Mooncakes 中秋月饼 2014

It's Mid-Autumn again!

I have made some mooncakes since last week. Before that, a shopping trip to Kwong Cheong Thye is a must. They have so many different types of mooncake pastes, some quite unusual. You can try the samples before deciding which flavour is suitable for you. Best of all, they sell in 500g packets so you can get more varieties. They have all other ingredients to complete the mooncake-making shopping, including the moulds and packaging too. The location is few steps away from Aljunied MRT, along the shophouses.

These are what I got here. This year I bought Hong Kong low sugar white lotus, chocolate and the special red dates and longan flavour!

I also made a trip to Kitchen Capers because I wanted to get the mooncake mould badly (see below). So pretty! :) Bought the snowskin premix wanting to make snowskin mooncakes this year. But but but... I couldn't get shortening. Blame myself only went to buy 1 day before making. The places I went to all sold out. Stupid me never get kaofen also as it is needed for dusting. So the plan failed! Mum said she likes baked mooncakes better and can keep better, so I ended up making all baked ones. Lol!

Using the same recipe as last year from Anncoo Journal. Getting ready to start. Just mix and leave the mixture to rest.

I am making the very popular Baked Chocolate Mooncakes too!

While waiting, steam the salted egg yolks and weigh and wrap the lotus pastes.

My chocolate mooncakes. They smell heavenly even before baking with the Valrhona cocoa powder.

Using my favourite design plates 中秋 and 莲蓉 for the traditional mooncakes.

The new mooncake mould. Have been using plunger type and not used to this mould. Didn't do a very good job. I used 140g (50g skin, 75g paste, 15g yolk) but not quite enough to fill the mould up. Perhaps can try 150g next year. Added charcoal powder to one mooncake.

The mooncakes freshly baked. Need to rest them for at least 2 days to soften.

The mooncakes after 2 days! Time for photo-taking before sending away. :)

The left one is red dates and longan. A new flavour which my mum and her friends like very much. Middle is low sugar white lotus, not sweet and very smooth. The right is chocolate, my nephew and nieces (and me too) love love love! Guess it's a must to make chocolate mooncakes next year.

The bigger mooncake which can put in a whole egg yolk. but as I didn't fill up the mould, the yolks look a bit crushed. Nevermind improve next year.

Baked chocolate Mooncakes

Ingredients: (I make 12pcs, each 20g skin 40g paste)

113g Plain flour
18g Cocoa powder (I used valrhona cocoa powder)
85g Sugar syrup
25g Peanut oil
1/2 tsp Alkaline water
480g lotus paste, divided into 12 portions

Method:

1. Mix sugar syrup, peanut oil and alkaline water together thoroughly.
2. Sift plain flour and cocoa powder in a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour sugar syrup mixture. Using a rubber spatula to mix and form to a soft dough. Cover with a cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. Divide dough into 12 portions, 20g each and roll into balls. Wrap the dough around the lotus paste.
4. Roll it into ball and dust with some flour. Press firmly into mould, unmould and place on a lined baking tray.
5. Bake at preheated oven 170C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and rest mooncakes to cool for about 15 minutes. Then bake the chocolate mooncakes again for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Leave mooncakes to cool down completely before storing into an airtight container. This mooncake can be eaten immediately and taste cripsy. Wait for about 3 days for the mooncakes for skin to soften (回油) before serving.

Recipe from: Anncoo Journal
Original from: Cass @ 揾到食

Wishing everyone Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟，中秋节快乐！

Traditional Baked Mooncakes 传统烘皮月饼

People say, the younger generation prefers snowskin mooncakes while the older generation prefers baked mooncakes. And as you grow older, you tend to switch your preference from snowskin to baked mooncakes. I still like both, so I'm somewhere in the middle, hehe!

This year I decide to try making baked mooncakes. I didn't really go and look for recipes this time. After looking at all the delicious mooncakes posted by Ann, Ann recommend me her traditional mooncake recipe and I just settle on this.

Got all my mooncake ingredients from Kwong Cheong Thye. You got to make a trip there if you haven't. They have so many different types of mooncake pastes that you will take a long time to decide. They have samples for you to try and you can buy the paste in packets of 500g. I also got all the other ingredients here.

I did a small batch first. A bit nervous before sending the mooncakes into the oven.

Luckily my first batch turned out looking good! Except for a few errors here and there, like not wrapping the dough evenly, flouring too much and didn't brush the egg yolk well. The hello kitty one cracked, there was no filling inside as I used the leftover dough.

I did a short 15 seconds instagram video during the process. A bit too fast, haha! The video sequence also got messed up by IG, so sad. :(

This was how my mooncakes looked like after waiting for 2 days for it to soften and 'return oil' (回油).

I did a second batch on another day to finish all the paste. Here are my first homebake mooncakes. I bought the black sesame paste and coffee paste. Both of them taste great! Thanks Ann for the great recipe. It is very delicious and easy to make. I don't have to buy mooncakes next time. :) I didn't make any snowskin this year. Next year, promise!

