Mooncake syrup preparation

Every festival makes us miss our family more. My dear, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. If you are working away from home, you will definitely have to work overtime this year and will have no time to go home. The elderly parents at home have enough food and clothing, and they are looking forward to having children. Don’t let your filial piety go in vain. Follow me and learn how to make mooncake syrup. Then show off your skills and make mooncakes for your family. Let’s celebrate the festival together and share a happy new life.

1. Selection of tools for making syrup 1. When making syrup, you should use a copper pot or stainless steel pot instead of an iron pot or aluminum pot for heating. Because when making syrup in an iron or aluminum pot, the temperature is too high, the molecular structure of iron and aluminum becomes unstable and a chemical reaction occurs, causing the syrup to turn black and affecting its quality. Therefore, the long-handled spoon used should also be made of copper or stainless steel. 2. When making syrup, you should choose an adjustable heating method, such as a liquefied gas stove (gas stove). 3. The prepared syrup needs to be filtered, so you need to prepare a fine sieve. Be careful to choose ones that can withstand high temperatures and are sturdy. 4. To store the prepared syrup, prepare a plastic bucket or porcelain. 5. During the production process, you should also prepare a harder brush.

2. Selection of raw materials In actual production, the quality of sugar directly affects the production of syrup. To avoid affecting the quality of mooncakes, the mooncake syrup should be made of coarse-grained sugar with uniform crystallization, consistent particle size and no impurities inside, and it must be sucrose. 3. Selection of citric acid Citric acid is colorless translucent crystal or white crystalline powder, odorless, extremely sour, soluble in water, non-toxic; it can make the prepared syrup have a refreshing sour taste. At the same time, prevent the syrup from turning over. Promote the conversion of syrup. Adding citric acid to the syrup is a major feature of Cantonese-style mooncakes. It makes the mooncakes absorb oil quickly, have a golden color, and be soft and shiny. Therefore, you should choose high-quality citric acid, or use acidic hard substances in nature, such as pineapple and lemon. 4. The principle of making syrup 1. When the syrup is heated and boiled, the sucrose molecule is hydrolyzed into one fructose molecule glucose. This action is called sugar inversion, and the two products are collectively called invert sugar. 2. After the syrup is heated and boiled, it becomes syrup, which is invert syrup. 3. Invert sugar syrup is not easy to crystallize, so the higher the degree of conversion, the less sucrose can crystallize, and the lower the crystallization effect of sugar. 4. Citric acid can catalyze the conversion reaction of sugar and promote the hydrolysis of sucrose. 5. After heating, the disaccharides in sugar are converted into equal amounts of glucose and fructose, which have different properties from the original sugar. Increased color of baked products. At the same time, glucose and fructose have strong hygroscopicity, which can ensure the moistness and softness of the product.

Preparation of Cantonese syrup 1. The ratio of syrup: 100% sugar (2.5 kg), 45%~50% water (1.2 kg), 0.15% citric acid (0.004 kg), 1% salt (25 g) and appropriate amount of red pigment. Note: If citric acid is not used in the recipe, 5% pineapple and lemon can be used instead. 2. Add ingredients in order: sugar + dissolved water + salt + pigment + citric acid (if adding pineapple or lemon, add them together with water and sugar.) 3. Operation steps 1. Add the ingredients in order and bring to a boil over high heat. 2. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. 3. During the production process, use a brush dipped in clean water to remove impurities from the cylinder wall to prevent affecting the quality. 4. If there are too many impurities, you need to use a spoon to remove them. 5. Cook the syrup until the temperature reaches 115℃ and the sugar content reaches 78~80℃. Then cool it and sieve it for later use. (The syrup can be used only after it has matured for at least one month) 6. If there is no instrument, the following method can be used to identify the various states of the syrup as it changes with temperature during the production process: ① The boiling stage begins at around 104°C, and the sugar liquid bubbles. ②When the temperature is around 107℃ and it forms a line, touch the surface of the syrup with your hand, bring your index finger and thumb together and then separate them, and you can pull it into a stretchable thin strip. ③During the 110℃ steaming stage, use the same method as at 107℃, touch the surface of the syrup with your hand, bring your index finger and thumb together and then separate them, and you can pull it into a stretchable thin strip, forming a "liquid bead" at the end.

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