Yangzhou Thousand-Layer Oil Cake
A renowned specialty from Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, this diamond-shaped cake has a lotus-pink hue and a semi-translucent appearance. Cut into 64 delicate, evenly stacked layers alternating with sugar and oil, it is soft, tender, and sweet.
Ingredients
fine white flour
650 g
sourdough starter
500 g
raw pork leaf fat (remove membrane, dice, cure for 3 days)
300 g
granulated sugar
800 g
sweet red melon strips
35 g
food-grade alkali
5 g
rendered lard
150 g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Remove the membrane from the pork leaf fat and cut it into 8 mm cubes. Mix with 150 g granulated sugar and cure for three days to make sugar-cured pork fat cubes.
2
Step 2
Dissolve 5 g food-grade alkali in 50 g boiling water, add the sourdough starter, knead until evenly combined, then break off into walnut-sized pieces.
3
Step 3
Place 500 g flour on the work surface and make a well in the center. Gradually pour in about 450 g of warm water (around 20°C) while working the starter pieces and flour into a raw gluten-like mass. When the dough can be stretched into a long, fairly elastic strip, knead it into a smooth dough and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
4
Step 4
Sprinkle 50 g flour on the work surface, place the dough on top, and toss it a few times. Once the dough is no longer sticky, use a rolling pin to gently roll it out into a rectangle about 2 m long, 33 cm wide, and 3 mm thick, dusting with 100 g flour as needed to prevent sticking.
5
Step 5
Spread an even layer of rendered lard over the dough sheet, sprinkle 650 g granulated sugar evenly on top, then scatter the sugar-cured pork fat cubes over the sugar. Roll up the sheet from right to left into a 16-layer long strip. Lift it with both hands, gently flip it over, and lay it horizontally on the work surface. Use a rolling pin to lightly press it once (to prevent the layers from separating when rolled), then roll outward from the center toward the four edges, shaping it into a rectangle about 1 m long and 27 cm wide. Fold both ends inward slightly and press to seal (to keep the sweet fat from leaking out during steaming). After folding, gently press the dough with the rolling pin into a 33 cm square cake blank (each fold makes 16 layers, for a total of 64 layers).
6
Step 6
Take a steamer basket about 47 cm in diameter and line it with a damp cloth. Lift the cake blank with both hands and place it in, flattening the top surface. Sprinkle the sweet red melon strips evenly over the top, cover with the lid, and place over a pot of rapidly boiling water to steam for about 45 minutes. Remove the thousand-layer oil cake and turn it out onto a bamboo mat to cool. Trim the four edges with a knife and cut the cake into 40 equal diamond-shaped pieces. Re-steam before serving.
