A childhood favorite treat – Chinese Sachima Soft Flour Pastry Cake (沙琪瑪) is the perfect snack for any occasion and season. It is made with puffy fried egg noodle strands tossed with sweet syrup, raisins, dried cranberries, and black sesame seeds. It looks complicated and hard, but it is actually pretty easy to make as long as you follow my instructions step by step.
What Is Chinese Sachima (沙琪瑪)?
Chinese Sachima Soft Flour Pastry Cake is a traditional egg pastry that is often referred to as 馬仔, Chinese Rice Krispies, or caramelized egg fritters. It originated in Northeast China and eventually became a popular cake in Beijing. Today, this cake is eaten on various occasions, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year, and tea time.
What Does It Taste Like?
It is sweet and eggy, with a hint of caramelized flavors. Its texture is puffy with a nice crisp exterior. The flavors and texture may still vary depending on which store you buy this cake from since they add various special ingredients to create their original versions of the cake.
How Is It Made?
With one look at this snack, you can already see some resemblance with Kellogg’s Original Rice Krispies Treats. Chinese Sachima Soft Flour Pastry Cake is prepared with dough made with flour, eggs, and baking powder. The dough is cut into strips, making it look like noodles.
What makes this pastry cake fluffy is when the dough strips are fried in oil. Then, it is tossed in a sweet caramel syrup, along with raisins, dried cranberries, and black sesame seeds. To make its shape, the cake is pressed into a mold and cut into delectable squares.
Achieve The Best Results With These Tips And Tricks
If it is your first time making dough or baking in general, I suggest you go over this section first. In this section, I share a baker’s tips and tricks when it comes to choosing ingredient alternatives, baking techniques, and many more. Quickly read this part before starting with the recipe instructions.
- Dough (Egg Noodle Strands)
- Eggs: You can use medium or large eggs. If you want a deeper yellow color, you can add an extra egg yolk. Basically, the eggs make the dough light and fluffy. It loosens the dough to make it expand and become puffy.
- Plain flour: Use plain flour like all-purpose flour. You can also use bread flour for a chewy texture. I don’t recommend special flour like whole wheat flour, rice flour, and glutinous rice flour. These types of flour will give you a different texture that is not ideal for this cake.
- Baking powder: Baking powder is a leavening agent that helps make the cake airy. During the frying process, it leavens the dough. So, make sure you do not omit this ingredient.
- Size and shape: After creating the dough, it is cut into thin strips approximately 5 mm wide. It should be short and thin to create a better shape. To create this, I first flatten the dough into a thin sheet, cut it into wider strips, and then cut it into even smaller and thinner strips.
- Frying: You will know if it is ready for frying with one noodle strip test. It should float on the surface of the oil for a few seconds. If it floats, you can add the rest of the noodles. I suggest frying the noodles in small batches. It should expand and turn slightly brown. Keep in mind you should also not overfry them or else they will lose their soft crisp texture and become too crunchy.
- Sweet syrup: To make the syrup, you will need 100 grams of white sugar, 100 grams of water, and 50 grams of maltose.
- The syrup is heated until it becomes thick and well combined. You can use any granulated sugar or caster sugar.
- For the maltose, you can normally find this in Asian stores or in the international section of a local grocery store. Maltose can be substituted with brown rice syrup, honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup.
- One thing to note is that the texture of the cake depends on the syrup. Generally, the syrup should be cooked on low-medium heat. Do not overcook the syrup or else it will give the cake a crunchy texture, rather than a soft crisp texture. On the other hand, if it is also undercooked, it will make the cake sticky when cooled.
- Flavoring ingredients: I use raisins, dried cranberries, and black sesame seeds. You can also use white sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried coconut, and peanuts. It is up to you what flavoring ingredients you like, but make sure their taste complement each other for the perfect pairing.
Gather These Ingredients And Recommended Kitchenware
I love that you can make this cake recipe without an oven or other special equipment. You simply need a large pan to fry the noodles and heat the syrup, as well as a kitchen knife to slice the cake into small squares. The ingredients are also pantry-friendly and easy to get in your local grocery stores.
