Jinshi (literally a successful candidate in the
highest imperial examinations in feudal China) Cake and Zhuangyuan
(literally the “Number One Scholar) Cookie are the famous traditional
pastry of the old town, Kaifeng. They have been popular for hundreds of
years and still have great fame now. It is said that imperial
examination was the dominant one in the Song Dynasty therefore every
year many candidates gathered in the capital city, Kaifeng, to take the
examination. The businessmen competed with each other by producing
Jinshi Cake and Number One Scholar Cookie to attract the candidates. The
two pastries are made out of the similar material with the same
excellent craftsmanship except the different stuffing. The way to make
them is to mix in proportion, sugar, honey, edible oil, eggs, wine, and
yellow edible pigment together into dough for further use. Wax gourd,
greengage, walnut, and date are used to make fruit stuffing and date
stuffing respectively. Then the dough that kept till soft is rolled into
strips and is put into stuffing. The characters Jinshi and Number One
Scholar are pressed with different molds onto the dough. Finally, the
pastries are put into the stoves to bake. The finished cakes and cookies
are red and golden in color, even in size, fragrant, sweet, soft and
easy to digest. The Jinshi Cake is characteristic of aromatic fruit and
osmanthus flower fragrant, while the Number One Scholar Cookie date
taste and fragrant. Nowadays, the cake and cookie are no longer the
ancient scholars’ favorites, and have become the ideal gifts to
relatives, friends and guests.
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