Chocolate and my life changed. My birthday in 2010 was definitely a good one.
Death by chocolate!
But this cake shop is not Chinese, it is Singaporean if I am not mistaken. So it cannot count as a Chinese cake.
Last year, as my birthday was the day that we were leaving for Spain, C. ordered a cake sent to my office on the previous day. But the delivery guy tripped and spoiled the cake. The store offered to send a replacement, but the only cake they had available was a mooncake shaped cake. Peach flavour, I think it was. Definitely weird. I don’t really think these Chinese-western fusion cakes are going to be successful.
And it arrived like that. That must have been the clumsiest delivery guy ever.
In Suzhou, my favourite cake shop is a Malaysian store called Secret Recipe. Their cakes taste pretty good! But I haven’t been there in more than a year. In fact I think I should go right now and enjoy an afternoon tea!
Have you tried Chinese birthday cakes? What is your favourite type of cake?
Cakes in China sound so interesting! The ones with the whipped mess barely sound like cakes as you said – after one slice I won’t be surprised if you feel sick from all the sweetness. Cheating your money in a way. Lol, I am surprised you take photos of your cake every year :D
My favourite kind of cake is black forest cake – when it does not have too much whipped cream. I like sponge cake too, and cakes that are soft and fluffy in general. Definitely not fruit cake – not the cakes with fruits on top but with the fruits in the cake batter itself.
I’m also not a fan of the cakes with fruit inside! And yes, I used to take pictures of absolutely everything haha. But I think I am missing my birthday cake from 2014 :(
salty cake made me throw up a little just by thinking about it… ewwwww
It was really disgusting. I have never found a salty cake ever again so maybe it really was that someone mistook the salt for sugar!
OMG, Tous les Jours by WDK subway station in 2006-07 was my spot to get sweets. I can’t believe they provided you with such an epic fail! Perhaps someone mistook salt for sugar? Sad.
I hate to admit it, but I kinda like the whipped creamy sponge cake that has fruit. I don’t really like frosting so it works for me. But I usually just made my own cakes.
Oh, buttercream frosting at most bakeries the U.S. is generally powdered sugar and vegetable shortening or lard. It’s terrible. So I’m with Rosie — I’d rather have the whipped cream. It’s lighter and less sweet.
I like whipped cream, but not when the cake is 70% whipped cream!
Even for me, 70% might be a bit much.
I don’t like frosting either, it feels too artificial and buttery. I hate those cakes that look very colourful and pretty but feel like biting on a bar of sweet butter!
I think I didn’t go anymore to that Tous le jours (understandable, haha). Hey, maybe we passed by each other in Beijing! ;)
PS. Glad to read you again!
Haven’t tried birthday cakes in China but tried out many bakeries in Xi’an. Thus far each one was a big fail. Salty I also has once…Definitely weird. I remember another occasion when I tried a black forest cake just to find out that the cherry on top was formed sugar and the rest kinda tasted like chemicals. The thing is that most places don’t even have proper whipped cream, just tastes so strange
Yeah I am not a big fan of bakeries here. Have you tried the croissants with sausage inside? French people must be cringing hahaha.
Oh that sausage croissant, an absolute nightmare for French I bet :D
Besides it is so strange when my in laws buy bread in China and more often than not there is some meat inside..
I was going to remind you about Secret Recipe, but turns out I don’t have to, heh~
Jesus… salty cake. I can’t (and don’t want to) imagine how it even tastes like! The only use I can think of for it would be as one of those punishment cakes used for whatever reasons… :/
I went to Secret Recipe yesterday and had a piece of chocolate cake. Because I’m worth it :D
Salty cake sounds hideous.
Yeah, baking is just not yet a Chinese thing. They have this yellow cake at dim sum at the best restaurants, and it’s okay, but the regulars all rave about how delicious it is. And I’m “Meh. You guys should try a torte or Mabel’s favorite, black forest. You don’t know good cake!”
