Lard Cake

Lard Cake

　　When the Lard Cake was first named, it was meant to evoke softness and moisture — yet it contains not a trace of actual lard.

　　Main ingredients: glucose, starch, and peanuts.

　　 Lard Cake

　　The Lard Cake, also known as Fat Lard Cake, has been famous since the Qing Dynasty. According to the Yuánhé Wēitíng Zhì (Annals of Weiting in Yuanhe), it was hailed as an “exquisite delicacy of Wu.” The cake is snowy white and crystal-clear, scented with green onions, tender and soft, moist and rich. The Lard Cake is a sugar- and oil-heavy glutinous rice product made by this shop, available at various bakeries. However, over 50 years ago, the Guan Woyi Cake Shop in both Cheng and Tai districts hired master confectioner Liu Guofan to create a unique version. He innovatively replaced white sugar with brown sugar as the main ingredient. Since brown sugar was cheaper than white sugar, the shop increased the amount of lard without raising costs. As a result, the Guan Woyi Lard Cake made with brown sugar became rich in oil, aromatic, golden in color, soft yet not sticky, melting easily in the mouth. It was not only delicious when eaten dry but also delightful when mixed with hot water, becoming even sweeter and richer. It quickly gained fame across Rongcheng and became a beloved classic snack. Each pound of Guan Woyi Lard Cake consists of 15 square pieces. For every 50 kilograms of finished product, 20 kilograms of brown sugar, 20 kilograms of glutinous rice flour, and 10.5 kilograms of fresh cooked lard are used. The rice flour is first stir-fried with mung bean sprouts, then dried and slowly roasted. The brown sugar is boiled to remove impurities and mixed with a small amount of cooked lard. The cake flour, sugar, and lard are then proportionally blended, ground, packed into molds, smoothed with a copper polisher, and set in molds to solidify.