Teochew Yam Mooncakes

Only this year then did I realise that there are so many variations or types of mooncakes that I never know their existences. Among all, Teochew Spiral (Thousand Layers Flaky) Mooncakes fascinates me the most. I told myself, I must try making them this year.

Most of the Teochew Yam Mooncakes that I came across are made using the Visible Layering – Spiral (Escargot) shaping (圓酥).

I learnt from Corner Café that there is another way of shaping the dough and the technique is known as Visible Layering – Parallel shaping 直酥. It is done in the same way as the above, except that when you cut the dough into halves to reveal the cross-section, you cut horizontally (lengthways). With the "experimental" mindset, I made some using the Visible Layering – Parallel shaping 直酥.

The layers for the baked end-products are indeed very fragile and flaky. Secure yourselves with a plate or serviette when you are eating this. Haha... With this, I hereby declare that my mooncake making frenzy for this year has finally concluded.

Thanks to Jane's Corner for sharing the recipe and Anncoo Journal for the detailed step-by-step pictures. :)

Teochew Yam Mooncakes
Adapted from: Jane's Corner and Anncoo Journal

Ingredients (Makes 6)
Water Dough
100 g plain flour
5 g icing sugar
35 g shortening
45 g water

Oil Dough
80 g plain flour
40 g shortening
1/4 tsp yam paste

Filling
180 g yam paste filling

Method
1. Filling: Divide into 6 portions of 30 g each. Shape round and set aside.
2. Water Dough: Mix plain flour, icing sugar and shortening together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in water and knead for 5 – 6 minutes into a soft dough. Cling wrap and let it rest for 40 – 45 minutes. Divide into 3 portions of around 60 g each and shape round.
3. Oil Dough: Mix plain flour, shortening and yam paste together and knead into a dough (Do not over-knead). Cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. Chill in the fridge. Divide into 3 portions of around 40 g each and shape round.

Assembling:
4. Flatten a piece of water dough and wrap in an oil dough. Pinch to seal edges.
5. With the sealed ends facing up, lightly flatten the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an elongated shape around 15 cm long. Roll up the dough in a swiss roll style. Rest for 10 minutes.
6. Turn the dough 90 degrees with the end facing up. Roll out the dough into an elongated shape around 20 cm long. Roll up the dough in a swiss roll style. Rest for 20 minutes.
7. Cut the dough into halves to get 6 portions in total.
8. Lightly flatten the dough. With the cut side facing down, roll out dough into a round shape with the edges thinner than the centre. Wrap in the filling and pinch to seal the edges.
9. Place the sealed ends facing downwards on a lined baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 25 minutes.

Yam Jelly Mooncakes

I know Mid-Autumn Festival is over, but I still have some yam paste filling in my fridge. I used some of the yam paste filling for this set of jelly mooncakes. This time round, I chilled for more than 5 hours before I unmolded them. But there is one important step which I forgot to follow, that is to scratch the surfaces before I added in the next layer of agar-agar mixture. I only realised it when I was cutting and the filling almost fell off. Another thing is the mock egg yolks were slightly off-centred, resulting in some of the quarters did not have its share of egg yolk! Hehe...

Thanks to 巧思空間 for sharing the recipe. :)

Yam Jelly Mooncakes
Adapted from: 巧思空間

Ingredients
Mock Egg Yolks (Makes 20 egg yolks)
I used the Red Bean Paste Jelly Mooncakes recipe.

Filling (Makes 4 fillings)
3/4 tsp agar-agar powder
20 g sugar
50 ml evaporated milk / coconut milk
100 ml water
Pinch of salt
1 piece of pandan leaf, knotted

Pastry (Makes 4 pastries)
1 1/2 tsp agar-agar powder
50 g sugar
125 ml evaporated milk / coconut milk
225 ml water
Pinch of salt
80 g yam puree, steamed
Few drops of yam paste

Method
Mock Egg Yolks:
Step 1 to 4, I used the Red Bean Paste Jelly Mooncakes recipe.

Filling:
5. Put all ingredients in a pot and bring it to a boil.
6. Remove from heat and discard the pandan leaves.
7. Pour the mixture into a small mould and place a mock egg yolk in the centre of the mould. Leave it to set and chill in the fridge.
8. Remove from mould and use a fork to scratch on the surface of the filling.

Pastry:
9. Mix agar-agar powder, sugar and salt together. Add in evaporated milk (or coconut milk), water and yam puree. Bring it to a boil over low heat.
10. Remove from heat and stir in the yam paste.

Assembling the agar-agar mooncake:
11. Pour the pastry mixture into the jelly mooncake mould to about ¼ full. Leave it to half-set.
12. Place a filling in the centre of the mould and fill up the mould with the pastry mixture. Leave it to set and chill in the fridge.
13. Loosen the sides of the agar-agar mooncake. Invert the mould and gently press the agar-agar out of the mould.

