Monday 12 September 2011

Mid-Autumn Fest

Just like all the fellow Aspiring Bakers out there, I spent the past few days on a mooncake making marathon!


I have initially planned to make 2 batches of traditional baked mooncakes and another 2 batches of snowskin ones. Just nice to use up most of the lotus paste I bought.


My first batch of snowskin mooncakes....matcha green tea snowskin mooncakes with red bean paste, and,


....Coffee snowskin mooncakes with tiramisu lotus paste.


The matcha snowskin is made by simply mixing matcha powder with water, as for the coffee flavour, I used 3-in-1 coffee ;)


Last Friday, I did not know what has gotten into me, after sending our elder son to school for his project discussion, I made a last minute decision to swing by Kwong Cheong Thye. My better half didn't mind making a detour as he is always eager to be able to do something for me ;)

I gave myself just a few minutes to shop as I had asked him to park at the roadside to wait for me. It was the first time I stepped into this shop and immediately I regretted not coming here instead of going to the usual baking supply stores to get the first batch of mooncake filling. Besides the necessary ingredients for making mooncakes, the shop offers a wider varieties of mooncake fillings. The best thing is, there are also half-kg packs. I first grabbed the low sugar white lotus paste (the thing that drove me to this shop in the first place), then the durian ones...but when I saw the mango flavour, I dropped the durian paste, and went on to pick up another cranberry paste ;)


Here are the new flavours I made...Cranberry snowskin mooncakes with cranberry paste and Mango snowskin mooncakes. I used only fruit juices to make the snowskin, ie, cranberry juice and mango juice respectively. I didn't add any food colouring, so the colour was a bit on the pale side.


Of the two, we prefer the mango paste, it is softer and has a nice mango flavour to it, whereas the cranberry one is a bit bland, the only plus point is, it comes with bits of cranberries. The pastes doesn't taste overly sweet, they pair of quite well with the snowskin since I used a recipe that calls for less sugar than most recipes that I have came across. However, the mango paste is quite soft compared to the lotus paste and the cranberry ones. Even though I kept it in the fridge after shaping them into small rounds, it was quite difficult to wrap the snowskin dough over it. I used the leftovers for baked mooncakes, it is just slightly easier.

So, all in all, I made 7 batches of mooncakes this year, a whopping 87 moonies! Luckily, they are all mini ones and my boys could eat them the whole day! I shudder at the thought of how many pounds I will be piling on, but I do have this attitude of 'eat first, die later', haha!


 
We will be spending the night eating more mooncakes over pu-er tea (great for busting the extra fat) and enjoying the sweet juicy pomelo (not so easy to get sweet ones) and probably some yams to round up the night.

I wish all of you who celebrate this occasion, a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节快乐!




I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) which I am hosting :

Mini Snowskin Mooncakes
Ingredients:
(makes 12 mini mooncakes)

75g cooked glutinous rice flour
50g icing sugar
25g shortening,
90ml cold water

360g white lotus paste

Method:
  1. Sieve together cooked glutinous rice flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Rub the shortening into the flour mixture with fingertips until a crumbly mixture forms. Add cold water to the mixture and knead for a couple of minutes to form a soft dough. Do not over work the dough.
  2. Leave dough in the fridge for about 15 mins. (You may skip this step.)
  3. At the mean time, divide the lotus paste into 30g portions and shape into balls. (Note: I used a ratio of 40% dough to 60% filling for my 50g mooncake mould.)
  4. When ready, divide snowskin dough into 20g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball. For each dough, place it on palm and flatten with fingers to form a round dough about 5cm in diameter. Wrap the dough skin around the filling and shape it into a ball. Seal the seams.
  5. Dust mooncake moulds (diameter 4cm, for 50g mooncake) with some cooked glutinous rice flour. Place the wrapped dough into the mould and press the mooncake out. Make sure the surface of the dough in contact with the patterned-face of the mould is smooth. Store mooncakes in fridge for up to 1 week. Leave it under room temperature for about 15mins for the skin to soften before serving.

