Hawthorn Cake
A traditional Beijing specialty known as hawthorn cake. It has a rich reddish hue, a smooth and silky texture, and a sweet, refreshingly cool taste.
Ingredients
Hawthorn (washed)
500 g
White sugar
350 g
Osmanthus paste
5 g
Alum (dissolved in water)
7.5 g
Water (150 g for sugar syrup, 50 g for dissolving alum)
200 g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Wash the hawthorn with clean water, place it in a copper pot, add clean water, bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the hawthorn, pass it through a fine sieve to remove the skin and seeds, then mix with the osmanthus paste and set aside in a basin.
2
Step 2
Pour 150 g of clean water into a copper pot, add the white sugar, bring to a boil over high heat and simmer for 15 minutes. At the same time, place the alum in another copper pot, add 50 g of clean water, bring to a boil over high heat until the alum is fully dissolved.
3
Step 3
Pour the prepared sugar syrup into the basin with the hawthorn, stir vigorously in one direction while it is still hot until well combined, then add the dissolved alum water and stir again until smooth. Pour the mixture into a rectangular iron mold 7 cm high, spread it evenly, and cover with a sheet of thin oiled paper. Once cooled, cut into 5 cm square pieces, arrange on a plate and serve.
