Hawthorn Mousse Cake with sha qi ma

Sha qi ma is a crunchy deep-fried candied dough. Some say that it originates from the Western province of Xinjiang, while others say it came from Manchuria. Regardless of its origin, it’s delicious. Street vendors deep-fry pieces of dough, dip them in sugar syrup while piping hot, and press them into cakes. In our interpretation of sha qi ma, we infuse it with hawthorn fruit, and pair it with a hawthorn-flavoured mousse. If you can’t get fresh hawthorn fruit, look for canned v