Celebrate Chinese New Year with some Chinese cakes!

A cake is so often the focal point of a celebration – from wedding cakes to birthday cakes, Christenings and Christmas. Cake is seemingly fundamental to a party. It’d seem odd to have a party without a delicious cake to go with it.

In this blog article we’ll take a look at some delicious Chinese cakes for Chinese New Year which in 2014 lands on 31^st January.

Perhaps the most famous cake for Chinese New Year is called Nian Gao – this literally translates as sticky cake. However, ‘nian gao’ is actually homophonous with ‘higher year’ so eating this cake is seen as being auspicious and encourage you to be a better person each year.

The cake is made using Chinese brown sugar, gluttonous rice flour and Chinese dates (also known as jujubes) and is steamed (not baked).

The cake is extra sticky and gelatinous thanks to the rice flour. The recipe is simple and easy to make at home – even if you don’t have a steamer already.

Two other famous Chinese cakes are the mooncake and the egg tart.

The mooncake is traditionally eaten for the other large holiday in the Chinese calendar – the Mid-Autumn Festival (also sometimes called the Moon Festival). This cake is made with a sweet pastry completely encasing a filling made with red bean or lotus seed paste. There is also often an egg yolk in the middle – made to resemble the Moon.

Although it is tradition to eat mooncakes for this holiday, it has also become customary for them to be given as gifts to friends, family and business associates.

Another famous Chinese cake is the egg tart. These are an evolution of the traditional Portuguese or English egg custard tarts but are eaten warm and are not covered in nutmeg.  They are often served as part of dim sum and should be eaten straight away, not saved for the last course.

Other cakes that you might find in a Chinese bakery include cha siu bao (pork buns), cocktail buns (filled with a sweet coconut filling) and cream buns (a bun made from Chinese dough but filled with Western style cream).

Chinese cuisine features many delicious cakes and buns and you should be able to find easy recipes online or find a Chinese bakery in your local Chinatown.

If you need any celebration cakes including birthdays,Christenings, weddings and more – Dunn’s Bakery in north London have a fantastic selection and can even produce bespoke cakes for you.

Healthy treats for the New Year

New Year’s resolutions are upon us, and for many these include a resolution to eat healthy foods and exercise more often. It’s not easy, temptation is everywhere, and no one knows this better than those of us who work in a bakery. But it's not all about fancy doughnuts, tarts and cakes; Dunn’s Bakery offers an assortment of healthy and delicious lunches and snacks.

You’ll be salivating over sandwiches filled with a selection of meats and cheeses, from mozzarella to turkey and roast beef. Choose your bread: brown bread or multi seed bread is a great choice for any healthy New Year’s resolution. These breads are complex carbohydrates, releasing energy more slowly and ensuring that you fill fuller for longer.

For vegetarians, there's a wide variety of vegetarian fillings, including houmous, Meditarranean vegetables and red pepper paté.

Looking to add a bit of sizzle to your sandwich with some Mexican flair? Try a wholesome tortilla wrap. These light-weight lunch alternatives are filled with chicken salad, Mexican cheese and egg-mayo and bacon.

For those who require gluten free alternatives, Dunn's Bakery also bake gluten free bread – in the classic tin shape, it’s a fluffy loaf with a fairly long lifespan. For people with other dietary concerns they also offer bespoke celebration cakes and cupcakes, either gluten free, dairy free or egg free. Please call for details or simply ask in store.

January needn’t be a time for the foodie blahs. Give your mouth something to smile about with healthy snacks from Dunn’s Bakery.