Fengjing Zhuangyuan Cake

Fengjing Zhuangyuan Cake

　　Fengjing Zhuangyuan Cake was originally called Fengjing Yuan Cake. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there were already many shops and workshops in the town making yuan cake. Legend has it that in the 22nd year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1757), a local man named Cai Yitai became the top imperial scholar (Zhuangyuan). Local gentry and merchants renamed the yuan cake he loved to eat as “Zhuangyuan Cake.” Because the words “cake” (糕) and “high” (高) sound similar, it not only celebrated Cai Yitai’s success in becoming the top scholar but also implied that this cake was the “top scholar” among cakes. In the 30th year of the Xianfeng reign (1860), a local man named Qi Xuezhuang opened the Qi Xie Xing Yuan Cake Shop, which specialized in making “Zhuangyuan Cake,” gaining fame far and wide for its unique production techniques. The production method has been passed down to this day.

　　Fengjing Zhuangyuan Cake is made from high-quality japonica rice. The rice is first pounded into powder in a stone mortar, then sifted to remove impurities, and mixed with cotton candy and starch. The mixture is sliced (into 120 even slices along a 33 cm wide steamed rice flour sheet, each slice cut precisely to the edge, with uniform bottom and surface), steamed, then sliced open, and finally baked with charcoal before being sprinkled with osmanthus flowers during packaging. The production process is extremely meticulous — each slice is as thin as a lotus petal, with golden yellow coloring on both sides and edges. Varieties include egg yolk, salt and pepper, pine nut, vanilla, rose, and osmanthus. It comes in both paper-wrapped and boxed packaging. Among them, the osmanthus-flavored Zhuangyuan Cake is the most popular. It has long enjoyed praise such as “safe for the sick to eat, never tiresome for the healthy,” and is beloved by “both young and old.”