Notes
- Scratching the surface of the filling will allow it to stick onto the pastry.

Matcha Chiffon Cake

I have failed many times at chiffon cake making and my cake often appears short. The problem is that I do not really know when to stop beating the egg whites, only to realise that I have overbeaten them when they become coarse and grainy.

This matcha chiffon cake is the best risen chiffon cake I did so far. Although the top is badly cracked, I am impressed with the height. It stands tall and has a very "chiffon" feel when I am eating it. :)

Matcha Chiffon Cake
Adapted from: 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手 by 福田淳子

Ingredients (Makes a 20-cm tube cake. The ingredients for the 17-cm are in red.)
5 large egg yolks (3)
130 g granulated sugar (80 g)
80 ml vegetable oil (50 ml)
95 ml water (60 ml)
130 g cake flour (80 g)
15 g matcha powder (10 g)
7 large egg whites (4)

Method
1. Combine the cake flour and matcha powder together and sift twice. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, lightly beat egg yolks. Add in 1/3 of the sugar and whisk using a hand whisk.
3. Add oil in separate additions and mix well. Add in water and continue to mix using a hand whisk.
4. Add in flour mixture and whisk until flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter and the batter is smooth and glossy.
5. In a clean dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric beater until frothy and foamy. Add the remaining sugar in 2 additions and beat until soft peaks form.
6. Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to the egg yolk batter using a hand whisk and mix well.
7. Add in the remaining of the egg whites to the batter and fold gently using a spatula until fully incorporated.
8. Pour the batter from a height at one go into the ungreased pan. Tap the pan lightly on a table top with both hands to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes (for 17-cm pan) or 40 minutes (for 20-cm pan) or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
10. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let it cool completely before unmold.

Notes
- The egg yolk batter in this recipe is slightly thicker and stiffer than normal chiffon egg yolk batter.

Red Bean Paste Jelly Mooncakes

Aren't the jelly mooncakes pretty? I made two batches of this. For the first batch of jelly mooncakes, I did not do a very good job when it comes to unmolding, causing some of them to fall apart. The second lot were much better, probably because I made sure that I scratched the surfaces well before I added in the next layer of agar-agar mixture and chilled for a longer time before unmolding. The steps and ingredients for jelly mooncakes are quite simple. Patience is the key when it comes to making jelly mooncakes, something which I think I need to work on. Haha...

Thanks to Happy Flour for sharing the recipe and detailed instructions. :)

Red Bean Paste Jelly Mooncakes
Adapted from: Happy Flour

Ingredients
Mock Egg Yolks (Makes 20 egg yolks)
200 g water
40 g sugar
1 tsp agar-agar powder
1 tbsp evaporated milk
Few drops of orange food colouring

Filling (Makes 8 fillings)
200 g water
40 g sugar
1 1/4 tsp agar-agar powder
100 g red bean paste
50 g coconut milk

Pastry (Makes 4 pastries)
300 g water
60 g sugar
2 tsp agar-agar powder
2 pieces of pandan leaves
100 g coconut milk
Few drops of red food colouring

Method
Mock Egg Yolks:
1. Boil water, sugar and agar-agar powder together until sugar and agar-agar powder are dissolved.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the milk and colouring.
3. Pour the mixture into an ice-cube mould. Leave it to set and chill in the fridge.
4. Remove from mould.

Filling:
5. Boil water, sugar and agar-agar powder together until sugar and agar-agar powder are dissolved.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut milk and red bean paste until well combined. Return to fire and bring to a boil.
7. Pour the mixture into a small mould and place a mock egg yolk in the centre of the mould. Leave it to set and chill in the fridge.
8. Remove from mould and use a fork to scratch on the surface of the filling.

Pastry:
9. Boil water, pandan leaves, sugar and agar-agar powder together until sugar and agar-agar powder are dissolved.
10. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut milk. Return to fire and bring to a quick boil.
11. Pour ¼ of the mixture into a small bowl and stir in the red colouring. Leave the rest of the mixture plain.

Assembling the agar-agar mooncake:
12. Pour the red pastry mixture into the jelly mooncake mould to about ¼ full. Leave it to half-set.
13. Place a filling in the centre of the mould and fill up the mould with the plain pastry mixture. Leave it to set and chill in the fridge.
14. Loosen the sides of the agar-agar mooncake. Invert the mould and gently press the agar-agar out of the mould.

Notes
- Scratching the surface of the filling will allow it to stick onto the pastry.

Red Bean Flaky Mooncakes

I reserved some red bean paste filling for these Red Bean Flaky Mooncakes that caught my attention at Jane's Corner. As this is my first time making such Chinese pastries, I dare not make too many pieces. After playing with snowskin mooncakes, I am no longer so fearful about wrapping the dough and filling. I may be wrong, but I feel that this dough is much more firmer and easier to work with than the snowskin dough. As the red bean paste filling is on the soft side, I shaped them and left them in the fridge until I am ready to wrap the fillings into the dough.

