Chestnut Cake
A traditional sweet from the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, made from chestnut paste sweetened with osmanthus sugar and shaped into square cakes.
Ingredients
Fresh chestnuts (score the surface in a cross, boil until tender, then peel off the outer and inner skins)
250g
White sugar (mix 50g of it with osmanthus paste evenly, sprinkle the rest on the surface)
150g
Osmanthus paste (mix evenly with chestnut puree)
5g
Instructions
1
Boil Chestnuts
Use a knife to score a cross on the surface of fresh chestnuts, place them in a copper pot, add clean water, bring to a boil and cook until tender (about 10 minutes), then remove. Let cool to warm temperature, peel off the outer and inner skins, then rinse with clean water
2
Boil Chestnuts Again
Pour clean water into the copper pot, add the peeled chestnuts, bring to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes, then remove and drain thoroughly
3
Mash and Shape
Pass the cooked chestnuts through a fine sieve, then knead into a chestnut paste. Let cool, place in a clean cloth, add 50g of white sugar and osmanthus paste, knead into smooth chestnut dough through the cloth. Place on a work surface, use a knife to press and flatten into a rectangular sheet about 1.3cm thick, sprinkle a layer of white sugar on the surface and press flat, trim the four sides evenly, then cut into 1.3cm square pieces, arrange on a plate and serve
