Shanghai Mooncakes

I put my mooncake making on hold for a while so that my family members will not be overwhelmed with eating too many mooncakes. I know that the Mid-Autumn Festival is over, so bear with me meanwhile. :)

With the remaining of the lotus paste, I finally get to try this long-overdue Shanghai Mooncakes recipe that I have been bookmarking since last year. These buttery and crumbly pastries are so addictive that I left no crumbs lying around. :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking.

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

Shanghai Mooncakes
Adapted from: Jane's Corner

Ingredients (Makes 4)
20 g icing sugar
6 g egg, lightly beaten
40 g butter, cubed
60 g plain flour
10 g custard powder
Some black sesame seeds / pumpkin seeds / melon seeds, for sprinkling

Filling
130 g lotus paste

Method
1. Filling: Divide into 4 portions of 32.5 g each. Shape round and set aside.
2. Sift plain flour and custard powder together. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, sift icing sugar and add in egg and butter. Beat well till well-combined.
4. Add in the flour mixture slowly and knead into a soft dough. Divide into 4 portions of around 35 g.
5. Flatten a piece of dough into a round shape and wrap in a filling. Seal the edges to form into a ball.
6. Place the sealed ends facing downwards on a baking tray. Brush egg wash on the surface and sprinkle with some black sesame seeds / pumpkin seeds / melon seeds on top.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Notes
- I replaced custard powder with 10 g corn flour and few drops of vanilla essence.
- For egg wash, I used the remaining beaten egg and applied a second egg wash 10 minutes into baking.

Cheesy Shanghai Mooncakes

These Cheesy Shanghai Mooncakes are so popular and well-raved that I certainly don't want to give it a miss this year! :)

What makes this mooncake special is its rich buttery, melt-in-the-mouth texture and the addition of Parmesan cheese powder gives it a slightly salty taste, which goes perfectly well with the lightly sweet lotus paste. :)

Wishing all readers and blogger friends a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! :)

Thanks to 鲸鱼蓝蓝小窝居 for sharing the recipe and Nasi Lemak Lover for translating the recipe to English. :)

Cheesy Shanghai Mooncakes
Adapted from: 鲸鱼蓝蓝小窝居 and Nasi Lemak Lover

Ingredients (Makes 6)
60 g Planta margarine
20 g castor sugar
2 1/4 tsp evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp Parmesan cheese powder
1 1/2 tsp corn flour
90 g cake flour
Some Parmesan cheese powder / melon seeds, for topping

Filling
180 g lotus paste

Method
1. Filling: Divide into 6 portions of around 30 g each. Shape round and set aside.
2. Beat margarine, sugar and milk till creamy.
3. Add in cheese powder, corn flour and cake flour, combine to form a soft dough.
4. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 20 – 30 minutes.
5. Knead the dough to smooth. Divide the dough into 6 portions of 30 g each. Shape round and set aside.
6. Flatten a piece of dough with your palm and wrap in a filling. Seal the edges to form into a ball.
7. Place the mooncakes on a lined baking tray. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and leave it to cool slightly. Lightly brush the surface with egg wash and decorate the top with cheese powder or melon seeds. Continue to bake at 180°C for 10 - 15 minutes.
9. Leave to cool and store in an airtight container.

Notes
- I replaced margarine with butter, evaporated milk with fresh milk.
- I used a lightly beaten egg as egg wash and brushed with egg wash 15 minutes into baking.

Matcha Swirl Mooncakes

Using the same way as Teochew mooncakes to wrap the doughs, this series of matcha flaky mooncakes are layered with beautiful swirls. As compared to the Green Tea Flaky Mooncakes, these mooncakes have a slightly stronger matcha flavour, attributing from the matcha powder! :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking.

I am also submitting this to {Event} Natural Colour Bakes hosted by Hankerie.