While the pastries are baking in the oven, I can smell the house filled with the lovely pastry aroma. I waited impatiently for them to cool and immediately help myself with one before I start to take the photo of the others. I love its melt-in-your-mouth feeling. Awesome! :)

Thanks to Jane's Corner for sharing the recipe. :)

Red Bean Flaky Mooncakes
Adapted from: Jane's Corner

Ingredients (Makes 4)
Water Dough
45 g plain flour
4 g icing sugar
15 g shortening
22 g water

Oil Dough
32 g plain flour
16 g shortening

Filling
120 g red bean paste

Glazing
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp water, for egg wash
Some white / black sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Method
1. Filling: Divide into 4 portions of 30 g each. Shape round and set aside.
2. Water Dough: Mix plain flour, icing sugar and shortening together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in water and knead into a soft dough. Cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. Divide into 4 portions of around 20 g each.
3. Oil Dough: Mix plain flour and shortening together and knead into a dough (Do not over-knead). Cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. Divide into 4 portions of around 12 g each.

Assembling:
4. Flatten a piece of water dough and wrap in an oil dough. Seal the edges to form into a ball.
5. With the heel of your palm, gently press the dough down to flatten it lightly. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an elongated shape around 15 cm long. Roll up the dough in a swiss roll style. Rest for 15 minutes.
6. Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll out the dough into an elongated shape around 20 cm long. Roll up the dough in a swiss roll style. Rest for 15 minutes.
7. Flatten the dough into a round shape and wrap in the filling. Seal the edges and place the sealed ends facing downwards on a baking tray.
8. Brush egg wash on the surface and sprinkle with sesame seeds on top.
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Notes
- I applied a second egg wash 15 minutes into baking.
- I omitted the sesame seeds for topping.

Indonesia Yam Cake

I have some yam that have been lying in my fridge for quite a while, which I would love to make into yam paste dessert (more popularly known as "Or Nee"). That has always been one of my favourite desserts. However, my family is not very fond of the dessert and discourages me against it. Well, no choice, I have to source for other recipes before the poor yam ends up rotting. Haha...

I stumble across this Indonesia Yam Cake recipe in a book which features many interesting kuehs. The finished product appears shorter in height than I have expected. I cut into around 12 bite-sized pieces and chilled them before serving. It was refreshingly addictive and before long, the kueh was all gone, which is something that any chef or baker is pleased to see. :)

Indonesia Yam Cake
Adapted from Kueh Flavour by Wong Kim Meng

Ingredients (Makes a 8-inch round)
200 ml coconut milk
200 ml water
130 g sugar
150 g yam, steamed
40 g mung bean flour (Hoon Kueh powder)
25 g rice flour
15 g corn flour
Some grated coconut, for garnishing
Few drops of yam paste

Method
1. Sift mung bean flour, rice flour and corn flour together. Set aside.
2. Mix coconut milk, water and yam paste together.
3. Add sugar and steamed yam and blend using a blender till well combined.
4. Add in flour mixture. Mix well using a hand whisk.
5. Place the mixture over a double boiler on low heat and stir continuously until it is cooked into batter.
6. Pour batter into a greased 8-inch round steaming tin. Steam over high heat for 25 minutes.
7. Garnish with grated coconut. Steam again for 3 minutes. Serve.

Notes
- Grated coconut was omitted.
- Can consider using a smaller pan.

Snowskin Mooncakes

I must confess, I have never dreamt of making my own mooncakes before. After all, there are so many choices (yes, we are spoilt for choices) available for the consumers during the Mid-Autumn festival period. So, what makes this year different that I decide to make my own mooncakes?

Well, before the arrival of 8th lunar month, many bloggers have started on their mooncake making. I was completed captivated by their lovely photos and this sparked my interest!

Personally, I prefer snowskin mooncakes than the traditional baked ones. It is really easy to make snowskin mooncakes. The ingredients are mainly koh fun (cooked glutinous flour), icing sugar, shortening, cold water, colouring / essence and fillings of your choice.

My first attempt was durian snowskin mooncakes with store-bought filling paste. It received positive and encouraging responses from my family. I continued to explore with dual-coloured mooncake skin with other fillings. :)

The mid-autumn festival is just round the corner. Waste no time and have a try on making your own snowskin mooncakes too! :)

Ahoy and welcome onboard!

A warm welcome to all for visiting my humble blog. I am pleased to announce that I finally have my own blog!!!

I am touched by the warmth and generous sharing on tips, experiences and recipes that I have learnt from the bloggers whose blogs I visit and drool on a regular basis. It motivates me to have my own little space where I can share and learn with everyone.

Meanwhile, stay tuned and hope to see you again! :)