Monday 8 September 2014

抹茶芋头酥 matcha green tea flaky mooncakes


Just like the previous years, weeks before the mid-autumn festival, my children started reminding me to make them their favourite snowskin mooncakes. Over the weekend, besides rushing out two batches of snowskin mooncakes to satisfy their cravings, I tried making some flaky yam mooncakes.



It's the first time I tried my hands at making these teochew style yam mooncakes. I followed the step by step instructions from my favourite Chinese blogger, Carol 自在生活, although the mooncakes I made do not look great, they taste really good!



The yam filling which I made from scratch is very fragrant and flavourful...not overly sweet and I like the hint of buttery and milky flavour.



The matcha flavoured pastry crust is not distinct at all but it certainly helps to made these flaky mooncakes look more appealing to the eyes :)






I also tried some with ready made red bead paste as fillings. The red bean paste which I bought from kwong cheong thye never disappoints me. It is not too sweet and the texture is very smooth. It is worth the effort to make a special trip each year to this shop to get my mooncake ingredients.


Here's wishing you a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
花好月圆,福满金秋,中秋节快乐!



Matcha Green Tea Flaky Yam Mooncakes 抹茶芋头酥

Ingredients:
(makes 12)

yam filling:
450g yam (peeled)
70g caster sugar
25g unsalted butter
15g milk powder (omit if not available)

water dough:
200g plain flour
15g icing sugar
70g shortening
100g water

oil dough:
155g plain flour
5g matcha powder
80g shortening


Method:

yam filling:
  • Cut yam into chunks and steam for 15 to 20mins or until soft. Mash finely with a fork while hot. Add in caster sugar, unsalted butter and milk powder(if using), mix well. If desired, add extra sugar and adjust sweetness according to taste. Leave to cool. Divide into 45g portions and shape into rounds and set aside.
water dough:
  • Sieve together flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Rub in shortening with fingertips until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add in the water and mix and knead for about 5 mins to form a soft dough. Cover with cling wrap and leave the dough to rest for 40mins.
oil dough:
  • Sieve plain flour and matcha powder into a mixing bowl. Add shortening and mix with hand to form a soft dough. Do not over knead. (Note: Cover oil dough with cling wrap and keep in fridge till ready to use.)
to assemble:
  1. Divide oil dough into 6 portions (about 40g each), shape into rounds.
  2. Divide water dough into 6 portions (about 65g each), shape into rounds. Flatten water dough and roll to form a disc (about 10cm diameter). With the smooth surface facing out, wrap one portion of the oil dough pinch and seal the seam. Shape into round ball. Repeat with the rest.
  3. For each wrapped dough, flatten and roll out into a thin, longish oval shape. From the shorter end, roll up swiss roll style. Place seam side down and cover with a damp cloth, leave to rest for 10mins. (Refer to the first video demo posted here.)
  4. When ready, repeat the Step 3. Place seam side down and cover with a damp cloth, leave to rest for 20mins. (Refer to the second video demo posted here.)
  5. When ready, cut each rolled up dough into two equal portions. Flatten each dough and roll to form a disc (about 10cm diameter). Wrap one portion of the yam filling, pinch and seal the seam and shape into a round. (Refer to the third video demo posted here.) 
  6. Place seam side down on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the rest.
  7. Bake in preheated oven at 170degC in the middle rack for about 25mins. Leave to cool on cooling rack. Store in air tight container in room temperature up to two days. Reheat in oven till warm before serving as the crust tends to harden upon cooling. Reheating will make the crust flaky and crisp.
Recipe source: adapted from Carol 自在生活

16 comments:

PH said...

Hi HHB! I love flaky skin mooncakes. Your mooncake crust do look flaky just the way I like it! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you and your family!

Happy Homebaker said...

Thanks for the kind words but I didn't do a good job with the spirals ;)

MH said...

Hi HHB!
中秋节快乐!Love the green tea spiral moon cake! Have yet to attempt this spirals moon cake... n jelly moon cakes n Shanghai moon cakes n.... the list go on... :(

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi MH, I have yet to try jelly mooncakes and shanghai mooncakes too...maybe next year?! ;)

Small Small Baker said...

I also haven't tried these flaky mooncakes before. Think I will fail, so never start! And also jelly, shanghai mooncakes, etc. Always next year. Haha!

The Experimental Cook said...

The mooncakes are nicely shaped. I like the color contrast of the red bean and flaky skin.

Kimmy said...

Hi HHB, I made this mooncake too using beetroot but haven't post the recipe. The layers were fine. Yours look good with the layers so visible. Thanks for sharing this recipe in English. I would have a hard time reading it at Carol's blog.

Happy Homebaker said...

It is not that difficult, hope you get to try it next year ;)

Happy Homebaker said...

Before baking the swirls were very pretty (green and white), but everything became green after baking ;p

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Kimmy, look forward to read about your beetroot mooncakes :)

Adrián Solano said...

I've just discovered your blog and already love your stunning sweet creations. I'm spanish and also have a blog. I'd like you to visit it. This is the link: http://dulceriasconsorpresa.blogspot.com.es
There are both savoury and sweet creations.
Read you soon!

Adrián - Dulcerías con Sorpresa

Unknown said...

I always wanted to try a moon cake and I love green tea! cool!

lena said...

hi hhb, they are beautiful! i hv tried making flaky mooncakes before but more to oval shape. Anyway, i would like to try yam filling next time. Thanks and take care!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Lena, I think it should be oval shape which actually resembles those small yams available during the mooncake festival period. Hope you get to make your yam filling next round, it is pretty easy, I am thinking of making it to use as fillings for bao or bread buns :)

Mae said...

Hi can the shortening be ghee?

Do you happen to have woon chai ko recipe too?

Happy Homebaker said...

I am not sure ghee will yield the same result.