They really don’t, because their sweets are too different! Also, many Chinese people don’t like things that are too sweet, they say their teeth hurt!
This must also be the real reason they go for hot water instead of cold.
We have quite decent cakes here but it’s not London. The chocolates are acceptable. There are fancy European chocolates in Istanbul at a price. A small box of Godiva chocolates at Istanbul Airport cost more than half kilo of Godiva chocolates from Athens by the Acropolis.
Oh there are also Godiva stores in here and they are SO expensive. But my boyfriend always gets me one for my birthday and valentine’s day!
I’ve fallen victim to that Tous Les Jours in Wudaokou too!!! (across the street from Lush, near Tsinghua, right?) I bought a bag full of “donuts” for a group of Westerners about 7 years ago. Not one of us finished their donut. Horrific.
The cheese cake is terrible in China too, even at Starbucks or some other foreign coffee shop. Almost every kind of cake is missing at least 25% of the flour, 50% of the sugar and 75% of the fat needed to make a cake have any kind of depth. They all taste like some kind of flavored whipped cream. (or salty cake – gross!!!!)
My oven can handle pie crusts but it’s just not big enough to handle a real homemade cake. Sad, so sad.
YES! That Tous les jours, haha.
Maybe I am ok with cheese cakes here because in Spain we didn’t really had cheese cakes when I was little, so I don’t know how the real deal should taste :D
I think my oven could do cakes but I don’t know how to make them. It’s better that I don’t learn. I would get sooooo fat!
Before my birthday I’d seen enough Chinese birthday cakes to know that I didn’t want one, and was so glad that my friends didn’t bunch together and buy me one. Although, the fruit topped ones are probably ones that I’ll put up with, but the others…I just can’t stand the wet sponge! Glad to have inspired you, keep writing!
Thanks, haha! Maybe you should try one small piece of cake. You know, for the experience :P
I have bought and had bought for me some very strange Chinese cakes but your stories are much more funnier Marta. I used to buy the IKEA chocolate and loved it especially when my usual chocolate of either Cadbury or Lindt (brought over by friends) had run out. Great post as always.
Yeah last time I went to Spain we brought a loooot of chocolate, there are still a couple of bars left, hehe.
You should have tasted the cakes in China 20 years ago. It was like eating plaster. That said, there’s nothing I like more than a Hong Kong birthday cake. So light and creamy and filled with fresh fruit. Yum!
I have never tried cake in Hong Kong! I will put it in my to do list for the next time I go there :D
It’s good! Let me know what you think when you get a chance to go there!
Cierto, diabólicos pasteles. Supongo que se han puesto a hacer algo que no saben, algo que ni siquiera han probado antes.
No me gusta nada Awfully chocolate. Me gusta Baker & Spice. Y Dutch Pies no está mal.
(El pastel perro está logrado)
A mí me flipa Awfully, jaja. Las tartas de chocolate en Hof y Whisk también están buenas.
Dutch pies no lo conozco. Han puesto un Baker & Spice en Suzhou! Tengo que ir a probarlo. Es que me cae un poco lejos.
With all the delicious food in China, it’s strange that they never became very good with desserts, especially cake. There’s a downside, of course, with having so many delicious cakes readily available the way we do here in the United States, especially for someone who loves sweets as much as I do.
Hehe, yes, it’s dangerous!
I think Chinese people are not too much into sweets. But many young people follow now the tradition of getting a birthday cake.
Here in the Philippines, most people don’t have refrigerators. So birthday cakes are decorated with a special kind of cream that doesn’t go bad if its left at room temperature. Cool, huh!
