Lotus seed and mung bean cake

1

Use hot water to grow lotus seeds for 3 hours, and then use a toothpick to remove the bitterness.

2

Add appropriate amount of water to the lotus seeds that have been removed from the painstaking efforts, and place them into containers with the dried mung bean noodles. Cover them with plastic wrap and place them in the steamer.

3

Steam over medium heat for 40 minutes and remove.

4

Remove the plastic wrap and cool down a little.

5

Crush the seeds with a spoon.

6

Add white cotton candy and 5 grams of osmanthus paste to it, press and stir well.

7

Add another 5 grams of osmanthus sauce and appropriate amount of soft sugar to the cooked dried mung bean noodles.

8

Pour in 20ml of cold boiled water and mix well. The flour is moist, preferably not sticky but loose.

9

Pour the mixed cooked mung bean flour into the mold, press and pat flat.

10

Then pour the stirred lotus seeds on top.

11

Use a small mold-lifting shovel, dip it in boiling water, pat the lotus seed filling flat and spread evenly, then remove the mold, and use a knife to cut into triangular pieces.

12

You can then plate and serve it on the table.

1. To make this pastry, select high-quality fragrant lotus seeds—white, flawless, and preferably the kind that becomes tender immediately upon boiling. You must remove the bitter germ. 2. For the mung bean flour, choose fresh, pure mung bean flour; it is excellent in both texture and color. If you make this pastry without adding the lotus seed filling, it becomes the traditional Old Beijing mung bean cake—dry and sweet, which is also quite good! Mung bean cake is also made by dry pressing into molds. The molds used in the past were wooden detachable ones—the kind that could be assembled and disassembled, which was very convenient. I used a mousse mold, which also worked pretty well, hehe! 3. After unmolding, you can cut it as you wish into shapes you like. Traditionally, they were square or diamond-shaped, but this time I cut them into triangles, hehe! Others use green and red candied peel strips for garnish, but I used fresh cherries, hehe, it’s a bit different! 4. I feel that when making the lotus seed filling, it is better not to make it too smooth; having some lotus seed granules tastes quite nice. Of course, it’s fine to press it smoother too. You can also use lotus seed powder to make it: steam the lotus seeds, dry them, then grind them into a powder with a food processor, and finally add sugar and osmanthus sauce and dry press it onto the mung bean cake. This is also a traditional method. I felt that was too dry, so I modified it a bit, hehe