Dingcheng New Year Cake

Dingcheng New Year Cake

　　Dingcheng New Year Cake

　　　The New Year cake is a traditional snack during the Spring Festival in Dingcheng. It originated from glutinous rice rice cake, also known as “sticky rice cake.” During the Ming and Qing dynasties, based on the traditional technique of making rice cakes, the process was improved by grinding glutinous rice into fine powder, adding white sugar, kneading it with water into a rice dough, then shaping it into long strips, squares, or rounds, and pressing various fillings into it to make the New Year cake for sale. During the Republican era, there were nearly 40 workshops making New Year cakes during the Spring Festival, offering over 10 varieties such as eight treasures, lotus seed paste, lard, osmanthus, rose, and date paste.

　　Nowadays, new varieties such as ham, sausage, candied fruit, and seafood have been added. The cake has a jade-white color, is soft, smooth, delicate, and oily, with a tender, fragrant, sweet, and refreshing taste. It can be fried, grilled, or boiled in soup, making it suitable for all ages. Eating it during the Spring Festival has become a custom.