Kitchenware
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Dough cutter
- Cooking pan
- Non-stick pan
- Spatula
- Mold (preferably square)
- Parchment paper
- Knife
Ingredients
- 3 whole eggs
- 300g of plain flour
- 3 grams of baking powder
- 100 grams of white sugar
- 100 grams of water
- 50 grams of maltose
- Raisins, dried cranberries, and black sesame seeds (adjust to taste)
- Oil for greasing the mold
How To Make Chinese Sachima Soft Flour Pastry Cake
The recipe may look long and hard to execute, but once you go through each step slowly, it will be a piece of cake. You can watch my 1-minute tutorial video on Instagram or TikTok to follow my steps. I love seeing my followers’ creations, so don’t forget to tag me @kitchenmisadventures after making this cake!
Knead And Fry The Dough
Start by adding plain flour and eggs into a bowl.
Add baking powder and stir it in until the mixture becomes fluffy and chunky.
Knead the mixture until it forms a smooth dough. It should be firm and does not stick to your hands.
Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes.
After the resting time, sprinkle some dry flour on a flat surface and roll the dough into a large sheet using a rolling pin.
Cut the sheet into about 4 wide strips using a dough cutter.
Then, cut the wide strips into thinner strips approximately 5 mm wide.
Using your hands, gently shake the strips to separate them.
Next, heat the oil to about 50% hotter in temperature and add the noodles. The noodles should float within a few seconds. A floating test is best to know when it is ready to fry.
Fry them until they are lightly browned.
Make The Syrup
In a separate pot, add white sugar, water, and maltose.
Heat the syrup until it’s thick and can coat to the spatula. If it does not stick to the spatula, it is too watery and not yet well-heated.
Combine The Fried Noodles And Syrup
Combine the fried noodles with the syrup.
Add a handful of raisins, dried cranberries, and black sesame seeds to the coated noodles.
Mix everything well, making sure the ingredients are evenly spread.
Then, prepare the mold with parchment paper. Grease the mold with oil.
Place the cake mixture into the oil-covered mold.
Press it firmly using a rolling pin to take the mold’s shape.
Cut the hardened mixture into small pieces. You can cut it when it cools down or a little bit warm.
Enjoy your homemade treat with tea and other cake recipes like Melty & Cheesy Pork Floss Cake, Dim Sum Classic Chinese Turnip Cake, and Steamed Chinese Taro Cake (Yam Cake). Store your leftover cake in an airtight container and keep it for a week or more in the fridge.
Chinese Sachima Soft Flour Pastry Cake (沙琪瑪)
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Dough cutter
- Cooking pan
- Non-stick pan
- Spatula
- Mold (preferably square)
- Parchment paper
- Knife
Ingredients
- 3 whole eggs
- 300 g of plain flour
- 3 grams of baking powder
- 100 grams of white sugar
- 100 grams of water
- 50 grams of maltose
- Raisins dried cranberries, and black sesame seeds (adjust to taste)
- Oil for greasing the mold
Instructions
Knead And Fry The Dough
- Start by adding plain flour and eggs into a bowl.
- Add baking powder and stir it in until the mixture becomes fluffy and chunky.
- Knead the mixture until it forms a smooth dough. It should be firm and does not stick to your hands.
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- After the resting time, sprinkle some dry flour on a flat surface and roll the dough into a large sheet using a rolling pin.
- Cut the sheet into about 4 wide strips using a dough cutter.
- Then, cut the wide strips into thinner strips approximately 5 mm wide.
- Using your hands, gently shake the strips to separate them.
- Next, heat the oil to about 50% hotter in temperature and add the noodles. The noodles should float within a few seconds. A floating test is best to know when it is ready to fry.
- Fry them until they are lightly browned.
Make The Syrup
- In a separate pot, add white sugar, water, and maltose.
- Heat the syrup until it's thick and can coat to the spatula. If it does not stick to the spatula, it is too watery and not yet well-heated.
- Combine The Fried Noodles And Syrup
Combine the fried noodles with the syrup.
- Add a handful of raisins, dried cranberries, and black sesame seeds to the coated noodles.
- Mix everything well, making sure the ingredients are evenly spread.
- Then, prepare the mold with parchment paper. Grease the mold with oil.
- Place the cake mixture into the oil-covered mold.
- Press it firmly using a rolling pin to take the mold's shape.
- Cut the hardened mixture into small pieces. You can cut it when it cools down or a little bit warm.
- Enjoy your homemade treat with tea and other cake recipes like Melty & Cheesy Pork Floss Cake, Dim Sum Classic Chinese Turnip Cake, and Steamed Chinese Taro Cake (Yam Cake). Store your leftover cake in an airtight container and keep it for a week or more in the fridge.
