New Asian American Bakeries Find Bicultural Sweet Spot

FOR some Asian Americans, the dim sum cookie at Sunday Bakeshop here will taste like childhood. It looks like a typical sugar cookie except with sesame seeds on top. But bite into the creamy, red bean center and it’s reminiscent of the fried, filled sesame balls served at a Chinese dim sum restaurant.

The concoction is pastry chef Elaine Lau’s nod to her grandmother, who would often make them. The baked goods that Lau’s team churns out — like hojicha chocolate croissants and Chinese White Rabbit candy cookies — aren’t going to be found in any bakery in Asia. There’s an intrinsic American sensibility at the nearly 3-month-old shop.

 “Talking to some of the Asian Americans and other people that have tried some of our pastries, we get a lot of comments where they’re just like… ‘Oh this took me back several years,’ when they were growing up,” said Lau,