Rushan wedding cake is a regular round cake with a diameter of 14 ~ 16 cm and a thickness of about 4 cm. Refined from wheat flour, eggs, peanut oil and white sugar, without adding a drop of water or any additives. It is famous for its soft and sweet taste, elegant appearance, economy and nutrition, and long storage time. According to research, in the surrounding areas of Rushan, they are all "wedding cakes" given to relatives and friends when they get married. Haiyang in the west is made of flour and fried fruit. It looks like a phoenix and a goldfish. Although lifelike, it is easy to dry and harden after cooling. In Mu Ping in the north, flour is made into small "grabbing fruits". This kind of pasta can't be eaten as a meal, but as a snack. There are also "wedding cakes" in Wendeng and Rongcheng in the east, but Wendeng wedding cakes are much smaller than Rushan wedding cakes, and Rongcheng wedding cakes are smaller like peach cakes, and they are greasy and not soft. There is no wedding cake like Rushan in other parts of the country.
Rushan wedding cake is delicious, and the practice is also very particular. People who often make wedding cakes will know that ten catties of flour, two and a half catties of sugar, one catty of 62 pure peanut oil and four catties of eggs can bake more than 40 wedding cakes. The making process of Rushan wedding cake is roughly as follows:
First, soak a proper amount of yeast in a little warm water and melt it into a paste. Don't burn the tip of your tongue. Then beat the eggs into the pot and mix them with peanut oil and sugar in a certain proportion. Of course, the more eggs, the better. But too much oil and sugar is not good, which will make the cake not tender. Stir the mixed materials evenly with chopsticks, then add dissolved yeast water and a small amount of flour for "flour fermentation" and wait for fermentation. There must be no water in this process. When the dough surface "bubbles", it means that the dough has "opened". At this time, add flour, knead into a uniform dough, and ferment again. The fermentation time is not long, and the dough looks swollen and full of bubbles, even if the fermentation is successful.
Secondly, knead the fermented dough slightly, divide it into many small pieces of equal weight, knead it again until the surface is smooth and ribbed, and then roll it into cakes with a special small rolling pin, leaving a certain thickness. The rolled cake needs the last fermentation. It is enough to observe that the surface of the cake begins to thin. Some people describe the cake as delicate as a child's face and as thin as a cicada's wing. Pancakes should be cooked in a pot, and the surface of the pot should be coated with peanut oil, and it is advisable to use slow fire. When flipping, you should handle it gently, so as not to poke your fingers on the cake surface, and turn it frequently to avoid burning. When one side of the cake begins to turn Huang Shi, you can gently press it with your fingertips and then release it immediately. If the pressed place bounces back, then the golden, pleasing, sweet and delicious wedding cake will be successful.
In the customs of Rushan, the wedding cake was first used for weddings, mostly for the woman's family, so it is often called "daughter-in-law cake". Now, both men and women will make hundreds or even thousands of wedding cakes and distribute them to relatives, friends and neighbors for tasting at the wedding ceremony. There is also a big wedding cake, often more than 30 cm in diameter, called Dundi, which is usually cut into fan-shaped pieces and distributed to close relatives and friends who come to attend the wedding. "hoarding" is a vessel used to hold food. It is used to name the wedding cake. First, it shows that it is big; Second, it represents perfection; Third, it means that the family has "surplus grain" and the people have "surplus happiness" and a good life. It is precisely because of this significance that the shopkeeper is more careful in making "Shop Bottom" and uses more and better materials; People attending the wedding also expect to get a cup of "hoarding the bottom". A wedding, generally do eight "hoarding".
With the change of the times, the use of wedding cakes is more and more extensive. On holidays, birthdays, having children, visiting relatives, and even children going to school or work in other places, they often bake wedding cakes, distribute them to relatives and friends, and keep some for themselves to enjoy. After 1980s, the production of Rushan wedding cake gradually moved towards commercialization and marketization, and well-known brands such as Kongshi wedding cake appeared. Nowadays, people in the city usually order wedding cakes from merchants when they hold happy events, which not only saves time and effort, but also ensures the quality. Even if there is no wedding, many Rushan people like to buy wedding cakes as daily food. In addition, now Weihai, Yantai, Dongying, Jinan and other places have produced and sold Rushan wedding cake. Although its taste is not completely authentic, it is also full of customers and buyers.