Double Ninth Festival cakes, also known as flower cakes, chrysanthemum cakes, or five-color cakes, lack fixed recipes and are relatively flexible in preparation. They are one of the iconic foods of the Double Ninth Festival.
Typically made from glutinous rice, non-glutinous rice, and red bean paste, these cakes feature embedded candied fruits like black dates, dried apricots, melon seeds, and walnuts. Layered in five distinct colors, they offer a sweet, fluffy, fragrant, and chewy texture.
Nutritional Value of Chongyang Cake
Japonica Rice: Japonica rice enhances immune function and promotes blood circulation, thereby reducing the risk of hypertension. It helps prevent diabetes, beriberi, age spots, and constipation. The coarse fiber molecules in its bran layer aid gastrointestinal motility, offering significant benefits for stomach ailments, constipation, and hemorrhoids.
Glutinous Rice Flour: Rich in protein, fats, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, and starch, glutinous rice is a nutritious, warming tonic food.It fortifies the middle energizer, strengthens the spleen and stomach, and stops spontaneous sweating. It provides relief for spleen-stomach deficiency-cold, poor appetite, abdominal distension, and diarrhea. Glutinous rice has astringent properties, making it an effective dietary remedy for frequent urination and night sweats.
Walnuts: A popular snack, walnuts are rich in protein, fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, selenium, and other nutrients. They help prevent cellular aging, enhance brain function and memory, delay aging, reduce intestinal cholesterol absorption, moisturize skin, and darken hair.They are particularly suitable for those with atherosclerosis, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and intellectual workers, as they help alleviate fatigue and stress. <Walnuts are sweet in taste and warm in nature; they enter the kidney and lung meridians. They can tonify the kidneys and secure essence, warm the lungs and relieve asthma, moisten the intestines and promote bowel movements;They primarily treat kidney deficiency with wheezing and coughing, lower back pain and leg weakness, impotence and seminal emission, frequent urination, calculi in the urinary tract, and dry, hard stools.
Watermelon Seeds: Rich in protein, fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin E, potassium, iron, selenium, and other nutrients, watermelon seeds clear the lungs and resolve phlegm. They offer auxiliary therapeutic effects for coughs with excessive phlegm and hemoptysis.Watermelon seeds are rich in oils, promoting digestion and relieving constipation. Their unsaturated fatty acids help lower blood pressure and prevent arteriosclerosis, making them a suitable snack for hypertensive patients.
Red Bean Paste: Red bean paste contains nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, B vitamins, vitamin E, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. It has the effects of strengthening the spleen, promoting diuresis, clearing heat, removing dampness, reducing swelling, and detoxifying. Bean paste contains a relatively high amount of starch, and consuming too much at once can cause abdominal distension.
Dietary Restrictions for Chongyang Cake
Chongyang cake ingredients include japonica rice, walnut kernels, and red bean paste. Japonica rice should not be consumed with horse meat or honey; walnuts should not be eaten with pheasant meat; red beans should not be paired with mutton, sheep stomach, or carp. Therefore, avoid these foods when eating Chongyang cake.
DIY Double Ninth Cake
Ingredients: 500g japonica rice, 1,500g glutinous rice flour, 20g walnuts, 20g watermelon seeds, 500g red bean paste, 400g white sugar, 3g flavoring, 2g food coloring, 5g rose petals (as needed)
Steps:
1. Combine red bean paste,200g white sugar, and 500g filling powder (regular rice flour + glutinous rice flour) to form the red bean paste filling.
2. Boil 200g white sugar into syrup. Combine with 1500g filling powder and vanilla extract, then stir-fry until thoroughly mixed. Add water gradually while mixing to achieve a moderately moist dough texture.
Let the dough rest for several hours until hydrated. Divide into three portions: one dyed red, one green, and one left natural. Sift each portion through a fine sieve to remove lumps, resulting in a smooth dough texture.
3. Roll out each portion into a sheet. Place the red bean paste filling in the center of the green sheet, then fold the green sheet over the filling. Roll into a cylinder and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Roll out the dough into a 1cm-Let the prepared dough rest for several hours to absorb moisture. Divide into three portions: one dyed red, one green, and one left natural. Sift each portion through a fine sieve to remove lumps. Spread the white dough layer as the base in a rectangular wooden mold. Top with a layer of red bean paste, followed by the green dough layer. Spread the remaining red bean paste over the green layer.finish with the red dough layer. Sprinkle rose petals, walnut pieces, and melon seeds over the surface to complete the five-layered, multi-colored raw Chongyang cake base.
3. Place the cake base in a steamer and steam over high heat for about 25 minutes until cooked through.
4. After steaming, invert the cake onto a clean board. Once cooled, slice into 60 small spindle-shaped pieces and arrange on a serving plate.