Thousand-layer Oil Cake

The cake is made by repeatedly folding leavened dough layered with sugar and oil, then steaming. The result is dense yet tender, with countable layers, a pale-gold colour and a sweet, soft bite, cut into glossy diamond pieces.

A traditional Yangzhou pastry, it is said to have been created by teahouse pastry masters in the late Qing. Together with emerald shaomai it is a signature of old teahouses such as Yechun, the two known as the city's "twin marvels" of dim sum.

Eaten warm as a sweet item at morning tea and offset by plain tea, its soft layered texture plays against the savoury emerald shaomai—one sweet, one salty.

Its hallmark is the work behind the "thousand layers"—folded and rolled without breaking, steamed without collapsing, soft yet with structure—a concentrated display of Huaiyang pastry skill.