Hot Mini Cakes

Wandering in LES/​Chinatown and seeing the street cart serving hot mini cakes is such a treat! The sweet smell of hot mini cakes baking in the pan wafts in the air and tantalize your nose bud. Even though the cakes can be inconsistent (sometimes they give you cold ones, sometimes the cakes are too dry, sometimes they are too doughy, etc.), you really can’t complain because they are only $ 1.
These cakes are nothing but flour and sugar (no wonder it’s so cheap!), but I still love snacking on them when I’m in the neighborhood.

I remembered I used to eat these cakes back then I was little.
It’s very good (for the price and taste).
But now, I don’t see much of these as I roamed around Chinatown/​these places.
It’s nice to eat them every once a while.

Stuck between wanting to grow up and never growing old… I remember eating these hot mini cakes when I was a kid… good times…
i recently went hereTwice and they raised the prices. use to be twenty for one dollar now it’s one dallor for fifteen mini cakes… For the tiny pieces that were left outside in the cold. is really not worth it… doesn’t taste as good as it use to be… probably followed some suggestions by reviewers… ask them to make a fresh batch… they tend to make a large amount and taste old and dry… I don’t understand why they do that since making these mini cakes doesn’t take longer then five minute… They make it fast though you can always see them baking it in a pan too!

These are just pancake balls. I don’t know what all the fuss here is about, but it was only a buck, so whatevs. The hot mini-​cake food stand I went to was on Canal & Mott St.

This guy has never been there on my previous attempts but when he was I was quick to be the first/​only one in live to drop a buck for 15 warm pancake-​like snacks. They were solid but definitely wouldn’t return. Nice dude who kept hunching and apologizing that all he had for change was 9 singles.

The best of the remaining Hong Kong mini-​cake stands (I still miss you… lady on Mosco x Mott). They’re essentially pancakes in the shape of little ellipsoids. It’s a great concept because with each bite-​sized cake, you get a crispy outside, and a soft, fluffy, and moist inside. This particular stand makes the cakes with a hint of lemon flavor.
Not the most sophisticated dessert, but they’re tasty, and only $ 1 for 15 bites. Used to be cheaper ($ 1 for 20), but come on, this guys allowed to increased the price after 20 years to account for inflation.

these always smell so good and taste even better.
Probably the best thing in nyc you can get for $ 1.

I have a very special place in my heart for dessert street carts especially during the cold winter months. the intoxicatingly sweet smell they exude remind me of roaming the streets of Seoul as a little kid, passing roasted chestnut, sweet potato, and pastry carts along the way. really, is there anything better than that scent mixed with gasoline fumes and fishy water runoff from neighboring shops when the temperature is hovering around freezing? probably, but what a sensory experience to make food memories with regardless.
these hot cakes are crazy cheap, crispy, and light yet decadent. all for $ 1 (so what if it’s 15 pieces now instead of 20. inflation, ppl!)… what costs a freaking dollar these days in the US?! only in chinatown.

This place use to have 20 eggettes for $ 1, now it’s 15 for $ 1, what a rip off, that’s a 25% deduction. The eggette batter is similar to pancake batter, shouldn’t be that expensive.

I am pretty positive that I had them from here, not the one for 15 for 1 buck
Delicious little treats for a buck. Nothing much to say but a really good inexpensive snack.

So cheap! So delicious! Great snack to eat will roaming around in Chinatown. $ 1.00 for 15 hot cakes, how can you beat that!

I grew up eating the mini cakes from the Chinatown street vendors. As a child, walking through Chinatown, holding my parents’ hands. Didn’t have a care in the world. The only thing I had to worry about was what am I going to bug my parents to buy for me. Which sugary drink should I ask for? Am I going to find the cake lady aunties today? Oh, I hope so!
Fast forward to 2013, my aunties are no longer there. The one on Bowery and Mott? Nope. How about Canal and Baxter? Sadly, no. Buuuuuut, there is cake guy is on Grand and Bowery. My savior! Thank you for always being there to satisfy the childhood craving and always bringing back that nostalgia.
I’ve convinced myself that these cake aunties and uncles are related because the recipe has never wavered. The sweetness level is just right. The consistency of the cake is perfect — chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. There is a perfect hint of citrus. Just as I remembered it as a child.
Over the course of the years, these mini cakes have always stayed the same price — $ 1 a bag. Yes, it used to be 20 pieces to a bag, but 15 pieces for $ 1 is still a great deal! I have to admit, whenever I eat these cakes — even when I was a child — I always count each piece I eat. Why? Because I secretly hope that there is one extra piece. But who am I kidding? These mini cake experts are Asian… of course they know how to count!
Please stay around forever.

