Suzhou Caizhi Zhai Candied Pine Nuts

Suzhou Caizhi Zhai Candied Pine Nuts

　　Also known as pine sugar. Produced in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. These candies are granular in shape, uniformly sized, not sticking to each other, with each piece adorned with sugar spikes, pure white and glossy in appearance; they have a fragrant, sweet taste that is rich yet not greasy. Made with pine nuts coated in multiple layers of extremely thin sugar glaze. The pine nuts used are carefully selected for their premium size, plumpness, and tenderness, combined with auxiliary ingredients such as white sugar and maltose. First, the pine nuts are dried and lightly toasted for preparation; then the white sugar is dissolved in water, heated, and concentrated into syrup, and the sugar paste is boiled; afterward, with exquisite skill, the sugar is mixed so that the sugar paste thinly coats the pine nuts. This process is repeated 3–5 times to gradually thicken the sugar coating, with the boiling temperature of the sugar paste adjusted each time. Extreme care and precision are required—for example, for lightly sugared pine nuts, the heat must start high, then medium, then low, and the sequence must not be reversed. The candies undergo three rounds of finishing before becoming the final product.