Chinese Sugar Triangles

Sugar triangle is a classic traditional snack. The golden and crispy crust wraps the sweet sugar filling. Simple ingredients can bring surprising taste. Today, let's discuss how to make this delicious pastry.

Required raw materials and substitutes

To make this sugar triangle, you need to prepare the following materials:

Main ingredients

Brown sugar: It is the main component of the filling, providing a rich sweetness and unique flavor for the sugar triangle.

Flour: Ordinary flour is used to make dough. Cooked flour can make the texture of the filling more appropriate and not too thin and soft.

Osmanthus: Adds a unique osmanthus fragrance and enriches the flavor of the sugar triangle.

Accessories

Warm water and clear water: Mainly used for operations such as dissolving yeast and mixing dough.

Yeast: Used for fermenting dough to make the sugar triangle taste softer.

Baking powder: Assists fermentation and helps the dough expand better, making the finished product taste better.

Seasonings

White sugar: Increases sweetness and enhances the overall taste. It also helps dough fermentation.

Substitutes

If there is no brown sugar, dark brown sugar can be used as a substitute. The flavor is relatively similar, but there will be differences in sweetness and taste details.

Ordinary flour can be replaced with low-gluten flour or high-gluten flour. However, the dough made of low-gluten flour may be softer, and high-gluten flour is relatively more resilient, which will affect the taste of the finished product.

Osmanthus can be replaced with osmanthus sauce, which can also bring osmanthus fragrance. But pay attention to the dosage to avoid being too sweet.

Yeast can be selected as high-sugar-tolerant yeast, especially when there is more sugar, the fermentation effect is better. If there is no yeast, you can try to use old dough instead, but the fermentation time and operation difficulty will change.

Baking powder can be selected as aluminum-free baking powder, which is more healthy and environmentally friendly. If you don't want to use baking powder, you can appropriately increase the amount of yeast and extend the fermentation time to achieve a similar effect.

White sugar can be replaced with rock sugar powder, etc., but there will be differences in dissolution speed and other aspects.

What tools need to be prepared

Chopsticks: Play a role in dissolving yeast. For 3 grams of yeast in 5 milliliters of warm water, use chopsticks to stir evenly. When mixing flour, it can be stirred into flocculent shape for convenient subsequent operations.

Blender: Can efficiently mix dry ingredients. For example, flour, baking powder, and sugar can be quickly and evenly blended after being processed by a blender, which is beneficial for stable fermentation and texture shaping of the dough.

Cutting board: It is a platform for kneading dough. Put the flocculent dough on it and knead and press it into a smooth dough for 5 to 10 minutes. Its flatness affects the quality of the dough and then concerns the quality of sugar triangles.

Wet cloth or plastic wrap: Used for protection during fermentation. Wet cloth keeps moisture, and plastic wrap locks in water. The two create a suitable environment for the dough to fully ferment and expand within 1 to 1.5 hours.

Rolling pin: Responsible for rolling out the dough. Roll the small dough into a round piece 3 to 5 millimeters thick, with a thicker middle and thinner edges, which is convenient for wrapping fillings and beneficial for steaming, ensuring the taste and appearance of sugar triangles.

Steamer and steamer pot: Realize the steaming process of sugar triangles. Put the raw blanks in the steamer, and boil water in the steamer pot. Steam on high heat first and then on medium heat for 25 minutes to make the dough and fillings reach the best state.

What are the reasons for failure

Improper raw material ratio:

If the ratio of raw materials such as flour, yeast, and sugar is incorrect, it will lead to failure. For example, if there is too much flour, the dough will be too hard. If there is too little yeast, the dough will not ferment. Because yeast is the key to fermentation. If the amount is not enough, enough carbon dioxide cannot be produced to make the dough expand. And an inappropriate amount of sugar will also affect the activity of yeast. Too much sugar will inhibit yeast fermentation.

Yeast inactivation:

If the water temperature for dissolving yeast is too high or too low, the yeast will be inactivated. If the water temperature exceeds 60 degrees Celsius, the yeast will be scalded to death. If the water temperature is lower than 10 degrees Celsius, it is difficult to stimulate the activity of yeast. Moreover, if the yeast is expired, it cannot function normally, so that the dough cannot ferment and the sugar triangle will have a hard texture.

Insufficient kneading:

If the kneading time is too short, the gluten in the dough is not fully formed. In this way, the dough will not have enough elasticity and toughness. It is easy to break during the process of wrapping fillings or steaming. And the taste will also be relatively poor, not soft and chewy enough.

Fermentation problems:

In addition to the failure of fermentation caused by yeast inactivation, inappropriate fermentation environment will also cause problems. If the environment is too dry, the surface of the dough will crack. If the temperature is too low, the fermentation speed will be too slow or even stop. If the temperature is too high, the yeast may die and the dough will become sour.

Filling problems:

If the brown sugar filling is not stirred evenly, there will be some places that are too sweet and some places that are tasteless after wrapping. Moreover, if the filling is too wet, it is easy to leak out during the wrapping process, affecting the shaping of sugar triangles.

Improper steaming:

If the steaming time is too short, the filling inside the sugar triangle may not be cooked, and it will taste like raw flour. If the time is too long, the sugar triangle may collapse and deform, and the dough skin will also become wet and sticky, affecting the taste and appearance.

How to judge if fermentation is complete

Fermentation standard: The dough should expand to twice its original size. The surface should be round and full like a balloon. You can stick a mark on the outside of the basin to observe where the dough rises. Fermentation time is longer in winter and shorter in summer.

Judgment by feel: There are three situations when gently poking the dough. If it does not rebound when pressed, it means fermentation is insufficient and needs to wait longer. If it springs back immediately when pressed, it means it is over-fermented and you need to knead the dough again. Pressing it and having it rebound slowly is the most appropriate. At this time, you can start the next step.

Odor change: When fermentation is just right, there will be a faint wine aroma. This is the best state of the dough. If it smells sour or has a strange smell, it means fermentation has been too long. Beginners had better start observing a few minutes in advance so that it is easier to master the degree of fermentation.

Surface characteristics: It is normal for the surface of the dough to change from matte at the beginning to shiny. If there are wrinkles or cracks on the surface, it is a sign of over-fermentation. The fermentation environment should maintain a stable temperature and cannot be alternately hot and cold.