Matcha Swirl Mooncakes
Adapted from: 爱和自由

Ingredients (Makes 8)
Water Dough
75.5 g plain flour
9 g Icing sugar
28.5 g shortening
31 g cold water

Oil Dough
61.5 g cake flour
2.5 g matcha powder
32 g shortening

Filling
280 g red bean paste

Method
1. Filling: Divide into 8 portions of around 35 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 smooth dough. Cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. Divide into 4 portions of around 36 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. Divide into 4 portions of around 24 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. Roll up the dough in a swiss roll style. Rest for 15 minutes.
6. Turn the dough 90 degrees with the end facing up. Roll out the dough into an elongated shape. Roll up the dough in a swiss roll style. Rest for 20 minutes.
7. Cut the dough into halves to get 8 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 180°C for 30 minutes.

Notes
- When wrapping the filling into the dough, try not to 'tug/pull' too hard, otherwise the layers will tear.
- It is better to flatten the dough into a larger round shape so it is easier to pinch to seal the edges.
- For the oil dough, I used plain flour instead of cake flour.
- I replaced red bean paste with ready store-bought green tea lotus paste (low sugar) filling.

Green Tea Flaky Mooncakes

I transformed the Red Bean Flaky Mooncakes recipe that I used last year to green tea flavoured by using store-bought green tea lotus paste (low sugar) filling. Without egg glaze, these mooncakes appear like little snowballs from afar. Ooh, I love the flaky crust to every bit! :)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking.

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

Green Tea Flaky Mooncakes
Adapted from: Jane's Corner

Ingredients (Makes 8)
Water Dough
90 g plain flour
5 g icing sugar
30 g shortening
45 g water

Oil Dough
70 g plain flour
35 g shortening

Filling
240 g green tea lotus paste

Glazing
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, for egg wash
Some white / black sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Method
1. Filling: Divide into 8 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 8 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 8 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
- After wrapping the water dough and oil dough together and swiss-rolled twice, the dough was pressed in the centre using the thumb and all the 4 sides were pinched together and rolled into a ball. The dough was then flattened into a round shape and wrapped with a filling.
- I did not apply egg wash and omitted the sesame seeds for topping.

Matcha Snowskin Mooncakes

My mind is a total blank when it comes to remembering details: I can't remember where I kept the snowskin mooncake recipe that I used last year!

So I end up randomly grab a recipe and perform trial-and-error as I go along. My first few batches of the snowskin mooncakes are not satisfactory as the skin dough get torn most of the times when wrapping in the filling.

Finally, the matcha snowskin mooncakes turn out to be the most decent and presentable. Hurray!

It is going to be Mid-Autumn Festival soon. Wishing all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance! :)

Winter Plum Blossom Flower Flaky Mooncakes

Winter Plum Blossom Flower Flaky Mooncakes
Adapted from: Y3K My Secret Recipes Series Vol. 11 – Mooncakes by Alan Ooi

Ingredients (Makes 4)
Water Dough
53 g plain flour
5 g icing sugar
20 g shortening
27 ml water

Oil Dough
50 g plain flour
30 g shortening

Filling
200 g lotus paste
50 g chestnuts

Egg Wash
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Method
1. Filling: Toast the chestnuts at 120°C for 10 - 15 minutes. Set aside to cool and chop into small bits. Combine the chopped chestnuts and lotus paste. Divide into 4 portions of around 62.5 g each. Shape round and set aside.
2. Water Dough: Combine flour, icing sugar and shortening together. Add in water and knead into a soft dough. Roll it into a long strip and cut into 4 portions of around 26 g each.
3. Oil Dough: Combine plain flour and shortening together and knead into a soft dough. Roll into a long strip and cut into 4 portions of around 20 g each.

Assembling:
4. Flatten a piece of water dough and wrap in an oil dough. Shape round and roll up like a swiss roll. Repeat the process of flattening and rolling up once again.
5. Flatten the dough and wrap in a filling. Shape round, flatten and cut into a winter plum blossom shape. Make a depression in the centre with your thumb.
6. Arrange the mooncakes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 – 25 minutes.

Notes
- For egg wash, I used 1 egg, lightly beaten.
- I applied a second egg wash 15 minutes into baking.

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.

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.

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! :)