Sweet Old Shanghai: Heritage Bakeries

February is sweet season (you know – sweethearts, sweet delights…) so just in time for Valentine’s Day, we take a look at Shanghai’s surviving heritage bakeries and legacy of Western pastry classics.

A selection of Shanghai heritage pastry classics from Kaisiling – Left, clockwise from top: Napoleon, chestnut cake, eclairs, more chestnut cake. Right: Cream horns (top) and yet more chestnut cake (bottom).

In 1997, when I first moved to Shanghai, the city was dotted with small local bakeries specializing in light, fluffy cakes lavishly decorated with cream. Many had picture windows into the cold room, so you could stand on the sidewalk and watch the pastry chefs creating elaborate icing decorations.

While my children stood mesmerized by this show, I was mesmerized by the idea that within these no-frills, state-run bakeries, a tradition begun in the treaty port days had somehow survived and become Shanghainese. For Shanghai’s cosmopolitan legacy lies not only in her fabled architecture, but also in her culinary heritage—especially when it comes to sweets.