The cake is made from pollution-free dried persimmon fruits. It contains up to 65% sugar (mannitol sugar, glucose, fructose), 1.5% protein, and 0.1% fat. It contains a variety of vitamins, including higher vitamin C and sugar content than ordinary fruits. It is rich in nutrients and has nourishing and fitness effects. It has a sweet taste, neat fruit shape, flat and beautiful cake surface, and is deeply loved by consumers.

Selecting fruits

Dried raw materials should be selected with high dry matter content, good flavor and color, not serious enzyme browning, and suitable maturity. In addition, the thickness of the skin, the size of the heart, the size and number of the seeds, the amount of crude fiber, etc. are all related to the quality and yield of the dried products, so they should be chosen carefully.

The fruits for processing persimmons are generally selected to be large, round, without grooves, with tight flesh, high sugar content, small seeds or seedless varieties. The fruits are fully mature and red in color but the flesh is firm and not Soft variety. Dried varieties that meet these conditions include: Henan Xingyang water persimmon, Shandong Heze mirror persimmon, Shaanxi beef heart persimmon, sharp persimmon, etc.

Harvesting

Persimmon fruits for processing must be fully mature, the sepals turn yellow, the fruit color turns yellow or light red, and it is best to harvest when the flesh is still hard. Fresh persimmons harvested at the right time have high persimmon processing rate, are easy to remove astringency and soften, dissipate water quickly, have sweet taste, thick frost, bright red flesh and good quality.

Persimmon fruit grading

In order to facilitate processing and production, the harvested persimmon fruits are first removed from rotten fruits, soft fruits, diseased and insect-infected fruits, and then graded according to size, usually based on the weight of a single fruit. It is divided into three levels: more than 125 grams, 100-200 grams, and 80-95 grams.

Peeling

Persimmon fruits with rough skin must be peeled to remove useless parts, improve the quality of the product, and at the same time make the water easy to evaporate and promote drying. Peeling can be done manually, mechanically or chemically.

Manual peeling: Before peeling, cut off the stem of the fruit from the pedicle, remove the sepals, keep the calyx disk and stems, flatten them while fresh, and use an iron scraper to thinly peel the fruit until it is clean. . This will not damage the fruit, prevent it from cracking in the sun, and prevent the persimmons from getting sugary and moldy.

Chemical peeling: Soak the fruit in a mixture of 60% ethanol and 30% sodium hydroxide at 71.1°C for 20-30 seconds, and then use 15% sodium hydroxide solution in the same solution. After soaking for another 2 minutes at the same temperature, you can get a good peeling effect, and the yield is over 90%.

Place or hang them

Place the peeled persimmon fruit calyx plates face down on the persimmon sieve. When placing them, they should be arranged concentrically close to each other, or Hang the peeled persimmon stems on hemp rope strings, 20-30 pieces per string.

Drying

Persimmon biscuits are divided into natural drying and artificial drying. The more traditional and common one is natural drying.

Choose an open and sunny drying area or open space, directly place the bamboo sieve with the persimmon fruits on the set up persimmon rack and spread it in the sun, and hang it directly on the string with a rope. Drying on flat wire. On a sunny day with sufficient sunshine, it usually takes about 8-10 days to dry, and a large fruit takes about 20 days. Open in the open at night, pay attention to weather changes, and take it back in time when it rains.

After about 20 days of drying, when the outer flesh of the fruit is slightly soft and has formed a "thin skin", start the first shaping and kneading of the fruit to soften it. After continuing to dry for 3-4 days, do the second time. Knead until soft and dry for another 2-3 days. Remove the persimmon fruit from the rope, press it into a flat shape, arrange it on a foil mat or drying tray, and dry for another 10-15 days. When drying, turn it 1-2 times a day, move it indoors at night, cover it with a straw mat, remove the straw mat the next morning, and then dry it again. After doing this for two or three times according to the law, frost can occur.

How to pinch the fruit: Knead it evenly and there should be no hard lumps. When pinching, use your index finger and middle finger to press the top of the fruit, and your thumb to press the base of the fruit. Rotate the fruit and apply a little pressure, and the fruit will gradually become flat. Round. The best time to pinch each time is in the morning on a sunny day with gentle breeze. It is not suitable to pinch the fruit in the afternoon and night. Because the peel is dry during the day and easy to break when pinched, after being moistened by dew at night and the fruit moisture escapes, the fruit surface becomes moist and tough, so the fruit is not easy to break when pinched in the morning. Every time you pinch the fruit, rotate the top and bottom of the fruit so that the fruit receives even light and is dry and wet. Generally, it can be done by pinching and shaping the fruit 4-6 times.

In addition, before exposure, the persimmon fruit cake can be fumigated with sulfur when it is loose to the core to improve the quality. The persimmons processed in this way are transparent, bright, yellow, sweet but not greasy, and the first-grade rate can reach more than 90%.

Artificial drying: First, the persimmon fruit is peeled and calyxed, preferably cut into two halves, and then placed in a drying machine for drying. But special attention should be paid to the fact that persimmon fruits that have been astringent must be used, otherwise they must be deastringified first and then dried.

Piling and covering

Put the dried persimmons into a cage or bamboo basket and pile them up, turning them every 1-2 days to prevent the persimmons from sticking together. When turning, check whether the persimmons are completely dry and correct the fruit shape. If the persimmons are not dry enough, they should be re-dried, and if the fruit shape is not correct, they should be corrected.

Straightening method: Place the persimmon on a wooden board and use a wooden board about 30 cm long and 10 cm wide to rotate and flatten the persimmon base. If the base is crooked, straighten it, then flip the persimmon and flatten it. , making it straight and beautiful, in the shape of a cake. These shaped persimmons are placed in a bamboo sieve to dry for a day, and then all the persimmons are put into a bamboo basket to bloom.

Taking frost

The amount of frost on persimmons is related to the dry humidity when stacking. If the persimmon is too dry, it will not soften easily, and the frost will be thin and less. If the persimmon is too wet, it will not be easy to frost, and even if it does frost, it will be susceptible to infection. Persimmons with moderate dryness and humidity will bloom quickly and frequently.

The main components of the white crystals precipitated when applying cream are mannitol and glucose, which can moisten the lungs and relieve phlegm.

Frosting methods vary from place to place. The general method is to use a ceramic jar, place the jar in a cool place, put the two cakes together, place 1 layer of persimmon skin and 1 layer of persimmon cake in the jar, and cover it after filling. 1 layer of persimmon skin, then seal the jar, and it will take about 30 days for frost to appear. Or put the persimmons in a special bamboo cage and shake them up and down to make the persimmon frost powder fall off. For every 50 kilograms of persimmons, you can take 0.5-1 kilogram of frost, usually three times. After taking the frost, dry the persimmons and the frost powder taken several times in the sun for 1-2 hours, and then put them into a cylinder together for sale.

Storage

Finished persimmons are best stored in ceramic containers that are easy to seal, insect-proof, rodent-proof, and moisture-proof, and stored in a low-temperature, dry, and well-ventilated place.

When storing persimmons in jars, in order to prevent the persimmons from being in contact with each other due to their high moisture content, and affecting the appearance of the persimmons, some dry persimmon skins can be mixed with the persimmons.

Collect persimmon frost and make persimmon frost cake

Collect the persimmon frost that falls off when turning the frosted persimmon cake, and sift out the debris. Add 100 grams of water to every 500 grams of persimmon frost, heat to dissolve, and after cooling slightly, roll it into a long strip with a diameter of 3 cm, cut it into 3 cm long pieces, and shape it with your hands into an oblate shape that is thin on the edges and thick in the middle. The shape is persimmon frost cake.