Variations:
* Matcha flavour - replace cold water with: mix 1 teaspoon of matcha powder with 90ml of hot water. Leave to cool and then chill in fridge for at least 30mins before using.
**Coffee flavour - replace cold water with: mix 1 satchel of 3-in-1 powder powder (about 20g) with 90ml of hot water. Leave to cool and then chill in fridge for at least 30mins before using.
*** Cranberry flavour - replace cold water with same amount of cranberry juice.
*** Mango flavour - replace cold water with same amount of mango juice.

80 comments:

shirley@kokken69 said...

Very pretty mooncakes, HHB. Here's wishing you a happy mooncake festival!

ann low said...

祝你中秋节快乐!Pretty moonies :)

Edith said...

中秋节快乐!

hanushi said...

I am spoilt for choice by your variety of mooncakes... :) 

Kwong Cheong Thye is a mooncake-baker paradise! Just to let you know, they sell 1/2 kg when nearer to Mid-Autumn Festival, so if you go too early before Mid-Autumn Festival, you have to get 1 kg.

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

You also very rajin making mooncakes ya. 祝你中秋节快乐!

Hearty Bakes said...

Beautiful moon cakes galore! So many different flavors and colours to choose.
Wishing you a happy mid-autumn festival!

Happy Flour said...

祝妳及家人中秋节快乐. :)

happybowl said...

these look vry apprealing to the eyes..

The Experimental Cook said...

Happy mid autumn festival ! Your moon cakes are awesome .

Small Small Baker said...

Haha! I also made my first trip to KCT to get the 1/2 kg packets. I'm surprised to find many products besides mooncake stuffs. And my mum was very happy to get her vegetarian supplies there. Will visit there more often.

So many flavours! Send some mooncakes to me. Happy mid-autumn festival! :)

Aunty Liew said...

祝中秋节快乐!

Passionate About Baking said...

Very beautifully made moonies! Wishing you a happy 中秋节!

Elaine said...

Pretty Mooncakes. Love the print on the mooncakes... May i know where d u get that mould?

Anonymous said...

HHB,
祝你中秋节快乐 ^_^

Janine said...

love all the wonderful colors of moon cakes you have made! I'm definitely dropping by KCT soon - you have got me interested in what they sell there!

Happy Homebaker said...

dear all, thanks for all your kind comments!

hanushi, thanks for the info! I will know when to visit the shop next year :)

SSB, will visit the place again too, I didn't have time to check out the other cooking ingredients and sauces.

Elaine, I bought it from Elyn of http://shopnbake.wordpress.com/

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Love the colors! And the filling looks very good too. :) Happy Mid Autumn Festival!

Cosy Bake said...

The moon cakes are so pretty! The sweet pastel colors make them looks extra dainty. Happy mid autumn festival!

Jeannie said...

Your mooncakes look so gorgeous! too beautiful to eat:D

Alice said...

Hi HHB, very pretty mooncakes :)
i'd like to try the coffee and mango pls :)
feel like visiting KCT too now - thks for the info :)
Happy Mid Autumn Festival to u :)

Charenn29 said...

i love mooncakes.

sherlyn said...

The colours looked so lovely. Thou you said the cranberry one is pale in colour, I find that it looks very nice. I don't think I have the time to try your skin recipe and the book recipe together. The one I source use alot of sugar. :-(

中秋節快樂。

sherlyn said...

oh, thanks for sharing the shop too. I did not know about this shop at all.

PX said...

Hello! May i ask you what electric oven model are you using, where to get it. And, ermm, what is the temperature range of it? THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! :DD

Gloria Baker said...

Your mooncakes look beautiful!!

Zoe said...

They are very pretty. You are always a genius with such beautiful cooking creations.

Sorry that I missed out linking my mooncake piggies post (last week) for the Aspiring Bakers #11. Can I still submit this post for the event?

Happy Homebaker said...

Sherlyn, next time you should visit the shop, it is very near to the mrt station.

PX, I bought my new oven this year, it is a Bosch HBN331E2J. You can read about it here: http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2010/11/is-it-b-b-or.html

Hi Zoe, you can still submit your entries before end of Sept.

EE said...

Hi HHB, do u mind to share with us how do u made the mango and cranberry paste?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi EE, as mentioned in my post, I bought the paste from Kwong Cheong Thye.

createwithmom said...

colourful cakes hope you can join the food palette series rainbow colours on torviewtoronto
regards

Becky said...

