Haitang Cake
A flower-shaped griddled cake with a crisp caramelized edge and sweet red bean filling.
How to eat it
Let it cool briefly before biting into the centre, because the bean paste and melted sugar can be much hotter than the outside.
The story behind the dish
Sugar caramelizes against the heavy metal mould while the bean paste stays enclosed in the soft centre. The flower-shaped mould gives the cake its name, since the finished pastry resembles a Chinese flowering crabapple. It developed within the moulded-cake tradition shared across Shanghai, Suzhou and nearby Jiangnan towns.
For reference
Every kitchen does it its own way. What follows is the typical version — ingredients, heat and price shift from city to city and from one restaurant to the next, so take it as a guide rather than a fixed recipe.
If you have an allergy or something you can't eat, check with the staff before you order.