Beijing Sugar - fired Sesame Cake

Beijing Sugar - fired Sesame Cake is a well - known traditional pastry with a history of hundreds of years, which can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty or even earlier. It was originally a delicacy in the imperial kitchen and later spread to the folk. Its production process is extremely elaborate, using natural ingredients such as flour, brown sugar, and sesame. First, mix the brown sugar and flour, rub them until dispersed, roast them, and then add sesame paste, osmanthus, and oil to make a sweet sesame paste filling. Then, mix dry flour and leavened dough, let it ferment, and add alkali. After waking up the dough, divide it into 500 - gram pieces, roll them into long strips and make them into a grid - like shape. Evenly smear the sugar sauce on it, roll it into a cylinder while twisting, pinch it into 50 - gram small pieces, knead them into small round peach - like shapes, flatten them, and place them in a baking pan and bake them in an oven. After taking them out and cooling, put them in a wooden box to make them soft and tender. The Sugar - fired Sesame Cake is usually in the shape of a round cake or a long strip, with a golden color. The outer skin becomes extremely crispy after baking and can be easily broken with a light bite. The inside is soft and sweet. The filling made of brown sugar and sesame spreads its sweet taste on the tip of the tongue, complementing the crispy outer skin. In Beijing, the Sugar - fired Sesame Cake is a common breakfast and also often appears on occasions such as festivals, celebrations, weddings, and marriages. Nowadays, it has even entered the national and international markets, becoming a business card of Chinese food culture.