Hi HHB, thanks for sharing the place to get the ready made paste, next year I shall attempt to make snowskin mooncakes, love your moonies! Hope you had a happy mid autumn festival.

Jennifer said...

Hi HBB,

Not sure you've seen my post? Can I join Aspiring baker #11? But my mooncakes are not so nice *blush*...

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Jennifer, no worries, as long as you post your recipe, you can submit it for the AB event. Sharing our experiences with one another is more important than how well our bakes look.

Patsy Lim said...

Hi HHB,

May I know where is the shop, KCT located? Would like to visit the shop. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Patsy

ice pandora said...

Hi hi could you please tell me how to make
cooked glutinous rice flour?
I do have the rice flour but I am not sure about cooked ones..
Thanks anyway!

xx http://icepandora.blogspot.com

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Ice Pandora, sorry, I do not know how to cook the glutinous rice flour...the glutinous rice flour I bought is already cooked.

ice pandora said...

Aww thanks anyway, could you please
tell me how the package looks like? And what brand it is? Thanks again! :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Ice Pandora, I got it from local baking supply store, Phoon Huat, their house brand, 'Redman'.

Anonymous said...

hi HHB, lovely mooncakes you have there! i love your blog! can i ask if i do not have shortening is there anything that i can use to replace that in the ingredients list? eileen

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi eileen, I don't think you can replace the shortening...you can get shortening readily from baking supply stores.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your kind reply. I guess I have to make a trip to the store to get the shortening then. Can't wait to try your recipe. Just another question, do you think it is alright if I cut down in the amount of icing sugar? Would it affect the texture of the moon cakes? Or the sugar is purely for taste purposes? I am asking because my family would prefer the moonies to be as non-sweet as possible. Am thinking of reducing the sugar to be half of what the recipe calls for. Thank you so much for answering my queries. It really helps a lot for a first time baker like me. TIA! Eileen

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Eileen, the skin is actually not that sweet, it is the filling that is sweet though, especially if you get ready made ones. Last year, I bought ready made low sugar lotus paste from 广祥泰, Kwong Cheong Thye, I would recommend that you take a trip down (I assume you are a local?). I also think (may not be correct) that the amount of icing sugar used in this recipe is relatively lower than most recipes, ie comparing sugar to flour ratio. If it is still a concern, maybe you can test the snowskin before wrapping with the filling. If it is too sweet, u can make another batch with less icing sugar although I really do not know whether it will have any effect. I am not suggesting that you should waste ingredients, but it is relatively cheap to make the skin. Hope this helps :)

Anonymous said...

That is a great suggestion, HHB! thanks! much more confident now and shall embark on my first mooncake baking / making attempt. hope it all turns out well! many thanks :) eileen

Anonymous said...

hi where did u get ur flower mould?
also instead of matcha powder could i use instant tea bag, just make a hot drink with in then chill

Anonymous said...

if i want do strawberry flavor , i just add strawberry milk too?
ur snowskin is so nice. i still cant master the texture. i use premix

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I bought the mould online from a fellow blogger a few years back. No, the matcha version won't work with instant tea bag. You won't get the matcha flavour.

Hi, you can use strawberry milk, but the colour will be a little pale. I used cranberry juice for the pink ones shown in the photos here.

JoJo said...

Where did you get these moon cakes mould they are pretty.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi JoJo, I bought it from a fellow blogger, http://esjoie.wordpress.com/

Risanna said...

Hi HBB,

Personally I think the snow skin you made is so pretty and natural!

Is the taste of juice on the skin strong? I want to use juice as coloring but do not wish to have strong taste on the skin as I am not using mango paste. Using durian paste bought from KCT.

Thanks! ^-^

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Risanna, thanks for your compliments :):)
The juice is not strong at all, can't really taste it, I used it merely for the colour. I bought lotus paste from KCT too!

christine said...

Hi, i only have glutinous rice flour and i don't think its cooked. How do i cook it? I have read that you steam it, but for how long and do i add water to it when i steam it? thanks!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi christine, I am sorry, I do not know how to cook the glutinous rice flour...i got the cooked glutinous rice flour from local baking supply store.

