When it comes to the browned and crispy skin, the layered leather, soft and delicious, and the oily fuping empress cake, we have to start from Liu Heng, the Emperor wendi of the Western Han Dynasty.
According to research, Emperor Wen of Han Liu Heng was born in Fuping. His mother, Empress Bo, was initially a palace maid, but later gained the favor of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, and received jealousy from Empress Lü Yan, who wanted to harm her several times. Later, Empress Bo, who was pregnant with Liujia, secretly ran out of the palace and went into exile in Fuping, giving birth to Liu Heng in the hot springs and in the middle reaches of the Tsuitou Temple.
Mother and son relied on each other, begged along the road, and spent six or seven difficult years in Fuping. Empress Bo looked at her son's hungry and weak body and was very worried, so she thought of the way to process food in the court in the past, using steamed steamed noodles, mixed with pork plate oil, mixed into rolled noodles two or three inches long, and grilled with fire. Liu Heng tasted it, crisp and soft, the taste was particularly good, and he loved to eat it very much. This kind of cake made from simple barbecue not only solved the urgent need of Empress Bo, but also nourished a generation of kings.
Later, Liu Heng became emperor, and Empress Bo stayed in Fuping's life and lived for a long time. Emperor Wen of Han, who was filial to the world, was no longer reluctant and visited his mother regularly. Later, Huaide County (now Huaiyang Fort, East China District, Fuping County) was established in the Fushan area, and this court scone making technique was passed down among local villagers. Because it was originally made by Empress Bo, it was named "Empress Dowager Cake".
Queen cake can be described as the origin of China's pastry food, the processing technology of this baked food is very primitive, but also very authentic, any food of any era and any process and innovation can not be replaced. This seemingly crude process processes the original raw materials so that the world has a strong sense of happiness and enjoyment. For more than 2,000 years, this scone technique has been passed down from generation to generation and continues to this day, becoming a local delicacy.
For the production of the queen cake, it is necessary to prepare white flour, pork plate oil, Fuping peppercorns, fennel, cinnamon, honey, salt and other production materials. Boil the peppercorns, fennel, cinnamon and appropriate amount of water into seasoning water, peel and dice the pork plate oil into a puree, and add the seasoning water in fractions when chopping. Then, with the noodles, the dough is flattened by hand one by one, the chopped sludge is mixed in turn, kneaded repeatedly, and finally made into a small round cake, and then smeared with honey dissolved with water on the top surface of the round cake. After making the raw cake, spread the rapeseed oil on the bottom of the special three-fan chain and heat it, then put the round cake and bake it to a golden brown.
Today, the production process of Fuping Empress Cake has been included in the second batch of Shaanxi Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage (2009.6) Protection List. The development of Lu's Fuping Empress Cake has also reached more than 100 histories for four generations, becoming a popular Fuping specialty food, and has also become one of the essential foods for Fuping people to entertain and gift friends from other places.