How to judge whether the cooked hawthorn cake is ready?

Hawthorn cake tastes sweet and sour, and it is soft and sticky. It is a kind of appetizing cake and is very popular among people. Many people will make hawthorn cake at home. Hawthorn cake is generally made by boiling and solidifying, so the degree of solidification is more important. So what does hawthorn cake look like after solidification? Let's take a closer look!

How to judge whether the hawthorn cake is ready

There are two ways to judge whether the hawthorn cake is coagulated:

1. Use a toothpick or bamboo stick to poke the middle of the hawthorn cake. If the toothpick is covered with fruit puree and is still moist, the hawthorn cake is not well solidified.

2. Gently press the middle of the hawthorn cake with your hand. If it is elastic, it means it is ready. If it breaks into pieces when pressed or has no elasticity, you need to wait a little longer.

Hawthorn cake is also called golden cake. It is said that this is the name bestowed by Empress Dowager Cixi. Regardless of whether it is true or not, hawthorn cake is indeed a delicate, smooth, sweet and sour appetizer. It must be because hawthorn can help digestion, promote the production of body fluids and quench thirst, and can also lower blood lipids and soften blood vessels, which is why it was loved by the old empress dowager. There are many varieties of hawthorn cakes, including eight-treasure hawthorn cake with fruit pulp and preserved fruits, osmanthus hawthorn cake with fresh osmanthus, and crystal hawthorn cake.

What to do if hawthorn cake does not solidify for a long time

If the hawthorn cake does not coagulate for a long time, it proves that the water content is still very high, so you can put it in the pot and boil it again. Some people also add a little fish gelatin powder to increase the viscosity and help the hawthorn cake coagulate.

If it does not solidify, you can eat it directly as jam. The method of making hawthorn jam is similar to that of hawthorn cake, except that the step of solidification is omitted. In addition, the water content of hawthorn jam is less than that of hawthorn cake. In the process of cooking jam, we can reduce the cooking time and cook it thinner to get delicious hawthorn jam, which is a good choice for making bread and desserts.

How to make hawthorn cake

Required ingredients and ingredients:

500g fresh hawthorn, 200g water, 200g rock sugar, 60g white sugar

Tools needed: silicone spatula, non-stick pan, soymilk maker or food processor, square mold

Production process:

First: wash the hawthorns you bought, then soak them in salt water for about 20 minutes to soak out the dirt inside, then take out the hawthorns, use a knife to dig out the black "butt" of the hawthorns, and leave the stalks of the hawthorns first. If you are afraid that the hawthorns will oxidize and turn black, you can soak the cut hawthorns in salt water to isolate oxygen and prevent the hawthorns from turning black.

Second: Add all the processed hawthorns and 200 grams of water to a stainless steel pot, add 100 grams of rock sugar, boil over high heat, and cook for a few minutes until the hawthorns are soft. During this time, use a spatula to stir the hawthorns and rock sugar to allow them to be heated evenly and to quickly coat the hawthorns with sugar liquid to prevent them from turning black. (--Boil with rock sugar, the surface of the hawthorns will be coated with a layer of sugar, and it can prevent oxidation without adding lemon. If you have lemon, you can squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into it.)

Third: Cook until the surface of the hawthorn cracks, turn off the heat, let the hawthorn cool slightly, and then start to process the seeds and stems of the hawthorn. At this time, the hawthorn has been cooked very soft. Gently pull the stem outwards to pull out the stem and the hawthorn shreds inside, and take out the hawthorn seeds at the same time. (--There are many small filaments inside the hawthorn. After the hawthorn is cooked soft, take it out with the stem to avoid the bitterness of the hawthorn.)

Fourth: After all the hawthorns are processed, put them into the soymilk machine together with the hawthorn water, add 150 ml of water, press the rice paste button, and beat the hawthorns into fine hawthorn paste. (--I only have a soymilk machine at home, which has a minimum water level requirement, so I added 150 ml of water to blend together, which will increase the time when cooking hawthorn jam later. If you have a food processor at home, which has no requirements for the water level, you can directly put the hawthorns and the water used to cook the hawthorns into it and blend together, which can reduce the cooking time.)

Fifth: Pour the beaten hawthorn puree back into the pot, add the remaining 100 grams of rock sugar and 60 grams of white sugar, turn on medium heat and start cooking, stirring constantly with a spatula. (--There is more water in the hawthorn puree at the beginning, so you can cook it on medium heat, but stir it throughout the process to prevent the pot from sticking.)

Sixth: Keep cooking until the volume of the hawthorn puree shrinks slowly, indicating that its water content has been greatly reduced. Now you can turn to low heat and simmer slowly. After about half an hour, scoop up the hawthorn puree with a spatula and tilt the spatula. If the hawthorn puree does not flow, it means that the hawthorn puree is ready.

Seventh: Put the cooked hawthorn jam into a square mold (you can apply a few drops of cooking oil in advance to facilitate demoulding), scrape the hawthorn paste in the pot with a silicone spatula, and then smooth the surface of the mold. After it cools down, put it in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, then take it out and turn it upside down to demould, and finally cut it into pieces.