Imperial Court Pastry Cake

Imperial Court Pastry Cake

　　Imperial Court Pastry Cake is a specialty of Pingquan County, Chengde City, Hebei Province. The pastry is fragrant, crispy, sweet, and exquisitely packaged, making it an excellent choice for entertaining honored guests or gifting to relatives and friends. As a gift item, it is often taken to countries and regions such as the United States, Canada, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

　　Commonly known as sugar cake, the Imperial Court Pastry Cake was originally one of the imperial court delicacies of the Qing Dynasty. It was brought to this region by the imperial chef Master Liu Decai when he settled in Bagou, and has a history of over 160 years. The cake is primarily made from refined flour, along with over ten ingredients including white sugar, white lard, shredded vegetables, and rose petals. After multiple processing steps, the cake features a golden color with silver-white edges and is composed of many thin layers as delicate as paper. Depending on the filling, the cake comes in five varieties: those with white sugar, white buckwheat flour, and filling are called Nansha Cake; those with white sugar, minced fatty pork, and filling are called Crystal Cake; those with white sugar and red bean paste are called Red Bean Paste Cake; those with white sugar, sesame, and filling are called Sesame Paste Cake; and those with sesame oil, white sugar, osmanthus, and filling are called Hada Cake. The five types of cakes are packed together in one box and distinguished by red dots on the pastry. The Imperial Court Pastry Cake is fragrant, crispy, sweet, and exquisitely packaged, making it an excellent choice for entertaining honored guests or gifting to relatives and friends. As a gift item, it is often taken to countries and regions such as the United States, Canada, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In 1985, the Imperial Court Pastry Cake was included in the National Food Compendium, and in 1992, it won the “Golden Tripod Award” for outstanding food in Hebei Province. This product has now been listed as part of China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.