Are wheel cakes the king of street vendor desserts? In Taiwan, at least, I think the answer has to be yes. Vendors selling these things are everywhere.
There’s a place called Yangmi Red Bean Cake that draws some pretty impressive crowds. They have a very diverse selection of filling options, including a handful of savoury choices, but I went with the classic: sweet red bean.
It hit all the notes you’re looking for: it’s crispy, fluffy, and fresh, with a very generous amount of tasty red bean filling. The filling is subtly sweet, and has a nice creamy texture with a few bigger chunks giving it some variety.
And it’s a good thing the filling is so tasty, because the filling-to-pastry ratio is higher here than your typical wheel cake. It’s like 90 percent filling. It probably shouldn’t work, but it does.
Location: No. 134, Section 2, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan City, 700
How to find it: With its display case containing dozens of wheel cakes, it’s hard to miss.