My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

The last day of October was Chang'an's holiday, and it was also the "sugar day" that Gu Li had been looking forward to for a long time. Because he planned to make candy for Gu Li today, he sent someone to the East Market yesterday to get back the juicer and molds that he had ordered earlier.

When Chang An got up that day, Gu Li also got up with him as usual. Perhaps because sugar was going to be produced today, she quickly changed clothes for herself and Chang An and washed up.

After washing up, Chang An took Gu Li to the kitchen, and first ordered the servants to boil the medicine that Gu Li wanted to take, and then went to check the sugar that had been dried. Because the sugar had been separated out and dried yesterday, and he scraped a little sugar crystals from the wall and bottom of the pot every day, when Chang An came to the kitchen, he saw half a pottery jar filled with white sugar.

Chang An looked at the half-filled can of sugar and nodded with satisfaction. When Gu Li saw the half-filled can of white sugar, although he knew it could be made before, he was also very excited and pulled Chang An's hand and said, "Chang Lang, it's really white sugar!"

"Everyone says your Chang Lang wouldn't lie to you." Chang Lang looked at the sugar and came to Gu Li. She lowered her head slightly and sniffed the smell in the jar. Her eyes were curved by the sweetness.

"Then Chang Lang, how do you plan to eat this sugar?" asked Gu Li.

"I plan to process this sugar together with some other things into something more delicious for Gu Niang to eat." Chang An said.

"Something else? What is it?" Gu Li asked, blinking.

"It depends on what it's made of." Chang An thought for a moment and explained, "If it's made with fruit, it's called fruit candy, and if it's made with butter, it's called butter candy."

"Ghee candy? Ghee is so expensive, let's not eat butter candy." Gu Li thought Chang An was going to use real ghee to make food for her, so she said with some heartache.

"Little fool, it's certainly not the kind of butter you think it is," Chang An put down the sugar jar and scratched her nose with his fingertips. Gu Li also wrinkled his nose in cooperation.

"The kind of ghee I'm talking about is something we can make ourselves. It's made with eggs and sugar." The ghee in ancient times is actually the same thing as modern butter, but there was no such thing as butter in the Tang Dynasty, so Chang An could only explain it this way.

"Can eggs and sugar be used to make ghee?" Gu Li obviously found it a little unbelievable.

"Just watch." Then he called all the servants over and asked them to remember it like he did last time when he made candy.

Then, Chang An turned around and asked a servant to bring a pot to the stove, and then took some eggs. Chang An picked up four eggs at random, cracked them, and let only the egg whites flow into the pot, and put the remaining egg yolks in a bowl, and asked someone to cook it for lunch. Then he took a pair of long bamboo chopsticks and began to stir the egg whites in the pot. After stirring for a while, he saw a layer of small bubbles floating on the egg whites.

So Chang An asked his servant to bring white vinegar and fine salt. He put half a spoonful of fine salt into the egg white, then dipped his little finger in a little white vinegar and dripped it on the egg white, and finally added a spoonful of white sugar.

After adding everything he needed, he started stirring again, and stopped only after a lot of foam was produced, and added another spoonful of sugar. After stirring for a while, the egg white began to thicken, so Chang An added sugar for the third time. This time, he stirred for about one-third of an incense stick, and the original egg white turned from transparent to white. Because the egg white expanded, it looked like the cream made was much more than the original five egg whites.

Chang An picked up the egg white with chopsticks, and when he saw that the egg white could stand up, he breathed a sigh of relief. He put the chopsticks aside casually, shook his hands that were already sore, and just relaxed. Gu Li watched Chang An beat the eggs for so long, and came forward and stretched out his hand to help him press his arm.

While Gu Li was massaging his hands, Chang An asked the servant to bring two bowls of milk and poured them directly into the pot of freshly whipped cream. Then he added two bowls of sugar himself and asked the servant to add firewood to the fire, heating the pot of unknown substance over medium heat.

While the pot was being heated, Chang An asked someone to fetch the mold. The mold was a square with a side length of about one and a half feet and a height of two-thirds of an inch. There were many square or round grooves dug inside, and the grooves were one-third of an inch high and wide. This was the mold Chang An had specially designed for making butter candy.

When he saw a lot of bubbles coming out of the pot, he asked someone to lower the heat and simmer it slowly. Then he took the long bamboo chopsticks and put them in to stir constantly. When one hand got tired of stirring, he used the other hand to continue stirring to prevent the pot from sticking.

After stirring for a while, the cream syrup in the pot became very thick, and Chang An let out a long breath.

"Use a spoon to scoop all the syrup into the mold, and then place it in a cool place and wait for it to solidify." Chang An threw the bamboo chopsticks aside. His hands were a little tired at this time, but fortunately, Gu Li, who was always by his side, helped him to massage his slightly sore arms.

"My mother Gu only needs to wait another half a day and then she can eat the butter candy." Chang An looked at Gu Li and said as if he was showing off.

"Thank you, Chang Lang!" Gu Li responded very flatteringly.

"Let's take a break. After all the butter and sugar are mixed out, we will make the next two kinds of sugar." Chang An walked out of the kitchen, went outside and stretched.

While waiting for the servant to pack the sugar, Gu Li's medicine was also cooked. Gu Li drank the medicine on the spot, while Chang An asked the servant to bring the juicer and asked them to wash and peel the peaches they had bought in advance.

