P
Chinese · Taichung, Taiwan
Sun Cake (Tai Yang Bing / 太阳饼)
Taichung's signature gift pastry: a flaky, multi-layered Chinese shortcrust pastry filled with a sweet malt sugar paste (mai ya tang). The pastry uses the same Chinese flaky technique (water dough wrapped around fat dough) as wife cake, but the filling is distinctively honey-sweet malt sugar. A Taiwanese gift culture staple — boxes of sun cakes are taken back from Taichung visits.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the water dough
200 g
plain flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
75 ml
water
lukewarm
Your own market
60 g
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the oil dough
160 g
plain flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the malt sugar filling
200 g
malt syrup (mai ya tang)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
40 g
unsalted butter
Your own market
1 pinch
fine salt
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Make the water dough: combine 200 g plain flour, 60 g lard, and 75 ml lukewarm water. Knead until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky, then wrap and rest for 20 minutes. The surface should be supple and yield without tearing when gently stretched.
2
Make the oil dough: combine 160 g plain flour with 80 g lard. Work together until the mixture coheres into a soft, uniform mass. It should hold its shape when pressed but leave a faint grease on the palm — no dry flour should remain.
3
Divide each dough into 12 equal portions. Flatten a portion of water dough into a disc, place a portion of oil dough at its centre, and wrap the water dough completely around it, pinching the seam firmly closed. Repeat for all 12 pieces. The sealed ball should show no seams and feel taut.
4
This is where the dish lives or dies. On a lightly floured surface, roll each wrapped ball into a thin rectangle, then roll it up into a tight cylinder. Rest 10 minutes, then roll out again and fold again — repeat this process at least three times in total. Too few folds produce thick, coarse layers rather than the paper-thin flakiness that defines the pastry. Each finished cylinder should show a fine, even spiral at its cut ends.
5
Cook the filling: combine malt syrup, 40 g butter, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over gentle heat. Stir until the butter is fully melted and the mixture is homogeneous. Remove from the heat. The filling must not be cooked beyond the point where it flows slowly off a spoon — overheating produces a filling that sets too firm when cooled.
6
Allow the filling to cool until it can be handled — it should be pliable and tacky, not liquid. Divide into 12 equal portions. Stand each laminated cylinder on its end, flatten it into a disc with the palm, and roll out to a circle approximately 8 cm in diameter. Place a portion of filling at the centre, gather the pastry edges up and around it, and pinch firmly closed. Gently flatten to a disc of approximately 6–7 cm diameter. The pastry should show no cracks at the edges.
7
Place the discs sealed-side down on a lined baking tray. With a sharp knife or blade, score a sunburst pattern radiating from the centre of each disc — this is the signature mark of the sun cake and must be made before baking. Bake at 180 °C until the surface is pale golden and the scored lines have opened and set. The pastry should sound hollow when tapped lightly on the base.
8
Allow to cool fully on a wire rack before handling. The finished cake should break open to reveal distinct, paper-thin flaky layers, and the filling should appear slightly soft at the centre — a correctly cooked malt sugar paste oozes faintly at the break.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Taichung-sourced malt syrup (mai ya tang) and rendered leaf lard — the regional standard represented by producers such as Yi Hong.
02
Estate — High-grade malt syrup from a specialist supplier; fresh-rendered lard from a known butcher.
03
Market — Commercially available malt syrup; good-quality commercial lard. Acceptable results with careful lamination.
04
House — Substitute butter for lard only as a last resort — the flakiness character will differ materially from the Taichung original.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Water dough is supple and non-sticky after resting; oil dough coheres and leaves faint grease on the palm with no dry flour.
◇Sight. Cut ends of each laminated cylinder show a fine, even spiral — evidence of sufficient folding.
◇Sight. Malt sugar filling flows slowly off a spoon before cooling — not liquid, not set firm.
◇Sound. Baked cakes sound hollow when tapped on the base — pastry is cooked through.
◇Sight. At the break, the filling oozes faintly and layers are paper-thin — lamination and filling temperature were correct.
◇Where it lives or dies. The lamination — too few rolls and folds produce thick, coarse layers rather than the paper-thin flakiness that defines the pastry.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
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Whisky
From British Columbia
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Without alcohol
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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