Good problem solving skills! :D
Owing to the fact that Taiwan is a democracy and has been more internationally open for longer, they’ve had more time to experiment with western-inspired recipes. So I quite enjoy the cakes here. Yeah, they’re usually sponge cake with whipped cream, but meticulously well-crafted and pleasant to western palates; just much less sweet! Thankfully not salty…
Even though salty cake sounds terrible, it made me giggle as I was reading since I’ve heard tales of failed recipe mishaps wherein the inexperienced baker accidentally adds salt instead of sugar to the recipe, then serves it to the guests
Considering the blinding speed with which things evolve in China, I’m sure it won’t be long before you see significant improvements to the breads and/or cakes. I’m curious — how’s the bread over there? We’ve got bakeries all over the place here in Taipei, some good and others not so good/bad. Soft and squishy is what locals like in a bread, but traditional crunchy European-style breads are starting to gain a foothold.
Thus, here as well as over there many aspects of the west are slowly but surely becoming incorporated into the local lifestyle. I imagine sooner than later you’ll be able to find plenty of good cakes all over the place in China(especially Shanghai!) Then you can regale the new foreign arrivals about the good old days of salty cakes and messy whipped-cream nightmares.
The bread is also not good, again, because Chinese people didn’t eat it. There are a lot of bakeries, but they mostly sell sliced bread and pastries with all kind of fillings. The pastries are usually oily so I’m not a big fan.
There are also some bakeries selling European style bread. Normally quite expensive, but at least we have the option :)
Yeah, that’s an issue with bread in Taiwan as well. My main concern is trans fat — and I also generally just try to avoid anything overly oily. A great alternative is authentic Chinese baozi/mantou (the steamed stuff). I’m really into it and buy it often. On the one hand its inexpensive, and on the other hand, its fairly healthy (especially vegetarian buns, my fave).
I also like baozi and mantou! But I don’t have any place selling them nearby :(
Some things I brought from Spain have to be eaten with real European bread though, a mantou wouldn’t make it :D
SALTY CAKE? Bleh! How did your invitees tolerate that?!
Here’s the best advice: bake your own cake and impress everyone. ;) I do that. Or used to, anyway.
I still have no idea how the American cakes taste like. Aren’t they too sweet? Still unsure what frosting is.
How about the other sweets in China? How are they like?
I can’t bake cakes! And I think it is better if I don’t learn, or I would be eating cake every day!
I have never been to America so no idea about American cakes either :D Frosting is the hard, colored thingie on top of cakes, right? Those super elaborate cakes that have many colours and can resemble a Minion, or a car, or anything. They look nice but they don’t taste good, in my opinion :P In my home country cakes are less beautiful but more delicious, haha.
Chinese traditional sweets normally use rice flour and fillings like sesame and red bean paste. I like them!
Haha. XD But cake is so good!
Yup, that’s it. Same here, actually. My country has really good cakes.
I need to try ’em out some time, then.
I think they come from Japanese Western-inspired cakes, right? All that whipped cream and fruit. Thanks for sharing, I want some cake!
I had cake on Saturday after hitting the publish button hahaha.
I didn’t try any cakes in Japan!
Oh my god, I totally hear you on cakes. I ordered a brownie once when I was in Beijing, and it was powdery!
Luckily for me, I don’t really like cake, so I don’t feel like I’m missing much. American cakes are way too sweet for me (but they totally don’t make my teeth hurt though). I pretty much only eat ice cream cake or cheesecake, and never, ever, have any cake for my birthday. I don’t think I’ve actually had a birthday cake since I was nine or ten.
I am honestly amused that it took a Singaporean cake chain to get you a good cake in China. It’s not like Singapore is an Asian bastion of good baked goods. Surely there must’ve been some good European bakeries in Shanghai too?
I was at Ikea the other day and saw the chocolate (so that was such a good tip!). I’ve been wanting to make this no-bake chocolate tart. I’ve found the chocolate and the milk, but I can’t find smaller tart pans. I don’t suppose you know where to get any? The ones at Ikea are huge!
I can’t remember any foreign bakery in Shanghai haha! I know there are foreign bakers, but they mostly work in expensive hotels I think. In Suzhou I have to make do with the Malaysian chain :P
Tart pans? Have you tried taobao? There are many baking supplies stores!
