Cheng Yu Chen
The famous Quanzhou baker Cheng Chui established Cheng Yu Chen Bakery about 120 years ago. With his great baking skills, Cheng Chui and Mr. Huang, a Lukang merchant, established Yu Chen Chai Bakery, which opened a new world for Lukang’s local products or cakes. Later on, they broke up, so Cheng Chui opened Cheng Yu Chen Bakery next door. The business was blooming, and Cheng Yu Chen Bakery became well known since then.
Origin of Cheng Yu Chen
(Figure 1) Since Cheng Yu Chen is a bakery family, the current owner started learning to bake since his young age. Even though baking is a tough job, the owner believes “the legacy of ancestors is the mission of descendants”, so he daringly took over the family business.
(Figure 2) Food materials were limited in Taiwan before, so there were not many kinds of cakes. Although there were not many choices, people were satisfied. The time changes, and the modern people pay attention to the appearance and taste of food. Cheng Yu Chen Bakery also constantly launches new cakes to satisfy modern people’s taste buds. The cake shown in Figure 2 is the crispy windmill cake.
(Figure 3) There are more food materials today, so more flavors have been created, including sesame, peanut, milk, green bean, and plum flavors. Customers who like fengyan cakes now have more choices, and fengyan cakes, made of sweet rice, do not get hard any more.
Postscript
Before leaving, the owner invited us to try the winter melon cake, a traditional dessert. The winter melon cake looked dry and hard, but it actually melted in my mouth and the middle tasted like the macaroons. We all agree the winter melon cake is a traditional cake suitable for all ages.