The best mini cakes in Chinatown, maybe even the world.
1. You get 20 cakes for $ 1, unlike the 15 you get at every other cart.
2. They are always fluffy and soft, never crispy.
3. He makes them right in front of you.
4. There is a hint of lemon in the batter that you don’t get anywhere else.
I’ve been going to this cart since 2005, when a friend introduced me to the sweet old man who makes them. I always look out for him when I am on this street. There was a period of time when I was convinced he’d retired, since I never saw him, but I was thankfully mistaken. I don’t know what I would do without his cakes.
I love watching him pour the batter from his pitcher into the pan. He never makes more than one or two in advance, so they are always fresh. That’s why I don’t mind the long line that sometimes forms. Also, he doesn’t make fun of me for buying 3 bags at once. Hehe.
I noticed that a younger man, I’m assuming his son, will sometimes take over. I’ve gotten his, and they don’t taste nearly as good! I hope his father will continue to make his cakes for a long while. He is a neighborhood staple by now!

15 pieces for $ 1.
The cakes are small, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweet.
I find this to be a a really good snack to buy and eat as I look around the nearby shops. Fifteen sounds like a lot but they’ll be gone before you know it! I will definitely be buying more whenever I’m in Chinatown.

I only eat hong kong style mini cakes from this man.
I swear by this man and I only go to him. I don’t care if I’m all the way down on Canal and I walk by that other cart. I will not buy it from anyone else.
My mom knows him and she told me he put his kids through school with that cart. He’s now putting his grandkids through school with that cart. Based on that alone I owe him my utmost respect.
The cakes here are always warm and fluffy and soft. Nothing beats them.
Sometimes it’s his son making the cakes. I have to admit I don’t buy it if it’s the son. I know it’s the same batter but in my mind it tastes different. The son burns/​chars his mini cakes more. The father does not. Plus the father is the cutest little man ever. I can’t.

Great snack or dessert stop for before or after dinner.
Although it used to be $ 1.00 for 20, it is now $ 1.00 for 15 hot cakes, prices is still reasonable for this economy.
Perfectly warm, fluffy mini cakes to go while you’re on your stroll.

10 years ago to now, things just don’t change. As a kid I was hooked by the scent of these gai daan jais. Now as an adult I still get excited when I smell the fragrance of fresh off the pan hong kong cakes.
For only $ 1, you get 20 fluffy sweet delicious bite size cakes that gives you a feeling of street foods from Hong Kong and China. A much better deal than the other hong kong cake carts around the area.
I hope this place is still here when I am a senior citizen. I bet I will throw my walking cane aside when I smell the scent cause it will always energize my taste buds.

I don’t get it. They are cheap but tiny. Taste like bad twinkies. soooo sweet.
Just not my thing I guess.

The Best!
For $ 1, you can get yourself a bag of these soft and warm mini pancake bites.
The bubble waffle at TKettle is NOT as good as this place. Even though it’s made fresh to order, the batter is bland and the waffle comes out hard. The bubble waffle is also $ 4.
These puppies are $ 1 and you are guaranteed satisfaction: D

The one and only place where I get my mini cakes nowadays. I tried them all in Chinatown and every place seems to fail miserably.
I grew up with the mini cakes that this man made ever since I was a child and it tasted the same ever since. His mini cakes are soft and fluffy and fresh. Unlike the others that are on Canal St and other random spots, they lack texture and taste. Other places would make them too dry or too bland. Plus, this man still has $ 1 for 20 pieces. All the other places sell them for $ 1 for 15 pieces — rip off!
So, if you’re ever in Chinatown, don’t be lazy. Walk that extra couple of blocks from Canal St and buy the mini cakes from this man.