Delicious old taste of banh thuan

Freshly baked cakes. Photo: MOC TRA

Ms. Vo Thi Cam Lai, residing in Hoa Thuan hamlet, Binh An commune, has been proficient in making the cake herself since she was 15 years old. When she grew up, Ms. Cam Lai became the one who continued and kept the family's cake-making profession. She only made the cake when there was a death anniversary, New Year's Day, or when someone ordered the cake. Nearly 30 years have passed, and Ms. Cam Lai still makes the cake. Ms. Cam Lai shared: "The cake has existed for a long time, passed down from the previous generation to grandparents and parents, then it was my daughter and I who continued to keep the profession. Today, my daughter and I still make the traditional cake by hand, using a charcoal oven to cook the cake." Each cake costs between 12,000 and 15,000 VND. Usually, 20 cakes are placed on the wedding tray, left intact or decorated with colored paper and flowers to make it look more beautiful.

With her love for banh thuan, Ms. Cam Lai learned to make cakes by baking and steaming. But according to her, to keep the traditional flavor of banh thuan, baked cakes are the right taste of the past, so she now chooses this special way of making them. Ms. Tran Thi Kim Dieu, Ms. Cam Lai's neighbor, said: "My house is in Rach Gia ward, but when my husband's parents got old, we moved here to live with my grandparents. When I first moved in, I kept smelling the gentle aroma of banh thuan, so I was curious and asked about it and became a close friend of Ms. Cam Lai because of this cake." Ms. Kim Dieu said that once when she ordered cakes for a conference party of the unit she was working for, she ordered banh thuan dai and accidentally became the person who introduced banh thuan to Ms. Cam Lai for nearly 2 years now.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai, living on Mac Cuu Street, Vo Thi Sau Quarter, Rach Gia Ward said: "Enjoying the familiar taste of grilled banh thuan gives me a lingering nostalgia for my hometown with the affection of brothers and sisters that goes along with countless memories. With the characteristic apricot petal shape of this cake, my family often chooses banh thuan to put on the wedding tray, to give to each other when visiting relatives and to entertain guests on Tet holidays, when the family has parties". With that preference, Ms. Mai has now become a close customer of two places that specialize in making banh thuan. Also from Ms. Mai, the banh thuan of Ms. Duong Kim Xuan, living on Tran Bach Dang Street, Rach Gia Ward and the banh thuan of Ms. Cam Lai are both on the tray "for color" as Ms. Mai said, brought to the capital ( Hanoi ) on the wedding day of her niece.

With Ms. Cam Lai's handmade cake making method, making a cake is also very elaborate. The ingredients include eggs, flour, milk, beaten with enough sugar so that the cake is not too sweet or too dry. Next, light the stove, put a pot with a little sand on it and put the cake mold in the oven to heat. After that, use cooking oil to apply a thin layer of non-stick coating, then use a spoon to pour the beaten mixture into the mold, cover it. According to Ms. Lai, if in the past, she used a mold with two surfaces above and below that had charcoal, today Ms. Lai uses sand in the pot to transfer the heat and only burns charcoal in the oven without putting charcoal on the cake surface. With this method, Ms. Lai puts a lot of sand in the pot and places the cake mold so that the sand takes up 1/3 of the mold to help transfer heat and keep the cake color beautiful. When the cake expands evenly, doubles the height of the mold and turns yellow, the cake is done. After being taken out of the oven, the cakes are placed on large trays, then wait for them to cool before placing them on trays, boxes, and boxes.

Although the steps of making cakes are simple, to have batches of golden cakes that bloom like apricot blossoms is not easy. The secret lies in the ingredients, how to mix the ingredients in a certain ratio and beat evenly, especially keeping the heat just right, the time for the cake to cook without burning is also a decisive factor for the success of the cake when baked. According to Ms. Kim Xuan and Ms. Cam Lai, nowadays, although there are many types of industrial cakes, thuan cakes still hold a certain position in the hearts of many people. That is the reason why Ms. Kim Xuan often packages thuan cakes according to orders sent by bus to Ha Tien and some other localities. Ms. Cam Lai also said that in the past few years, she has received more orders to make thuan cakes for the fruit tray than before, because for them, it is the taste of their homeland.

MOC TRA

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/thom-ngon-vi-xua-banh-thuan-a427951.html