Bubble Cake

Bubble Cake

　　Bubble Cake

　　"Bubble Cake" refers to bubble-fried pastry. The cake is named Bubble Cake because its surface forms many puffed-up bubbles after being deep-fried. It uses simple ingredients such as wheat flour, lard, sugar, dried tangerine peel, and spices, but the preparation process is relatively complex. It involves several steps including scalding the dough, making the filling, and deep-frying. Each step follows strict procedures. Once the pastries are taken out of the oil, they look like unopened peonies, their bubbles resembling silver fluff, white with a slight yellow tint. They taste sweet, crispy, and flaky. A master artisan from Houma City, Qu Zhiming, makes "Imperial Concubine’s Bubble Cake," which is crystal clear, crispy, and sweet. Originally a delicacy reserved for Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty, it is made by soaking the dough in a juice made from more than ten kinds of precious Chinese herbs such as ginseng, codonopsis, and astragalus. The filling consists of white sugar, rose, cherry, and walnut kernels, and it is then pan-fried. Not only is it sweet and delicious, but it also has health benefits such as nourishing yin, tonifying kidneys, and promoting longevity.