Pandan Snow Skin Mooncakes

Last year around this time, I made the traditional mooncakes.  If you never heard of the Mid-Autumn Festival (aka Moon Festival), a brief introduction is on that page.

I spent a month in Hong Kong this summer and ordered a customized mooncake mold which engraved with my blog’s name “Gin’s Kitchen”.  So I’m very excited to use it for the very first time today.

As you can see from my posts, I am a big fan of Christine Ho.  I like a lot of her recipes, including this Pandan Snow Skin Mooncake recipe.  Happy Moon Festival!!

Ingredients: (makes 10 mooncakes with a 75g mold)

55g 45g 25g 60g 190 ml 30ml 25ml 40ml 3 drops 2 TbspMung bean filling

Glutinous rice flour Rice flour Wheat starch Caster sugar Non-fat milk Condensed milk Vegetable Oil Pandan juice Pandan paste Cooked glutinous rice flour (for coating)Pls see Christine’s recipe here

Directions:

(I’m using a 75g mold and the ratio for filling and dough is 2:3)

1. To make the pandan juice, steam the frozen pandan leaves for about 10 minutes in a steamer, then cut leaves into small pieces and blend with a food processer.  (picture 1)
2. Use a cheesecloth to squeeze out the pandan juice.  (picture 2)
3. Combine all types of flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, mix milk, condensed milk, pandan juice and oil together and pour into the flour mixture. Mix until there is no lump. Pass through a fine sieve to have the finest texture. (picture 3)
5. Steam the batter in a steamer over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes. Remove from the steamer and let it cool. Lightly knead dough by hand and until smooth. (picture 4)
6. Cut dough into 10 portions, about 45g each.  Mung bean filling should be 35g each, roll each into a round shape.  (pictures 5 and 6)
7. Wrap each filling ball with a dough and shape it into a ball.  (picture 7)
8. Lightly dust the mooncake ball and dust the mooncake mould with cooked glutinous rice flour, shake off excess four from the mold. Place the mooncake ball in the mold and press to print the pattern. Repeat this step for the rest of the dough and fillings.  (pictures 8 and 9)
9. Refrigerate overnight.

The flour help remove the mooncake from the mold easily.  You don’t need to worry about the excess flour (see picture below) as you can use a clean brush to brush it off.

Mooncakes

MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL is also know as Moon Festival because at that time of the year the moon is at its roundest and brightest.  Mid Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar.  It is the second biggest festival after The Lunar New Year in China.  During this Festival, people give family, friends and colleagues mooncakes.  The treats are traditionally filled with an egg yolk embraced by lotus seed, red bean or five varieties of nuts and seeds.  My favorite one is the lotus paste.   The stories behind mooncakes are quite interesting too —- besides the legend of “Chang’E Flying to the Moon 嫦娥奔月”, the most well-known one is “Wu Gang Chopping Laurel Tree on the moon”.

I was a little late making mooncakes this year.  I was supposed to make them two days before the festival as the mooncakes normally need to rest for 2 days to get the best texture.   These cakes are high in calories, sugar and preservatives, so I decided to make them myself to have a healthier version.  Although it was quit a lot of work to make the lotus paste (took almost an hour to stir the paste in the pan), using the mooncake press/mold was quite fun.  The paste should be made one day ahead of time and keept in the fridge.

I gathered several mooncake recipes together and tested them out to make my own.  Lotus paste recipe coutesy of Amanda.   The golden syrup recipe coutesy of Christine Ho.

HOW TO MAKE LOTUS PASTE:

Ingredients:

200g 120g 100ml 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp 1/8 tsp

Lotus Seeds Sugar Grape Seed Oil/Olive Oil Honey Condense Milk Salt

Directions:

1. Soak Lotus Seeds in water for 30 mins.
2. Make sure to remove the green bitter tasting germ inside the seeds (if any) and discard any seeds in dark brown color, drain water.  Pour new water into a pot to cover all lotus seeds and bring to a boil, turn down fire and simmer until tender.  (picture 1)
3. Discard water but save ½ cup.  Transfer lotus seeds into a food processor, add ½ cup of the water from the pot and grind into a smooth paste.  Pass through a fine sieve if you want the finest texture.  (picture 2)
4. Heat up a non-stick pan, melt half the sugar until it turns brown in color. (picture 3)
5. Add in blended lotus seeds, remaining sugar, salt and 1/2 of oil.  After the paste soaks up all the oil, add the remaining oil.  Stirring all the time until the lotus seed paste gets thickened.  (picture 4)
6. Stir in honey and condense milk. (picture 5)
7. Continue stirring till paste leaves the side of the pan.  (picture 6)
8. Keep in the fridge overnight before using it.

HOW TO MAKE MOONCAKES:

Ingredients:

100g       All purpose flour
70g         Golden Syrup
2ml         Alkaline water
25ml       Grape seed oil

Filings:

500g       Lotus Paste (see recipe above)
6             Salted Egg Yolks
1 Tbsp   Rose-flavoured cooking wine (玫瑰露酒)
1             Egg (for egg wash)

Directions:

(I’m using a 63g mold and the dough/filling ratio is 3:7, you can also work with the 2:8 ratio)

1. Mix salted egg yolks with wine.  Wipe dry the yolks with kitchen paper after a few minutes.  Cut each into two halves. Set aside.
2. Place golden syrup in a bowl. Add in alkaline water, stir to combine. Add in oil and mix well.
3. Add flour in to the syrup mixture and combine well. Gently knead the dough till smooth (takes 1~2 mins). Shape it into a round ball and wrap with cling wrap.  Leave it in the fridge to rest for at least 2 hours or overnight.
4. Before making mooncakes, bring the dough to room temperature for 30 mins.  Divide dough into 12 equal portions, each weighs 19g (based on a 63g mold and the dough/filling ratio 3:7).  Roll each portion into a ball shape.  Divide lotus paste into 12 equal portions as well, each weighs 39g, the salted egg yolks are roughly 5g each half.  (Picture 1)
5. Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare the egg wash by whisking the egg, sift through a fine sieve.
6. Take a lotus paste ball and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Place egg yolk inside.  (Picture 2).
7. Flatten each dough into a small disc with a rolling pin.  (Picture 3)
8. Wrap it around the filling and shape it into a ball. (Pictures 4 and 5)
9. Lightly dust the wrapped dough with some flour.  Place it in the mooncake mold.  (Picture 6) and press the mooncake out (Picture 7).  Place mooncake on a baking tray line with parchment paper. (Picture 8)
10. Spray some water on the mooncakes. (Note: this step prevents the mooncake from cracking during baking.)
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 mins.  Remove from oven and leave to cool for 15mins (this step helps stabilizing the pattern on top).
12. After 15 minutes, brush the top with very little egg wash (too much egg wash, the pattern will disappear after baking).  Return to oven and continue to bake for another 6 mins. (Picture 9)
13. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes, brush the 2^nd layer of egg wash (very little egg wash) and return to oven and continue to bake for another 6 mins or until golden brown.  Since every oven works differently, please check and make sure the mooncakes are not over browned).
14. Leave mooncakes to cool completely and store in air tight containers. Wait for 2 days before serving, the skin will become soft and shiny, called “回油” in Chinese.

It is best to enjoy these with a cup of hot Chinese tea!