Husband and Wife Cake, also known as spousal cake, with the meaning of husband and wife cake appears at Hue weddings. Unlike husband and wife cakes in the North or the South, which are usually flattened in yellow-red glass paper, Hue husband and wife cakes are wrapped in beautiful square boxes made from coconut leaves.
Making a husband and wife cake is not difficult but takes many stages and time. The main ingredients of the cake are the filling and the rice powder. The filling is made from chickpeas and coconut. After buying chickpeas, soak them in water until soft, clean the skins, and then steam them. After cooking, let it cool and puree, add sugar and then cook with low heat until the mixture thickens and does not stick to your hands. To enhance the delicious taste, it is possible to add a little grapefruit juice.
Another indispensable ingredient of the husband and wife cake is coconut. Coconuts are grated into strands and poured through boiling water cooked with a little salt. In doing so, the coconut fiber will be tougher and the cake will last longer.
The most important stage is flour porridge or flour cooking. The powder is mixed with water in a certain proportion, added sugar then stirred to dissolve the sugar. Next, put the finished coconut in and then cook it on low heat, stirring your hands until the dough thickens, in its half-cooked form, but able to flow into a stream.
Husband and Wife Cake attract people not only for their deliciousness but also for their beauty thanks to the square cake molds made from fresh coconut leaves. First, we pour a thin layer of flour cooked with coconut into the mold, then add the chickpea filling, then pour another layer of flour and steam.
When steaming the cake, you must observe so that the dough is not overcooked because it will lose its toughness but also do not let the dough be raw. Cook until the dough is clear, emerging the golden color of the filling in the middle. After steaming, remove to cool, and then cover the mold on top.
Hue Husband and Wife Cake has the chewy taste of flour, lumpy of coconut, juicy of bean filling, fragrant of grapefruit juice and coconut leaves. Nowadays, there are many types of alternative cakes, but Hue Husband and Wife Cake are still popular with many people. This is an indispensable cake on the table of Hue people during Tet holidays or weddings.