Traditional Baked Mooncakes

Ingredients:
(*self-note: I make 30 pieces of 60g mooncakes, with 210g dough left)

450g Hong Kong flour (sifted)
270g Sugar syrup/golden syrup
9g Alkaline water
113g Peanut oil (I added a bit more to 120g)

1/2kg black sesame paste
1/2kg coffee paste
4 salted egg yolks

Method:

1. Remove salted egg yolk whites and rinse under gentle running water. Place yolks on a steaming plate, add 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine and a drop of sesame oil, mix well with the yolks. Steam at high heat for 5 mins and leave yolks to cool. Divide each yolk into 4 pieces (I'm using a small mould).

2. Weigh lotus paste to 35g and wrap the steamed salted egg yolk in the center and roll into a ball.

3. Mix sugar syrup, alkaline water and peanut oil together - combine well. Sift Hong Kong flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center and pour in the sugar syrup mixture. Using a rubber spatula to mix and form to a soft dough. Cover and let it rest for 20 mins (I rest for more than 1 hour).

4. Lightly dust some Hong Kong flour on table and knead dough again till smooth. Measure dough to 20g each.

5. Wrap the lotus paste with the soft dough then dust some Hong Kong flour on it and place inside the mooncake mold, flatten dough to conform to shape of mold. To dislodge the mooncake, gently push out the unbaked mooncake on the lined baking tray, about 10 pieces on one tray, not too close for even baking.

6. Baked in preheated oven 180C for 5 mins and rest to cool down (about 10 mins) before egg wash mooncake with a soft brush and bake for another 10 mins at 175C (I use 170C).

7. Remove mooncakes from oven and brush some glaze on mooncake. Leave mooncakes to cool and store in airtight container.

Kitchen note: Egg wash - one egg yolk + 1 tbsp water mix well and pass through a sieve. Add little egg yellow coloring and mix well.

Recipe from: Anncoo Journal

Wishing everyone Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

祝大家中秋节快乐！

One Bite Crisp 一口酥

Happy 2012! A late new year greeting to all of you.

There's a lack of motivation to complete my writing in my drafts lately. Looking at the way I start, I guess this year will be a slow blogging year for me.

CNY is so early this year. There is only 2 weeks left and I have not planned baking any cookies yet (except for my cashew nut cookies, which is a must every year).

I have made something last year that is very suitable for cny baking. So shall share it with all of you first. I saw this from Qi Qi in the house, and made this immediately because of the same reason... the leftover lotus paste from mooncake making. It is still stuffed in the freezer and I am ordered to clear the space for CNY. :)

After baking it, it was like discovering another treasure out of the so many recipes in the blogosphere. I describe them on my FB as 小巧可爱，一口一口，停不了口的一口酥, which I loosely translate into English as One Bite Crisp. You can just pop one into your mouth and I guarantee you that you won't stop at one!

It was a little sweet with lotus paste, but I think it will taste great with pineapple paste filling for CNY. :)

One Bite Crisp 一口酥

Ingredients (I made 60 pieces)

Pastry:
100g unsalted butter
55g icing sugar
40g egg
145g cake flour
40g ground almond

Filling:
350g lotus paste (or any paste you like)

Topping:
1 egg yolk, for glazing
some black sesame (I use white sesame)

Method

1. Whisk butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy.
2. Gradually add in egg, whisk until combined.
3. Mix sifted cake flour with ground almond. Add into egg mixture and combine to form dough.
4. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill for 1 hour.

5. Divide the filling into 5 portions, 70g each. Roll each into a long strip of 20-25cm.
6. Divide the pastry dough (in step 4) into 5 portions, ~70g each. Roll each dough into a long strip of 20-25cm, flatten, put the filling in the centre. Wrap and seal well.
7. Roll the wrapped dough slightly to make sure the long strip is of even thickness.
8. Cut the long strip evenly into 2cm portions. (Mine smaller, I cut each into 12 pieces)
9. Brush egg yolk on top 2 times and sprinkle some sesame seeds.
10. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 10-15 minutes till nice golden brown.

Recipe from: 美味糕点新主张 and Qi Qi in the house

Aspiring Bakers #11: Mocha Oreo Snowskin Mooncake

My third snowskin mooncake. I immediately bookmark it when I saw this recipe from the book I borrowed. There are 2 types of lotus paste wrapped within the snowskin. The inner filling is lotus paste mixed with oreo cookies and chocolate. The outer filling is lotus paste. The snowskin is coffee flavoured. Quite a nice combination. :)

From the mooncakes posts during the last 2 weeks, I notice that most of the snowskin mooncakes are made using the rub-in method. I use this method for this Mocha Oreo and Mango snowskin mooncakes. My Banana snowskin mooncakes uses another method by mixing icing sugar, shortening and water first, adding flour last. I get a better texture using the mixing method. I wonder if I overhandle the dough when using the rub-in method. So I'm not concluding anything here. I need more practice. :)

I still have some kao fen and lotus paste left, so I will be doing more mooncakes after mid-autumn. I still want to try Shanghai mooncakes. But not too soon cos our house is overloaded with other store-bought mooncakes too. My new jelly mooncakes moulds are also not used yet. Too short time this year!

