You can only find the yummiest plum cake in Nanjing. Please don’t start to have a debate with me. Let me show you.
Plum cake has originated since Ming Dynasty. When plum cake developed till Qing Dynasty, it became the most famous desert specialty in the south of Yangzi River. Plum cake was named after the adventure of emperor chien lung, since the cake shaped like a plum blossom.
Plum cake was made by blending quality flour, baking powder and water until they became paste. After the paste is ready, you pour the paste into plum-shape moulds. Then you can choose whatever filling you love to fill in the center of the plum moulds, following by covering up the top with the prepared paste. The last step is to sprinkle some white sugar, green and red melon slices, and black sesame.
These steps read easy, but the real distinctions that differentiate the tasty plum cake and non-tasty ones are the freshness of the fillings. While you have many options to fill the plum cake with red bean paste, pork, rose petals and many other kinds, the most classic and my favorite one is the red bean paste. Restaurants usually choose to buy a large bag of cooked red bean paste in the supermarket to make plum cakes, which adds extra sweetness and heaviness to the cake. In comparison, some of the most popular food stands along the streets in Nanjing make the red bean paste from fresh red bean every time before they fill the paste into hot moulds. This one tiny difference separates the authentic from the crowed. Even better, some food stands, for instance, the one that I went quite often before, mix the fresh red bean paste with black sesame paste. When you have a bite, god! It’s incredible and speechless, and what you can only say is that it’s a perfect winter desert. Indeed, some smart food stands mix little sticky balls and dates with flour paste as toppings. You could imagine the flavor! I am drooling now…
If you had a chance to visit Nanjing, here are the most highly rated plum-cake stands in Nanjing:
- Plum Cake: No.159 Longpan Rd., Xuanwu District (Inside Nanjing Forestry University)
- Mr. Wei Plum Cake: No.9 Matai St., Gulou District (near West Liuwan Park), Mobile: 13327816780
- Chef Zuo Plum Cake: Matai St. (near Tongjia xiangkou), Mobile: 13057604099
- Plum Cake: Nanjing University, Hankou Rd., Gulou District
Firewood, Rice, Oil, Salt, Sauce, Vinegar, Tea 
I absolutely agree with you – I went to Nanjing recently and tried their plum cake. It was THE BEST I have ever tasted. I just want to go back for eating it one more time.