Fa Gao has a long history in China and is a very traditional Chinese dessert. It is said that Fa Gao has a beautiful meaning of "getting rich", and it often appears in festivals of all sizes. Of course, we don’t eat fat cakes to become nouveau riche, but more because we like the taste in our memories. In essence, it is more like a steamed cake. Compared with baked cakes, steamed cakes have the advantages of mild taste, less likely to get burned, and healthier.

Generally speaking, there are three main ways to expand desserts, namely physical (beating of eggs), chemical (baking powder, baking soda), and biological (yeast) methods. For more information on dessert expansion, you can refer to my tutorial. Are you a baker, but you still use the wrong baking soda, baking powder and yeast? . For steamed cakes, baking powder can be used to expand, or yeast can be used to ferment. So what is the difference between yeast cake and baking powder cake?

The characteristic of yeast cake is that it has a mellow fermentation aroma and the formula is healthier. However, it takes more time to make and needs to judge the fermentation status, which increases the difficulty of operation. The baking powder version of the cake takes less time to make and has a higher success rate. Its disadvantage is that it has no fermentation aroma and may leave a small amount of alkaline smell. For those who are concerned about additives, the yeast version will be more in line with your taste. I also prefer the yeast version because I like the charming wine aroma.

In terms of raw materials, Fa Gao is like a high-water version of steamed buns (this is my steamed bun making tutorial). The full-flavored milk-scented steamed buns are super soft and elastic, and the secret to not getting dented or wrinkled is Here), the ingredients are also very simple. Using low-gluten flour can bring a softer texture, while using all-purpose flour adds gluten to the cake, making it slightly chewy. Avoid using high-gluten flour, because too much gluten will cause the cake to resemble bread rather than cake. If you want to add some corn flour, whole wheat or other whole grain flour, you can also add it, which can increase the grain flavor of the cake.

Many novice friends will encounter various problems when making hair cakes, such as collapse, rough texture, sticky teeth, etc. The key to this is to control the amount of water. Relatively speaking, the baking powder version of the cake is not so demanding on moisture content. We can increase the water content as much as possible to make the cake softer. But for the yeast version of the cake, the amount of water added should not be too much. Because if too much water is added, the viscosity of the batter will decrease. At this time, the bubbles produced by the yeast will rise due to buoyancy, and then gather into large bubbles and burst. This is equivalent to the defoaming of the chiffon cake batter, which will eventually lead to the texture of the cake. solid. Of course, too little water will not work, as it will make the cake taste too dry and hard, and the degree of expansion will be low.

The water content of a reliable steamed cake batter should be between 80-100% of the flour weight. The batter within this range will neither collapse easily nor cause the taste to be too dry. Speaking of 100 water, do you think of a yeast dough? Yes, I’m talking about liquid seed (also called Polish yeast, you still don’t understand Chinese seed, liquid seed, soup seed, and natural yeast dough in the production tutorial? You will learn it all after reading this tutorial), fermented liquid seed dough There will be many large holes at the bottom, which proves that the 100-water content of the steamed cake batter can retain a lot of gas, because they are made in almost the same way.

In this tutorial, I added about 90% water by weight of flour. The moisture content of eggs is 75, so the moisture in one egg is 50 grams * 0.75 = 38 grams. Adding 140 grams of water, the total weight is nearly 180 grams. The reason why a certain amount of leeway is left is to improve the error tolerance rate of the production process.

If you want the cake to have a strong body, you need to use enough hard materials to support it, that is, protein and starch that will solidify after being heated. Both of these substances are found in flour, and adding eggs can Add more protein to give the cake a springy effect. Of course, if there is an egg allergy in the family, or you don’t like the taste of eggs, just switch to water instead.

Brown sugar is a kind of crude sugar that has a more mellow taste than white sugar. Therefore, brown sugar goes well with baked dough products, otherwise brown sugar steamed buns would not always be so popular. Brown sugar steamed buns also inherit the advantages of brown sugar steamed buns, but their texture is softer. In order to make the aroma of brown sugar more prominent, I added brown sugar with a flour weight of 25%.

Since a higher content of brown sugar is added, it is necessary to use high-sugar resistant dry yeast like making sweet bread, because the proportion of sugar to flour weight has far exceeded 8. Maybe you can use ordinary dry yeast to ferment the batter slightly, but due to the high osmotic pressure, the degree of fermentation will inevitably be seriously affected. Just like if you throw a group of freshwater fish into the sea, they may not be wiped out, but this population will definitely suffer numerous casualties, let alone complete their mission.

In terms of the production process, since brown sugar is easy to agglomerate, you need to break them up first, and then use hot water above 50 degrees to fully dissolve the brown sugar. After cooling slightly, add eggs to dilute the brown sugar water. The temperature of the final mixture should be controlled below 40 degrees, then add yeast and stir to dissolve. Avoid high temperature and high-concentration syrup from causing damage to the yeast.

After adding flour, stir thoroughly so that the batter can produce a certain amount of gluten to wrap up the gas and make the cake chewier. Since steamed cake batter contains more water than ordinary bread dough, but is more viscous than ordinary cake batter, it is easier to mix evenly with a spatula than a whisk.

