Double Crispy Bakery – Solid Portuguese Style Egg Tarts and Wife Cakes in Chinatown
This is a short post on Double Crispy Bakery, which is a bakery that I found a few months ago by accident walking around Chinatown. It doesn’t look any different or offer anything particularly different than other Chinatown bakeries. It’s fairly non-descript with a bunch of shelves and display cases showing off their various Chinese pastries, cakes etc. However, I noticed to the left of the cash register a display case showing of their dan ta (egg custards) and lao po bing (wife cake). They looked particularly fresh and good so I gave them a try and I’m glad I did.
Here’s what I get:
Dan Ta (Egg Custard Tart):
Ka Wah has been my go to bakery in Chinatown for dan ta, but I’ll have to say this place maybe better than Ka Wah. They offer three different types of dan ta: Portuguese / Macau style, regular and egg white. The ones to get here are the Portuguese / Macau style. These have always been my favorite type of dan ta. They have the exact same crust and egg custard filling as the regular ones you see, but they are burnt on top, so they have a slight caramelized flavor to them. The ones here were surprisingly good, the crust was nicely flaky and the custard was warm, fresh and egg-y. They weren’t quite as burnt on top as I like them, but overall I liked them quite a bit. I definitely recommend trying these and if they aren’t already warm when you get them then take them home and put them in the microwave because there is a world of difference between a warm dan ta and a room temperature one (fyi every time I’ve got gone they have been warm). 8.25/10
Lao Po Bing (Wife Cake):
Lao po bing is a thin disc shaped pastry that has a flaky and slightly buttery exterior and a filling made of sweet dong gua (winter melon). Normally, they are fairly thin and pretty big and the interior is usually slightly gooey, but the version here is a little different. The crust is a thicker and flaky crust, but the actual pastry is quite small. The filling isn’t gooey at all, it’s a little more dense and isn’t quite as sweet as normal. They also use more salt in the crust, so there is a slight saltiness to it. I think they’re delicious and I definitely recommend trying them out. 8/10
This is a solid bakery and it’s definitely worth checking out for the items I listed above.
Address:
230 Grand St (between Elizabeth St & Bowery)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-6929
I developed a deep love for Lao Bo Ping during the many years I lived in San Francisco, not realizing (as a vegetarian) that the best of them were likely to have been made using lard. Do you have a sense of whether that’s true of these beauties at Double Crisp Bakery?
In SF, I knew them as winter melon cakes…
Hey round2 – I can’t be sure since I’ve never asked them, but I’d imagine its fairly likely that they use lard as many chinese pastries use lard. Unfortunately for vegetarians many Chinese dishes use some sort of animal product in one fashion or another even if its not a meat dish.
A lao po bing is a winter melon cake b/c the filling is made from winter melon.
There are some Chinese bakeries that specify the omiting of lard in their baked goods (such as Apollo in Flushing).
@Lau – did you try the ‘husband cake’ as well? I find it yields a better result when you warm the dang ta in the oven instead of the microwave. 🙂
Next time you visit this bakery, get the ‘Asian doughnut’, a bargain at 90 cents for three fluffy, round sugary balls. 🙂
Hey gar – I have tried their husband cake, but this was a while back like maybe a year ago. I’m not as big a fan of husband cakes in general, so I haven’t tried one recently, but I’ll try one soon and let you know how it is.
re: dan ta – you’re definitely right, but I’m always lazy when I get back and just throw it in the microwave since I usually end up wanting to eat it right away
re: asian donuts – i do like those, but i haven’t tried them there, so will def try soon!