Sun Cake

Sun Cake

　　 Sun Cake is a type of dessert that originated in Taichung City, Taiwan. Also known as crisp cake, it is a thin pastry with sweet filling and is one of Taichung’s famous local specialties. It is usually sold in boxes as a gift item. Customers often need to pre-order from well-known shops and wait in long lines to pick them up. However, aside from these popular stores, Sun Cakes can also be purchased at specialty gift shops located in train stations across the Taichung area.

　　 　　The shape of a Sun Cake is roughly round, with no fixed size. Earlier versions were larger, and people often divided them into four equal parts before eating. In recent years, smaller Sun Cakes have appeared for easier handling and consumption. The cake crust is fragile and prone to crumbling when eaten. Its packaging box is also quite distinctive, originally featuring a sunflower design created by Mr. Yen Shui-long.

　　 Sun Cake is a highly localized product and one of the brightest stars among Taichung’s city cakes, generating an annual business of sixty billion dollars. Sales peak especially during the Lunar New Year. With over ten years of history, Taichung’s Guguhuufu (German fruit bread) brand has this year launched its first-ever Sun Cake with germ and milk aroma, aiming to differentiate itself from the traditional lard-flavored version and offer a unique taste experience.

　　 The Guguhuufu research team found that most traditional Sun Cakes on the market use lard as the main ingredient. Lard has a relatively white appearance and a distinctive flavor. The filling is mostly made primarily from malt. Through their research, they aimed to create a Sun Cake that is more aromatic, with a rich and layered texture, and a filling that offers more than just sweetness but also more substance.

　　 Ultimately, they opted to replace lard with butter and used a germ-flavored crust for the Sun Cake, while the filling features a milk flavor. The resulting texture features a finer crust, a fragrant buttery taste, and the germ adds more complexity to the overall flavor. Paired with the milk-flavored filling, customer tasting surveys show that since its launch less than a month ago, this product has been quite well received, quickly becoming the store’s new star item. 　

　　 Guguhuufu mentioned that during the testing phase, they also experimented with yuzu and almond-flavored fillings. These flavors were well-received too, but were more suited to adult palates, and there were concerns that children might not enjoy them as much. So, they have not been launched yet. Perhaps in the future, there will be opportunities to test more flavors—so stay tuned.