Making yeast version of steamed cake does not require secondary fermentation like steamed buns, because its batter has a high water content, and one fermentation can produce a better taste and aroma. The fermentation environment is usually set to a temperature of 38 degrees and a humidity of 85. If there is no fermentation box, you can use a steamer or oven. As long as the temperature is below 40 degrees and there is warm water to create humidity, the cake will rise smoothly.

It is obviously easier to judge the degree of fermentation of cakes using round cake molds than bread. Just flatten the batter in the cake mold, and then measure the approximate height. When it has fermented to about two or two times the original height , that is, fermentation is completed. Or follow the recipe in this tutorial and ferment to about 80% of the height of the 6-inch round mold. The moisture content of the steamed cake is high. In addition to the bubbles produced by yeast fermentation, the water vapor will also cause the steamed cake to expand. If the fermentation is excessive, the supporting force of the cake will become poor, and the finished product will most likely collapse after coming out of the pan. For novices, it is best to err on the side of debt.

After the fermentation is completed, the red dates are placed on top in a certain shape, which can be the icing on the cake. The brown-yellow pastry is decorated with dark red dates, not to mention how attractive it is. The advantage of boiling water is that the batter expands more intensely and it is easier to calculate the time. A 6-inch steamed cake basically only needs to be steamed over medium-low heat for 30 minutes to mature. If you want to make an 8-inch steamed cake, multiply all the ingredients by 1.8 times and extend the steaming time by 10 minutes.

Fermentation: temperature 38 degrees, humidity 85, fermentation until the mold is 8 minutes full, the reference time is 45 minutes, it should be adjusted flexibly according to your environment

Mold: 6-inch round Anode mold

Serving size: 4-8 people

Steaming: Boil the water, put it in the pot, steam over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, turn off the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, depending on your needs The firepower can be adjusted flexibly

Storage: sealed and refrigerated for 3 days

Ingredients

200 grams of all-purpose flour, 50 grams of eggs (about 1), 50 grams of brown sugar grams, 3 grams of high-sugar resistant dry yeast, 140 grams of hot water, 4 red dates

Step 1

Add brown sugar to hot water and stir thoroughly with a manual egg beater. Dissolve completely.

Step 2

Apply a layer of vegetable oil on the bottom and sides of the mold to make it easier to release the cake.

Step 3

After the brown sugar water has cooled, add eggs and mix evenly. Avoid boiling the eggs with hot water.

Step 4

Add dry yeast to the mixture and stir to fully dissolve the yeast. Make sure that the temperature of the mixture does not exceed 40 degrees.

Step 5

Add all-purpose flour to the mixture and stir evenly with a spatula. Make sure the dry powder disappears completely and the final batter will be thicker.

Step 6

Pour the batter into the mold, tilt and rotate the mold once to level the batter, and then shake out the air bubbles on the table.

Step 7

Place in the fermentation box for fermentation, set the temperature to 38 degrees and the humidity to 85. If you don't have a fermentation box, you can use an oven or a steamer, and use warm water around 50 degrees to provide temperature and moisture.

Step 8

When the fermentation is about to be completed, cut the red dates in half and remove the cores, bring the water in the steamer to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and keep boiling.

Step 9

When the batter ferments to 8% of the height of the mold, it means the fermentation is in place. It took me about 45 minutes in the current environment.

Step 10

Arrange red dates evenly on the top of the batter, be gentle.

Step 11

Put the batter into the steamer and steam over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes.

Step 12

The steamed cake will expand to the highest point and the surface will become smooth and plump. When the time is up, turn off the heat, cover the pot with chopsticks and simmer for 5 minutes before taking it out of the pot. This will Avoid obvious wrinkles.

Step 13

Place the cake together with the mold on the drying net to cool.

Step 14

After the mold is no longer hot, push the cake from the bottom of the mold while rotating, and then push the cake from the side to the middle while rotating, so that it can be completely separated from the mold.

Step 15

The slightly warm hair cake is more fragrant and soft, and it is also excellent as a staple food.

1. The batter cannot ferment and swell

Reason analysis: 1. High-sugar tolerant yeast is not used or the yeast fails; 2. The batter is too fluid and cannot contain gas

Solution: 1. Replace with new high-sugar resistant yeast; 2. Reduce the amount of water added in the batter

2. The cake collapses after being taken out of the pot

Cause analysis: 1. The water content of the batter is too high; 2. The batter is over-fermented; 3. It is not completely steamed

Solution: 1. Reduce the amount of water added in the batter; 2. Reduce the fermentation time to avoid over-fermentation. ; 3. Appropriately extend the steaming time

3. The texture is solid and rough

Reason analysis: 1. The water content of the batter is too little; 2. The batter is not fermented enough; 3. The batter is not mixed Evenly

Solution: 1. Increase the water content appropriately, do not reduce the water excessively for fear of collapse; 2. Extend the fermentation time or increase the amount of yeast; 3. Stir the batter until the dry powder disappears completely

This brown sugar cake has simple ingredients and is extremely efficient in making. It does not require kneading or secondary fermentation. It is simply good news for lazy foodies. When making this steamed cake, controlling the amount of batter water is the key, which allows us to avoid most problems. Then by grasping the degree of fermentation, the success rate of production can be greatly improved.

The aroma of brown sugar and the fermented flavor of the cake are perfectly blended, just like the subtle aroma of fine wine. Before tasting it, just smelling it is addictive, and taking a bite is even more addictive. No wonder it has been passed down through the ages and has become one of the most popular delicacies among the public.