Wife Cakes (also known as Sweetheart Cakes) are a traditional Chinese bakery treat. They're made up of a flaky pastry shell filled with sweet, chewy winter melon and coconut filling. They make a great afternoon snack when served with tea. They're a flaky cookie or pastry with sweet, chewy winter melon and coconut filling. The storey of how this cake came to be has a few distinct interpretations. But here's the storey: there was a couple in China who were madly in love, but they lived in a poor village. The girl's husband's father (father-in-law) became ill unexpectedly, so they spent all of their money on drugs to help him, but he remained unwell. So the girl sold herself as a slave to raise money to help her father-in-law buy medicine. When her husband found out what she had done, he made a sweetened winter melon and almond cake and sold it on the street. He eventually made enough money to be able to reclaim his wife.