I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 720 - 323: Another dish to go with rice! What to do with leftover dough? Try making Doodle Cakes! [Subscribe please]_3
The purpose of this was to give the pumpkin filling a silkier texture.
After straining, he prepared some light cream and granulated sugar. Then, he set up a frying pan. First, he heated the pan, added cold oil to coat it, poured the oil out, reheated the pan, and coated it again. When frying paste-like ingredients, it is essential to coat the pan several times to effectively prevent sticking.
After coating the pan, he added a spoonful of lard, heated it on high, then poured in the strained pumpkin filling and began to stir-fry. This step was to release the pumpkin’s aroma and cook out its moisture, making the filling thicker and more suitable.
Initially, the pumpkin and the fat did not blend, but as he continued to fry, the fat permeated the pumpkin filling. When the pumpkin was fried until it was fragrant and thick, he poured in the granulated sugar, added some light cream to enhance the milky flavor, and continued to stir-fry. When the pumpkin was slightly dry and dough-like, he turned off the heat and removed the filling from the pan.
He spread the pumpkin filling on a tray, then moved it to cold storage to speed up its cooling.
During this time, Lin Xu took the pink water-oil dough out of the basin and kneaded it a bit to prevent it from fermenting while resting. After kneading, to complement the pink dough, he also used Matcha Powder to make some light green water-oil dough. The light pink and light green doughs together had a very refreshing look. It looked better than using just pink.
With both types of dough ready, Lin Xu took out the oil dough again, kneaded it, and began the process.
First, he rolled both types of water-oil dough into rectangles about ten centimeters wide and twenty centimeters long. He then rolled the oil dough to the same size and cut it in half. One half was placed on the pink water-oil dough, and the other half on the light green water-oil dough. He folded each water-oil dough in half, wrapping the oil dough inside. While wrapping, he used a rolling pin to seal the edges, preventing the oil dough from leaking out.
Then, he folded both ends of each dough towards the center, folded it in half again along the center, and used a rolling pin to roll it back into a rectangle. After another fold, he placed the dough under plastic wrap to rest.
Once both pieces of dough were folded, Lin Xu took the cooled pumpkin filling out of cold storage. By this time, the pumpkin filling was no longer hot to the touch; he rolled it into balls of about thirty grams each. After rolling, he placed them on a tray, covered them with plastic wrap, and returned them to cold storage to cool further. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
「Outside the kitchen」
Shen Baobao, after eating two lotus cakes, felt they were a bit rich. She asked Chezi to get some chestnuts that had been fried that morning from the small kitchen, and she began peeling and eating them. Ever since they acquired specialized pebbles for frying chestnuts, the store fried a pot of chestnuts or other nuts like cashews almost daily.
"Chezi, what is Lin Xu busy with in the kitchen?" Shen Baobao asked.
"The boss is preparing to make pumpkin-filled Doodle Cakes," Chezi replied. "To match those pale pink doughs, he specifically made some light green ones too. I don’t actually know what Doodle Cakes are, but I’m waiting to try them."
Doodle Cakes? Shen Baobao mused. Today, he reached the top of the trending searches. Is Lin Xu planning to go all out?
Ah, with a husband like this, when will I ever slim down! Shen Baobao sighed deeply, her eyes filled with blissful melancholy.
Listening to Shen Baobao, the warm chestnuts suddenly seemed to leave a tart, lemony taste in the mouths of Zeng Xiaoqi and Dou Wenjing.
Even the lady boss has started humblebragging, huh? they thought. How are we supposed to deal with this?
「In the kitchen」
Lin Xu repeatedly folded and rolled the dough several times. Finally, he rolled it into thick sheets, ten centimeters wide, one centimeter thick, and over ten centimeters long. The thicker the dough sheet, the more pronounced the effect of the Doodle Cake. He then brought over the cooled pumpkin filling and began the assembly.
First, using a kitchen knife, he sliced both types of dough into two-millimeter-thick strips and began weaving the Doodle Cake pattern.
He laid a pink strip of dough on the work surface. He then wove light green strips across it, alternating one over and one under the pink strip, pressing gently to make them adhere.
To add the next pink strip, he first folded upwards all the light green strips that were currently passing *under* the laid pink strip(s). He placed a new pink strip parallel to the previous one. Then, he folded the raised green strips back down over this new pink strip. Next, he lifted the alternate set of green strips—those that were now lying underneath the newest pink strip (having passed *over* the previous pink strip). He placed another pink strip and continued this weaving process. He continued this pattern until all ten pink strips were laid, completing the woven sheet.
He took a small bowl, inverted it over the woven dough, and pressed down hard to cut out a circle, removing the excess dough from the edges. This created a round woven piece. He gently rolled the circular woven piece with a rolling pin, especially around the cut edges to help them meld. He then placed a pumpkin ball in the center and wrapped the dough around it like a bun, pinching the seam tightly shut.
A pink and light green Doodle Cake was now ready.
Following this method, Lin Xu finished making all the Doodle Cakes. The trimmed edges weren’t wasted either; he playfully twisted a few pieces together to make colorful dough twists.
Once everything was ready, he heated the oil for deep-frying. Unlike the lotus cakes, the Doodle Cakes had a thinner outer layer of dough and didn’t need to bloom, so they could be fried directly in oil at medium heat.
Shortly after the Doodle Cakes were placed in the hot oil, their surfaces began to puff up. This wasn’t due to fermentation, but rather the pastry layers becoming flaky, which caused them to expand and fill any small gaps in the woven pattern. This gave the Doodle Cake its characteristic intertwined and layered appearance.
Among Chinese pastries, the Doodle Cake is considered relatively difficult to make. However, once the technique is mastered, it isn’t too difficult. The weaving process, in particular, could be quite satisfying for someone with a penchant for precision.
While Lin Xu was busy in the kitchen, a delivery driver arrived at the Tsinghua University faculty dormitory. After the driver made a call, Cui Qingyuan hurried out from the building.
"Cui Qingyuan, right? Could you confirm the last four digits of your phone number?" the driver asked, unloading several cardboard boxes from his vehicle.
"7866... Excuse me, what’s in these?" Cui Qingyuan asked. "A friend sent them. He just told me to wait for a delivery at the dorm but didn’t say what it was."
The driver glanced at the boxes. "Seems like crabs, from Yangcheng Lake."
Crabs? Cui Qingyuan stared at the cardboard boxes on the ground, each larger than a nightstand, a mix of amusement and exasperation on his face. Boss Yan, why on earth would you send me so many crabs? Do I look like someone who knows how to cook? All I did was casually mention on social media that Hairy Crab season was approaching, and you send me all these? If I’d mentioned wanting a beachfront villa, would you have bought several?
He fretted, looking at the boxes on the ground. So many crabs... how am I supposed to eat them all?