Everything was ready, Gu Li finished her medicine, and Chang An took her back to the kitchen.

He first checked the juicer - there was no electricity in ancient times, so Chang An designed a manual type. As long as the handle on the juicer was manually shaken, the blade inside would be driven to crush the fruit. Then he looked at the processed peaches, all of which were peeled and cut into several pieces.

Chang An let out a long sigh, picked up a few peaches at random, put them directly into the juicer, then closed the lid and turned the handle on the lid. Manual is naturally not as fast as automatic, so it took quite a while to stir.

When he felt that the juice was almost blended, Chang An opened the lid and ordered his servant to bring a piece of fine sand and a clay jar to filter out the juice. Only the mashed fruit pulp was left on the gauze.

This time, Chang An asked the servants to set up two pots. He added water to one pot and turned on the fire. Then he poured in some sugar and boiled the syrup over high heat. In the other pot, he poured in the chopped fruit pulp, water and sugar and boiled it over high heat.

"Chang Lang, what are these two pots used for?" asked the curious baby Gu Li.

"This one is used to boil syrup first, and then make hard candy." Chang An pointed to one of the pots, then pointed to another pot, and said: "This pot is used to boil pectin, and then make soft candy."

Of course, Gu Li didn't know the difference between hard candy and soft candy, but in her subconscious, Xin Changlang must be right. After waiting for a long time, Gu Li ran back to the house to get a collection of poems to read because she was bored.

Seeing that the pot containing pectin was already boiling, Chang An took a citron, cut it in half, squeezed some juice into it, and then asked someone to simmer the fire for the time of an incense stick.

He looked at the pot of syrup next to him and saw a lot of bubbles. It looked like it was almost done. So he took the pot that just contained peach juice and poured most of the juice into it, leaving only a small part. After pouring in the peach juice, he took the bamboo chopsticks and stirred it briefly.

The next step of boiling required a while, so Chang An took Gu Li outside the kitchen and sat with her on the steps outside. Gu Li would point to the parts of the poetry collection that she didn't understand from time to time and ask Chang An for help. Chang An naturally explained it to her patiently. Then she would be flattered by Gu Li.

After half an incense stick of time, Chang An and Gu Li returned to the kitchen. Chang An first looked at the pot of boiling hard candy, picked up a chopstick and went in. When it became thick, he ordered people to pour the syrup into the mold and put it in a cool place to cool and solidify.

Then it was the turn of the other pot of pectin. Chang An asked the servant to scoop out all the rotten fruit residues and continue to boil. After all the candies on the other side were put in, the pectin here also produced a lot of foam, which meant it was done. So Chang An poured the sugar and some of the remaining juice into the pot, stirring it while boiling it over high heat.

In this way, all the candies were ready. Then Chang An gave some instructions to the servants and returned to the room with Gu Li.

Perhaps it was because the outside was relatively spacious and the room was relatively narrow, as soon as Chang An entered the room, he heard Gu Li humming a little tune.

"Are you so happy? You're even humming a tune." Chang An took her to the desk and put her on his lap.

"Of course, I can eat delicious candy today." Gu Li sat on Chang An's lap, holding the poetry collection and said with a cocky look on his face.

"Look at you, you cocky face. It's as if you've already eaten it." Chang An stretched out his fingers and gently rubbed her smooth face, making her hum a few times.

"Mother Gu, aren't you afraid that these three kinds of candy will taste terrible?"

"Don't worry," Gu Li shook his legs and said in a cocky tone, "Chang Lang is so good to me, he won't let me eat bad candy."

"Oh, my Gu Niang has only been married for 20 days, and she is already so pleasing." Chang An leaned his face closer to Gu Li, looking nose to nose, "If another 20 years pass, wouldn't she be able to praise Chang Lang to the sky with just one sentence?"

"No, I haven't..."

"From today on, my mother Gu will be the kid with the most candy in the entire Anrenfang." Chang An turned his face away and said so.

"I'm not a kid."

As Gu Li spoke, he deliberately put on a fierce expression, but not only did it not prove anything, but it also brought him a few teasings from Chang An, making his little face feel poked and pinched, which was very funny.

"Chang Lang, you bully me again!"

After a while of playing, the room finally quieted down. After lunch, a servant came over with a plate. He came to Chang An and Gu Li and said:

"Master, Sanniang, the butter candy is ready."

"Is it ready now?" Chang An was a little surprised. He took the plate and squeezed the sugar inside. It was indeed at normal hardness. According to his original estimate, it would take until the evening to condense.

"Sir, we were afraid that you and Sanniang would be anxious, so we took the initiative to soak it in water to make it solidify faster." The servant replied.

"Okay!" Chang An said with satisfaction, "Please wait here for a moment."

As he said that, he passed the candy in his hand to Gu Li's mouth, and Gu Li naturally took a bite and put it in his mouth. After holding it in his mouth for a while, he squinted his eyes because of the sweetness.

"good to eat!"

"As long as it tastes good." Chang An was relieved to see her enjoying the food, and then turned to the servants and said, "You can each take one of the butter candies produced today to try, and keep the rest properly, and don't leave them outside in the sun. In the future, you can help make candies for Gu Niang, and the benefits I promised you last time will certainly not be reduced."

"Yes, thank you, sir." The servant turned and left.

Looking back, Gu Li was eating the candy in his mouth with a happy look on his face, and he leaned his little head to look at the things on the plate, seeming to like them very much.