Duyun Taishi Cake

Duyun Taishi Cake

　　A specialty of Guizhou—Duyun Taishi Cake—is a type of pastry popular in Duyun and one of the renowned local snacks. The cake has a flaky crust, fragrant taste, and comes in both savory and sweet varieties. It is flat and drum-shaped, with yellow or light yellow on both sides and white or light yellow around the edge. The crust is crisp with distinct layers, neither broken nor hollow. The fruit and nut filling is finely balanced, offering a sweet, fragrant, and flaky taste upon eating.

　　 Specialty Culture: Legend has it that during the Shang Dynasty, when King Wu of Zhou attacked King Zhou of Shang, the latter sent his Grand Tutor Wen Zhong to join the campaign. To shorten the time for marching troops, the Grand Tutor created a kind of candied baked cake to serve as military rations. Later, the recipe spread to the public and, through continuous refinement, evolved into a sweet pastry with a flaky crust, fruit and nut filling, and sugar stuffing. To commemorate Grand Tutor Wen, it was named "Taishi Cake" (Grand Tutor Cake).

　　 Preparation Method:

　　 Ingredients

　　 2.5 kg refined flour (for 50 pieces), additional ingredients: 300 g diced ham, 500 g each of red bean paste, white sugar, and fresh pork, 30 g each of refined salt and chopped green onions, 20 g soy sauce, 1.6 kg cooked lard (100 g used).

　　 Method

　　 1. Kneading the dough: First, mix 1 kg of flour with 500 g of lard to make the shortcrust pastry; then, using 1.5 kg of flour, 200 g of lard, and 450 ml of cold water, knead the dough in three additions to form the outer skin.

　　 2. Place white sugar in a bowl, add diced ham and 100 g of lard, and mix into a sweet ham filling. Boil fresh pork, chop into small cubes, and mix with salt, soy sauce, and chopped green onions to make a meat filling.

　　 3. Shaping: First, roll out the kneaded outer dough, place the shortcrust pastry in the middle, wrap and flatten it, then roll it up and cut into 50 small pieces. Flatten each piece by hand, wrap with the filling (sweet ones with sugar ham, red bean paste; savory ones with meat filling), and press into a flat, round cake shape.

　　 4. Heat the pan, add 800 g of lard. When the oil temperature reaches about 30% heat, place the cakes in the oil and fry until the crust is crisp and the filling is cooked through. Remove and drain the oil to finish.