Anonymous said...

Hello, is it necessary to store the mooncake in the fridge for a week before eating or can we eat it straight away? :)

Happy Homebaker said...

For snowskin mooncakes u can eat it right away, it can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.

vionmickey said...

Hi HHB,

Can i know where got buy ur 50g mould?
Or do you have recipe for 75g mould?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi vionmickey, I bought the mould online from a fellow blogger a few years back. I do not have a recipe for 75g mould.

Baking Scientist said...

Hi HHB, just want to drop a note to tell u that your mooncakes look so pretty! thanks for sharing :)
I think this year I will try making snowskin mooncakes, traditional ones look too difficult for me :p

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Baking Scientist, snowskin mooncakes is a good start, but I am sure you will be able to venture into baking the traditional ones very soon. They are not as difficult especially with ready made fillings :)

Unknown said...

Hi HHB, have been following your blog for a long time. I tried years after years, but my snowskin mooncake still fail.

Bought the flour from Phoon Huat (tried both the kou fien and premix), but always have a very awful smell from the flour itself.

Hope to get some of your advices, very disappointed with my result this year as well :(

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, You didn't mention why your snowskin mooncake fail or how you went about it. I assume you are only having issue with the flour? I bought the cooked glutinous rice flour from phoon huat too. So far we are able to accept the smell...in fact my kids associate this unique 'flour smell' with snowskin mooncakes. How about the texture of the snowskin? Do you like it?

Baking Scientist said...

Hello HHB, I tried making snowskin mooncake today using another recipe: http://amandalwh.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/snow-skin-lotus-paste-mooncake/ and substituted shortening with veg oil, as I read from another blog that it can be done. My dough was a bit oily, taste wise, there is a slight "flour" smell. I think perhaps this is what "Unknown" meant. Maybe we are not used to this kind of flour :p

Baking Scientist said...

Paiseh, just to share my experience :) traditional mooncake is near impossible for me right now. Thanks for your continuous inspiration! :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Baking Scientist thanks for sharing your experience! Why pai seh? Don't need to feel pai seh ;) btw, nothing is impossible, once you are ready, nothing will stop you from trying :):)

Unknown said...

Hihi, thanks for your reply. Mmm, the skin was not sticky and lumpy at times, sometimes like muahchi instead. Think i overdone it.

Got to think of ways to cover the smell of the flour:)

Baking Scientist said...

Hi HHB, tks for listening to me :D Btw, I did a small batch of snowskin mooncakes yesterday using another recipe, I will share it soon. I used olive oil as I don't want to use shortening..

Eleen said...

Hi, I would like to know where you got your mooncake moulds? I've tried several provision shops and I couldn't find them. Thanks.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Eleen, I got mine from here:
http://shopnbake.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/mooncake-moulds-order-open-2/

Eleen said...

Noted. Thanks! :)

Anonymous said...

How do you store the leftover paste if you wish to continue making some other day?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I kept it in the fridge.

Anonymous said...

When you bring out from the fridge, I realise there are so much oil. Especially the white lotus paste.

Unknown said...

Can I use the "dough" function of the breadmaker to knead the snow skin dough? I am not good at kneading dough by hand. Please advise, thanks.

Unknown said...

did you use the lotus paste as it was from the pack, or did you add oil and kneaded it? I wasn't sure if adding oil was needed to give it that shiny texture?

Happy Homebaker said...

It is not necessary to use the bread machine, knead by hand will do.

Happy Homebaker said...

No I didn't add oil to the paste.

Mima's Oven said...

How did u get the impressions o n the mooncake to be very clear n deep? Mine didnt come out that clear. I am using the same kind of plunger as u n it's the mini ones...

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, you need to press the plunger down hard to get the clear impression. Try use as much force as you can, hope this helps.

Mima's Oven said...

I did until the dough cones out from the bottom, lol! thanks anyway. i'll try again...

gladys said...

Hi! I tried the recipe. However, my dough is oily and hard to flatten it with a roller. Not sure if I am on the right track. I am using crisco shortening and not sure if it affects the dough.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi gladys, not sure what went wrong and I am not able to comment as I did not use crisco shortening.