Taigu Cake

Taigu Cake

Taigu Cake is a protected geographical indication product.

Taigu Cake is a certified geographical indication trademark.

　　Taigu Cake is a traditional famous snack from Shanxi Province, named after its place of origin, Taigu County. Originating in the Qing Dynasty, it is known for being sweet without being greasy, crispy yet not crumbly, and deliciously fragrant. Celebrated nationwide for its aroma, crispness, softness, and tenderness, it has earned the reputation of the "King of Pastries." As a typical representation of the "Jin Merchant Food Culture," the renowned singer Guo Lanying's melodious song “Beef from Pingyao, Cake from Taigu…” helped spread the fame of Taigu Cake far and wide.

　　The production history of Taigu Cake is long-standing. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was already sold in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Baotou, and Zhangjiakou. The earliest shops in Taigu City that produced and sold Taigu Cake were "Wenchengtang" on South Street, followed by "Yiyuansheng" on East Gate Street and "Tongyiheng" on South Street. These shops produced in the backyard and sold at the storefront, with rudimentary equipment and cramped workshops, resulting in low production. At the time, Taigu Cake was expensive and only affordable to wealthy merchants. Since the 1990s, small workshops making Taigu Cake have spread across urban and rural areas, but they mainly operated on a small-scale basis. To further enhance the quality awareness of Taigu Cake producers and help them move beyond the low-end development model of small workshops, the quality supervision departments of Jinzhong City and Taigu County adopted strategies to support enterprises in growing stronger. By opening green channels, raising production standards for Taigu Cake, increasing inspections, dispatching personnel for full-process on-site supervision of production enterprises, and helping establish the Taigu Cake Industry Association, some small workshops with an original annual production capacity of around 10 tons increased their capacity to over 100 tons. Production volume rose from 0.8 million tons before 2006 to 10 million tons in 2008.

　　The emergence and popularity of Taigu Cake are directly related to the development of commercial economy in Taigu during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Legend has it that in the late Ming and early Qing period, a wealthy lady in Gouzi Village, southeast of Taigu County, often craved cakes at night. However, she found the various types of bread brought back by servants from the city either too greasy and unpalatable or too dry and tough to chew. This posed a dilemma for the household servants. When the news reached a local bakery, the owner, eager to secure the business, asked the shop’s master baker to create a special type of sweet cake. This cake was made with wheat flour, white sugar, sesame oil, and egg whites, baked in an oven as a solid round cake about 12 cm in diameter, approximately 3 cm thick in the center, with a tea-yellow crust and sprinkled with peeled white sesame seeds. Taigu Cake is characterized by being crispy but not hard, soft but not mushy, sweet but not greasy, and remarkably, its color, aroma, and taste remain unchanged even after a month.

　　Its main ingredients are refined wheat flour, white sugar, hu oil (a type of vegetable oil), sesame, and egg whites. The preparation method involves using egg whites to blend six parts of high-quality white sugar and four parts of high-quality wheat flour into a paste, which is then scooped into a flipped oven where the mixture naturally spreads into a round shape. Once cooked, sesame is sprinkled on top, hu oil is applied to the bottom, and it is slow-roasted until done. When served to the wealthy lady, it became an instant favorite, thus giving birth to the Taigu Cake that would be celebrated through the ages. Later, the cake caught the attention of Empress Dowager Cixi, who lived in the imperial court, and she designated it as an imperial tribute, further enhancing its prestige.

　　Another story dates back to the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty when a man surnamed Zhang in Gouzi Village, southeast of Taigu City, made a living running a pastry shop. Observing the bustling commerce, economic prosperity, and the indulgent lifestyles of the wealthy in Taigu County, he pondered and experimented tirelessly to create a “sweet cake” that was welcomed by the affluent. This “sweet cake,” made with premium ingredients and unique baking techniques, had a deliciously crisp, sweet, and soft texture, quickly gaining fame far and wide.