Can confirm that bakeries in Shanghai are still pretty poor, unless you pay through the teeth in the ‘foreigner zones’.
Our local one is ‘Wedome’ – they sell acceptable baguettes, but everything else is unrecognisable to the point that the names make me chuckle. Pink plastic-y sausages in brioche-imitations with sweet mayonaisse drizzles are still the norm :(
Hahaha yep, I’ve seen those sausages on brioches and croissants before. I might have even tried them!!
I think the fruit cake in the second pic is pretty similar to the birthday cakes you can find at bakeries in Taiwan. I usually buy cakes for special occasions [baby announcement, for example] at Costco. They are pretty similar to western cakes and are pretty delicious. However, they are so big that we usually end up freezing some of it.
Mmmm I don’t think there’s Costco in China! Only Walmart, Carrefour and Auchan…
There’s a Secret Recipe in Thailand. Ha! Yeah….cakes and sweets in SE Asia is NOT the same as back home. It’s so weird. It’s like the food is sweet and the sweets are not. Sometimes it’s gross (ala salty cake), but what can you do? At least in SE Asia we can say it’s too hot for an oven!
“the food is sweet and the sweets are not” haha, you’re right!
I don’t expect food to taste the same as back home, but I also didn’t expect cakes to taste bad and poor Chinese people being ok with it xD
Bad cake is just wrong…
Marta, you know how to make a good post out of something that most people must think of as simple and boring! I really enjoyed this one.
In Shanghai I had a lot of good cakes, but they were mostly from bakeries that weren’t even Chinese (85 degrees is Taiwanese and Tour Les Jour is Korean); when I went out on a limb and tried a cake from an actual local place, it was pretty gross.
I actually think that the cakes in China (at least in Shanghai) were WAY better than American cakes. American cakes are really, truly, awful. They use fake frosting, the inside of the cake tastes like cardboard, and it’s just too damn big. American cake is also disgustingly sweet… the last time I had a slice of authentic American cake my teeth actually hurt.
So, when I ate cake from Awfully Chocolate (so good!) or even 85 Degrees (yes, even those cakes are better than USA) I was in heaven.
It wasn’t until I went to Europe this last summer when I realized that Europeans reign supreme when it comes to pastries. Oh god. Inexpensive, delicious and beautiful pastries everywhere!!!
THE BEST cake in China… is this place:
http://www.21cake.com/
I think it’s run by two French guys so it’s not actually “authentic Chinese,” but OH GOD. SO GOOD!!! I actually think the price is half decent. The rose cake is to die for.
I have never tried American cakes! But yes, in Europe there are fantastic cakes and pastries. In Spain all the cakes felt very authentic and “artisan” until this trend of coloured cakes came in. Is that the American frosting? I hate it. (Hater mode on: I also hate American style cupcakes, they are a normal muffin with a disgusting sugary thing on top! And the worst is that they are now everywhere!!).
That 21cake logo looks very familiar. Maybe we had this cake in the office last year, but I can’t remember which one it was (we had cake very often hahahaha). They also have in Suzhou, I’ll give it a try!
Doggie cake?? Me? That death by chocolate number is my preferred indulgence…
How is chocolate in India? Do they have British style chocolate?
I was surprised when I went to Vietnam and Cambodia and found out they still have good bread and coffee due to having been a French colony!
With enough money… you can get anything in India! :-)
We not only have British style chocolate, but a friend’s daughter set-up importing Royce Nama chocolates from Japan. My partner is completely addicted to them after I started bringing back boxes from Singapore and Japan. :-)
Chinese know about good food, but they certainly do not know how to make good cakes. Ewww.
Exactly! Haha. Did you try any cakes in Hong Kong?
Once. And it was one time too often >_<
Well, you guys havent tried ordering from Mary Sweets? It’s an online bakery based in Huizhou. Delivers via SF Express.
Should you want to know more, let me know!