Fanshi Scarred Cake

Fanshi Scarred Cake

　　Fanshi Scarred Cake is a distinctive and renowned traditional pastry from Shanxi. It gets its name from the numerous scars or indentations on its surface and is also known as Seed Cake. It originated in the Ming Dynasty. The ingredients include wheat flour, sesame oil, white sugar, eggs, and baking soda. During preparation, the dough is rolled into thin rounds about half a foot in diameter and then baked in an iron skillet. A layer of borax is spread in the iron pan, followed by a layer of cakes, which are then baked. The finished round cakes are golden yellow, with their surfaces evenly dotted with small circular pits resembling scars. They have a sweet flavor and a crispy texture.

　　Ingredients:

　　3500 grams of refined flour, 800 grams of sesame oil, 350 grams of eggs, 700 grams of white sugar, 10 grams of baking soda.

　　Preparation Method:

　　1. In a pot, mix an appropriate amount of water, white sugar, sesame oil, and baking soda. Heat until the mixture reaches 90–100°C, then pour it into a basin. Add beaten eggs and stir well. Mix in the flour to form a dough, knead it into a strip, divide it into portions (6 pieces per 500 grams), flatten them, and roll each into a round cake about 0.2 cm thick and 20 cm in diameter.

　　2. Preheat the pan with specially made ceramic grits the size of soybeans. Then scoop out some of the grits, place the rolled-out cake in the pan, and cover the cake with the scooped-out grits. Bake until done.