Mocha Oreo Snowskin Mooncake
(original recipe, please adjust the recipe according to your mould size and batch size)
skin : filling = 1:2,
if you are using 63g mould, skin = 21g, filling = 42g
if you are making 10 mooncakes, skin = 210g, filling = 420g
adjust the recipe proportionately)

Ingredients

Snowskin:
100g kao fen (cooked glutinous rice flour) 糕粉
60g icing sugar
30g shortening
50g fresh cream
1 tsp instant coffee powder
120g water
1/2 tsp coffee emulco

Filling:
(A) 30g x 5
120g lotus paste
4 pcs Oreo cookies, cream removed and crushed cookies into powder form
20g cooking chocolate

(B) 70g x 5
350g lotus paste

Method

1. Snowskin: Sift kao fen and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Rub in shortening. Dissolve coffee powder in water. Gradually add this coffee mixture, cream, and coffee emulco into the flour mixture. Knead lightly till a soft dough forms. Set aside for 30 minutes. Divide the dough skin equally, roll round.

2. Filling (A): Double-boil cooking chocolate until melted, mix in cookies, then add in lotus paste and mix evenly. Divide filling (A) equally. Divide filling (B) equally. Wrap (A) with (B) - chocolate oreo inside. Roll round.

3. Flatten a piece of snowskin, wrap in filling, roll round, then pat some cooked glutinous rice flour.

4. Press it into mould, unmould and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe adapted from: Mooncake Selections 52 月饼精选 52

Wishing everyone Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

祝大家中秋节快乐！

I am submitting this Mocha Oreo Snowskin Mooncake to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011), hosted by Happy Home Baking.

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Decide the theme for Aspiring Bakers #12 here.

Aspiring Bakers #11: Mango Snowskin Mooncake

My second snowskin mooncake. Used this recipe and trying to make a mango version using just mango juice, and without adding mango essence and colouring. In the end, it turned out quite tasteless and the colour was very faint. There goes the saying 厉害就好，不要假厉害. :)

Recipe adapted from: Amanda's Blog

I am submitting this Mango Snowskin Mooncake to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011), hosted by Happy Home Baking.

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Decide the theme for Aspiring Bakers #12 here.

Aspiring Bakers #11: Banana Snowskin Mooncake

Here's my first snowskin mooncake. I have long wanted to make mooncakes, not just for Aspiring Bakers. I bought the moulds 2 years ago. This time I'm not going to procrastinate anymore.

As baked mooncakes are proved to be too challenging for me. I start with snowskin mooncakes first - Banana Snowskin Mooncake wrap with Lotus Paste.

I particularly like these 2 moulds with the words “莲蓉” and “中秋”. So I will be using them for the rest of my mooncakes. :)

I read from books that the golden ratio of skin is to filling is 1:2. Which means the weight of the skin is 1/3 of the weight of the mould size you are using.

I'm quite satisfied with this snowskin recipe. The skin is very soft even when straight out of the fridge. I tried one piece every day. It stays soft for 3 days, but starts to turn a little bit hard on 4th day onwards, storing in an airtight container.

Banana Snowskin Mooncake
(original recipe, please adjust the recipe according to your mould size and batch size)
skin : filling = 1:2,
if you are using 63g mould, skin = 21g, filling = 42g
if you are making 10 mooncakes, skin = 210g, filling = 420g
adjust the recipe proportionately)

Ingredients

Snowskin:
300g icing sugar
20g shortening
1/4 tsp banana essence
150g boiled cool water *
110g kao fen (cooked glutinous rice flour) 糕粉

* Boil 2 pieces of pandan leaf with 200g water until fragrant.
Leave to cool, take 150g for use)

Filling:
1400g lotus paste

Method

1. Snowskin: Knead icing sugar, shortening, banana essence and some water until shortening melts, then add in remaining water, knead evenly. Lastly add in all cooked glutinous rice flour and knead evenly. Set aside for 30 minutes. Divide the dough skin equally, roll round.

2. Filling: Divide the lotus paste equally, roll round.

3. Flatten a piece of snowskin, wrap in filling, roll round, then pat some cooked glutinous rice flour.

4. Press it into mould, unmould and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe adapted from: Moonlit Mid-Autumn Festival 月盈中秋 by Choong Su Yin

I am submitting this Banana Snowskin Mooncake to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011), hosted by Happy Home Baking.

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Decide the theme for Aspiring Bakers #12 here.