Sunday 31 August 2014

Traditional Mooncakes (廣式月餅)


Hi

I was contemplating whether should I post this as I was rather disappointed with the appearance of these mini mooncakes.  You know what?  I could hardly see the design on the surface of the mooncakes when they were out from the oven.  Not only that, the skin was hard, dry and crack too! L    
But I was so surprised that the mooncakes has transformed "miraculously" after 3 days!  The recipe mentioned it will turn soft and shiny after the “回油” (literally means “returns oily and soft”).  So I waited 3 days and amazingly, these mooncakes really turned out to be soft, glowing and look “a bit” nicer now.
So out of about 20 over pieces, I have selected these 4 “good looking” one to form “中秋月饼”.  Can you see that? J
After the “回油”, I don’t feel so disappointed.  I could feel at least a little achievement for making it 1st time.
This mooncake is adapted from Christine Ho’s Recipe

HAPPY MID-AUTUMN BAKING!


INGREDIENTS

100g       Plain flour
60g         Golden syrup (I used Tate & Lyle’s Golden Syrup)
½ tsp       Alkaline water
28g         Vegetable oil

Fillings
420g       Lotus seed puree/paste
6 pcs       Salted egg yolk
1 tbsp      Rose-flavoured cooing wine玫瑰露酒

Egg wash
1 no.        Egg yolk
2 tbsp      Egg white


METHODS

(1)Use a large bowl, mix the golden syrup, alkaline water and oil well. Sift in the flour. Use a spatula to combine all ingredients. Don’t over-stir. Knead into a dough. Cover with a film wrap and rest for 40 minutes.

(2)Mix egg yolks with wine. If the salted egg yolks are homemade and freshly broken from the shells, you’ll see the egg whites would turn opaque after mixing with the wine a few minutes later. Wipe dry the yolks with kitchen paper. Cut each into two halves. Set aside. Roll lotus paste into a long tube. Cut into 12 equal portions, each 35 grams. Roll each portion into a ball shape. Set aside.

(3)Preheat oven to 180C (356F). Prepare the egg wash: whisk the egg yolk with the egg white. Sift through a fine sieve.

(4)Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small ball shape. Cover a dough portion with a plastic film and roll into a thin disc. Then take a lotus paste ball and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Place egg yolk inside. Roll and shape into a ball. Wrap and seal the lotus paste ball with the dough disc. Spray the mooncake mould and place the stuffed mooncake into the mould. Lightly press the mould handle, then remove the mooncake from the mould. Transfer the stuffed mooncake onto a lined baking tray. Repeat this step to finish the remaining dough and lotus paste.


(5)Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Brush the mooncakes with egg wash, at about 5 minutes before removing from the oven. Continue to bake until the pastry turns golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Store in an air-tight container. The pastry will become soft, called “回油literally means ”returns oily and soft’ and shiny in one or two days.

Note from Christine
How important is the alkaline water in this recipe?

(a)It neutralizes the acid in the golden syrup.


(b)It helps to give nice browning on the mooncake pastry. If adding alkaline water too much, the colour will be too dark. If adding not enough, it’s very difficult to brown the mooncake pastry. In this recipe, the amount of alkaline water is very balanced. Please take note that if you use other kind of golden syrup, the amount of alkaline water might need to be adjusted accordingly in order to give a nice browning effect. You might test run with a small amount of dough to see how many alkaline water has to be used properly with your own golden syrup.

(c)In this recipe, you might've noticed that no baking powder is needed. But the mooncake pastry is soft with a bit fluffy texture, that's the effect produced by alkaline water.


I’m submitting this for Cook-Your-Books #15.
Cook-Your-Books is organised and hosted
by Joyce of Kitchen Flavour.



I’m also linking this post to Little Thumbs Up and the theme for August is Flour .  Little Thumbs Up is organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY and for August, it is hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe.



I'm joining Best Recipes for Everyone August 2014 Event Theme: Mooncake hosted by Fion XuanHom's Mom.




10 comments:

  1. Anyway,your moon cakes look very great ,well done!
    Thanks for sharing with best recipes :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. yes, i can see the words 中秋月饼 on the mooncakes..! i guess the hardest part of making these baked traditional mooncake is the waiting period before you can eat them! haha...well done on your first attempt, they look pretty to me!

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  3. Hi Amy,
    Your mooncake looks great! This is one of those bakes that is worth waiting for! You have done a wonderful job seeing that this is your first time making mooncakes. Great with that lovely cup of Chinese tea! Thanks for linking with CYB!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi, do you need to steam or cook the salted egg yolks before wrapping them with lotus paste?
    Tan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No. Mix them with Rose-flavoured cooing wine玫瑰露酒 when removed from the shell.

      Delete
  5. Hi Amy,

    Now, we know!!! We have missed an important step in your recipe!!! And, it is to wait for at least 3 days for the mooncakes to develop the taste and texture! Ai ya!!! We have analyse too much :p

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete
  6. Olá amiga, vim desejar-lhe um abençoado início de mês.
    Doce abraço Marie.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Amy, I also just learnt about the oil thingy. The 4 mooncakes looked really good!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yep the first time I made mooncakes I didn't know I have to wait few days before consuming...I was disappointed with the dry taste when I took my first bite! Now I know we have to wait:D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Olá querida, passei por aqui para agradecer sua doce presença
    no meu cantinho.Obrigada !!!
    Abraços, Marie.

    ReplyDelete