Chung Yeung arrives in the heart of autumn, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. This year it falls on Sunday, 18 October.
It is also chrysanthemum season, and the flower has long been part of the festival. People in the past liked to eat chrysanthemum in autumn, folding the season into small, seasonal foods. This crystal chrysanthemum cake follows that custom: a clear, golden cake with a whole flower set inside.
The sugar
Cane Rock Sugar (原蔗冰糖) is rock sugar made from cane, with its natural amber colour kept. Its sweetness is soft and restrained.
Chrysanthemum has a faint bitterness. It needs sweetness to balance it, but a heavy sugar would bury the flower. Cane rock sugar, simmered slowly into the tea, smooths the bitter edge and lets the aroma come through. It also suits the look of the cake, adding a light amber warmth to the gold.
How it comes together
The method is gentle and unhurried. Chrysanthemums are steeped in a pot to draw out their scent, then strained so only clear tea remains. Cane rock sugar goes in to simmer. White jelly powder is stirred through, and the tea is poured into small moulds. A single chrysanthemum is placed in the centre of each one before the cakes are left to set.
Seasonal Chinese food is about timing and patience. Nothing here is rushed, and the result is a cake that looks like it holds a flower in amber.
Why this matters
Festival foods carry memory. A cake like this one is simple, but it keeps an old habit alive: bringing the season to the table and sharing it. For Chung Yeung this year, it is a small way to mark the day.
Ship Brand (帆船牌) is the retail line of Yuen Tung Sugar Factory Industrial Company Limited. Sugar refined in Hong Kong since 1987. Shop the collection.
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