Lamp Grass Cake

Lamp Grass Cake

　　Lamp Grass Cake is a long-standing traditional cake variety from Sichuan Province. The cake strips are snowy white, soft, and resemble lamp wicks—hence the name "Lamp Grass Cake." The product is purely sweet, fragrant, affordable, and highly popular among the public, especially the elderly and children. Ingredients: 27.5 kg stirred sugar, 22.5 kg returned flour, food coloring as per national standards. Production method: 1. Returned flour: Soak glutinous rice, then drain and stir-fry with sand before grinding into fine powder. Sieve through a 100-mesh sieve. Then place in a specially controlled environment with higher humidity to absorb moisture and become returned flour. 2. Stirred sugar: The stirred sugar consists of 90% Sichuan white sugar, 5% peanut oil, and 5% maltose, made using the same method as the “flower cake” stirred sugar. 3. Sugar powder: Mix the stirred sugar with the returned flour, roll repeatedly, and sieve through a 60-mesh sieve. 4. Loading the mold: Use a specialized square tin mold. Fill the mold with sugar powder, press tightly, smooth with a copper spatula, and then cut into blocks according to specifications. 5. Steaming: Place the cake mold in a steamer over hot water (covered), maintaining a water temperature of 80–90°C for about 10 minutes. When the cake is slightly warm, remove it and place it sideways on a “steam board,” then steam again in the pot (known as “reverse steaming”), with water temperature at 60–70°C, for 5–6 minutes. Then remove from heat to cool. 6. Shaping: Paint both ends of the cake red, let it sit for about 12 hours, and then shape it. During shaping, first slice it into thin pieces about 1.5 mm thick, then cut into square strips to create the final product. Quality standards: Specifications: Strip-shaped, resembling lamp wicks, uniform in thickness, and intact in shape. Color: White body with red ends. Texture: Soft, delicate, and free of impurities. Taste: Purely sweet with the aroma of glutinous rice flour.