Marry girl cake or dowry cake is a traditional Chinese cake that was once a ceremonial cake used as a wedding gift in the traditional

Chinese wedding Traditional Chinese marriage () is a ceremonial ritual within Chinese societies that involves not only a union between spouses, but also a union between the two families of a man and a woman, sometimes established by pre-arrangement between fa ...

ceremony, hence the name. Today, this cake is known more as a classic Chinese pastry rather than a wedding gift because it has lost most of its original significance due to cultural change. It can be found in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and in some

Chinatowns A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austr ...

overseas.

Production

The cake is essentially a lightly sweetened

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...

that may take any number of shapes or appearances. It is considered large compared to the size of most pastries. The internal base of the cake may consist of

lotus seed paste Lotus seed paste is a Chinese dessert ingredient made from dried lotus seeds. It is traditionally considered a luxurious ingredient. Production The process for making the paste is similar to that used to make smooth red bean paste. First, the d ...

Meaning

''Marry girl cake'' is a traditional wedding gift which is originally from

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. According to tradition, the giving of wedding cakes by the bridegroom shows that he is respectful and takes his vows seriously. The bridegroom sends ''marry girl cakes'' to the bride and her family after the engagement. This "remittance of the big gifts" ''gwo daai lai'' (過大禮, ") seals the engagement. MoonMoonLLC. URL accessed on March 21. The bride's family will then give them to their relatives to share the happiness and tell them that the wedding is approaching. The cakes are given in packs of four, six or eight pieces, because even numbers in general, and those numbers in particular, are deemed to be auspicious.

History

The importance of giving out ''marry girl cakes'' is illustrated by an anecdote dating from the era of the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

. DDT. URL accessed on 2010-2011. At that time,

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the ...

had borrowed a place called

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

for a long period of time and seemed in no hurry to return it to its owner, Sun Quan. Thus, Sun Quan's advisor,

Zhou Yu Zhou Yu (, ) (175–210), courtesy name Gongjin (), was a Chinese military general and strategist serving under the warlord Sun Ce in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. After Sun Ce died in the year 200, he continued serving under Sun Quan, ...

, suggested a "honey trap". Sun Quan pretended that he was offering Liu Bei his recently widowed sister as a wife. Liu Bei had to leave Jingzhou for

Soochow Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

to attend the ceremony. He knew it was a trick, however, after arriving in Soochow, he told his soldiers to deliver cakes to Sun Quan. This move forced Sun Quan to accept the alliance as sealed. Since then, the Chinese follow the custom of sending ''marry girl cakes'' to share their happiness with family and friends.

Types

The sponge cake is not the only type of ''marry girl cake''. There are around 30–40 types with different tastes and distinct ingredients. Moreover, a new cake appeared recently, called ''great-grandmother cake'' (太婆餅),
Miss K. URL accessed on May 10, 2008. to be sent as a sign of extra respect if the bride's grandparents are still alive. The most popular types are: * Colorful preserved eggs pastry (五彩皮蛋酥) * Duck egg lotus seed paste pastry (蛋黃蓮蓉酥) * Red lotus seed paste pastry (紅綾蓮蓉酥) * Yellow green bean paste pastry (黃綾荳蓉酥) * Terminalia walnut pastry (欖仁合桃酥) * Duck egg lotus seed paste cake (蛋黃蓮蓉雞蛋糕) * Duck egg pastry (雞油蛋黃酥)

Creation

Many ingredients are needed to make red lotus seed paste pastry (紅綾蓮蓉酥) (eight pieces).
蠍. URL accessed on May 25, 2010. As to make the oil skin, solid vegetable oil , flour , syrup , water , and a little pigment. For making the butter, flour and solid vegetable oil are needed. Lastly, lotus seed paste are used to create the inside part of it. First, mix the ingredients of oil skin and soft creamy butter separately, and then evenly divide into eight parts. Press the oil skin into a flat shape and wrap in butter. Then, use a long stick to roll, turn 90 degrees left and right to the middle and fold into three layers. Press into cakes skin, put lotus seed paste inside and turn it into a cake shape. Put it in an oven for 25–30 minutes, under .

Culture

Although marry girl cake has a long history, people in modern society still keep it as a sign of "happiness" and send wedding cakes to relatives and close friends when there is a marriage. There are different styles and flavors of marry girl cakes now, which shows the popularity of it. Moreover, there is a new cake in recent years called great-grandmother cake(太婆餅). If the bride's grandparents are still there, the bridegroom will send these kinds of cakes to the girl's place to show good faith.

References

{{Cakes Cakes Marriage in Chinese culture Chinese desserts