Friday, August 29, 2014

snowskin mooncakes

I have to confess. I have never made mooncakes before this.

But I have seen so many people make these snowskin mooncakes and they are so pretty!

So this year, I thought I'd give it a shot and try making some. In the worst-case senario, if they turn out to be really ugly, I could always eat them myself. :P

I am happy to report, however, that I did succeed in making really pretty mooncakes and that in fact, they are really easy to make!
With Pu-er and Oolong filling
I was over the moon! No more paying crazy sums of money for mooncakes and l can make loads to give away to friends and family!

If you are interested in making mooncakes, I will show you how.

To start, I boiled 2 litres of water with a bunch of pandan leaves. I made more because this can be kept in the fridge for a few days which meant that I didn't have to repeat this step (or wait) when I want to make more mooncakes.
I measured the kao fen (cooked glutinous rice flour) and snowskin flour into a large bowl. Using a whisk, I mixed them.
I placed the (pandan) water, vegetable shortening and icing sugar into a saucepan and brought it to a boil, whisking all the while until the shortening had melted.
This was taken off the heat, and poured into the flour. Using a spatula, I stirred until the flour and liquid had come together.
This was left to cool.

In the meantime, I measured the filling and rolled each portion into a ball.

I used ready-made filling - there is nothing I hate more than endless stirring.

Once the dough was cool enough to work with, I kneaded it until it was smooth then I divided it into 3 portions. Into each portion I added food colouring (go easy on the colour!) and kneaded until the colour was uniform.

This is how I like to knead the dough.

I pushed the dough away from me. Then I folded the dough 1/3 of the way towards me, and made another 1/3 fold. Then I turn it 90 degrees and repeated until I got a uniformly coloured dough.
I divided the dough into the required portions and shaped each into a ball. I flattened each ball and rolled it into a round disc.

The filling was placed in the middle of the dough and the edges were pinched to seal.
I placed this into the mould and pushed then viola! out popped a mooncake!
To be honest, I really wanted to get some wooden moulds. When it comes to traditional foods like mooncakes, I much prefer the old way of making them.

However, since it was the first time I was making mooncakes, I felt that the plastic plunger moulds would work better because they are much easier to use.

When I went to the shop to buy supplies to make mooncakes, I told the (very nice) aunty at the shop that I wanted to buy only a few essentials. In the event that I was unable to make mooncakes of an acceptable standard, then perhaps I would lose interest and not try again.

She laughed and told me she was sure that I would be back at the shop to buy more supplies.
With low-sugar lotus filling
You know what?

She was right! :)

I loved the entire mooncake making process and I love the end products - so yes! I shall be making a lot more mooncakes in the days to come!
With low-sugar green tea filling
A CELEBRATORY GIVEAWAY!
To celebrate winning The Best Cooking Blog at in this year's Singapore Blog Awards, I am giving away a set of Philips Jaime Oliver Stick Blender. Set includes hand blender, chopper and whisk.

"The new Philips Jamie Oliver hand blender features a strong 650W motor with a simple "on / off" button as well as a turbo button, ensuring that busy families can enjoy fresh, healthy food every night of the week. The compact chopper stands sturdy on any kitchen counter and is useful when chopping smaller quantities of onions, herbs or cheese. Homemade pesto and salsas are also really simple to make and add a completely fresh touch to your meals. It also includes a whisk that attaches easily to your hand blender top. It is useful when preparing fluffy whipped cream and homemade mayonnaise. The innovative ProMix technology represents the ultimate in speed and efficacy, to deliver only the finest and evenly cut results. The 1.0L beaker with lid keeps smoothies and batters fresh and is really useful when preparing homemade sauces, pancake batters or smoothies with your hand blender. If you don't finish the batch in one go, pop on the lid and keep it in the fridge for later. It couldn't be easier!" 

To take part in the giveaway, simply click on the icon below!

RECIPE
Snowskin Mooncakes (Makes 29-30 Mini Mooncakes)
Adapted from Anncoojournal.com

Note: I doubled the portions to make 58 mooncakes.

Ingredients:
50g kao fen (cooked glutinous rice flour)
230g snowskin flour - I used Kwong Cheong Thye Pinpe Premix Powder
50g icing sugar, sifted
46g vegetable shortening - I used Crisco
300g water (boil 500g water with 4 pandan leaves, leave to cool, and measure 300g water)
Some extra kao fen for dusting

Method:
1. Combine kao fen and snowskin flour in a big bowl and set aside.
2. In a pot, add the icing sugar and shortening to the water and stirring with a hand whisk, bring this to a boil until the shortening had melted.
3. Pour this mixture into the bowl containing flour and use a spatula to stir the mixture until a soft dough forms. Set this aside to cool. Form the filling into balls of 25g each. Set this aside.
4. Once the dough is cool, knead the dough until it becomes smooth.  Add more kao fen if the dough is still too sticky.
5. Add food colouring if you are using. You may want to divide the dough into portions if you are using different colours.  Place the colour in the middle of the dough and knead until the colour is uniform.
6. Divide the dough (21g each). Flatten each portion and roll into a round disc. Place one portion of filling in the middle of each piece of dough. Pinch edges to seal.
7. Dust the ball with a little kao fen and press it firmly into the mould.
8. Chill the mooncakes before consuming.

I'm linking this post to the Best Recipes For Everyone August Event : Moon Cake
Hosted By Fion
 


21 comments:

  1. Hi Domestic Goddess Wannabe

    Agree with you that moocakes are easy to make and cheaper. Nowadays, buying mooncakes is like buying gold and silver!

    You should also try the bake version. I do not possess any wooden molds, however, this year again, I used Anncoo Journal Piggy moonies featured last year in her blog and gave the cute piggies away. Receivers were so enlightened and they could not stop snapping photos because of the piggy eyes sparking at them.

    I saw similar piggy mooncakes at Peony Jade booth at Vivo City which sold at somewhere like S$45 per set of four. I was told by the sales staff that the piggies sold out very fast because of the limited supply each day. The eyes of the piggies are smaller. I think the smaller eyes better which are closer to the real pig eyes (pig got small eyes). Hence, instead of using black beans as featured in Anncoo Journal recipe, use smaller red bean instead.

    Blessings
    Priscilla Poh

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  2. Diana, You did it! Your mooncakes look very pretty and I love the pastel colour :D Awesome!!!

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    1. Thanks Ann!! I read your recipe many times before I started. Love the results! :)

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  3. Your friends must be happy to receive these beautiful mooncakes made by you :)

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  4. Hi Diana,
    These are so lovely. I bet they are yummy too.
    If you didn't mention we wouldn't know this is your first time making snow skin Mooncake.
    mui

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    1. Hey Doreen, I did read the recipe many times before I started and I was lucky because it really was a great recipe!

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  5. Diana! Now you have got me wanting to make mooncakes! I was never motivated before hmmm.... But the mooncake festival is just around the corner and there is not much time for me. Next year, eh? And eh, I love your nails LOL!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Phong Hong, thank you so much! My nails are my one vanity hehe. So next year I shall be looking out for your mooncakes!

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  6. You did it very well for 1st time,i still remember my 1st time very lousy ...hahaha
    Pretty color too
    Thank for support my Best recipes event,Diana^^

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  7. A very successful attempt, Diana. Your snow skin moon cake are so pretty!

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  8. Hi Diana, you must have spent alot on the supplies for mooncakes ? I have yet to buy any moulds to make mooncakes. Yours lovely !

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    1. Hi Karen actually I didn't spend a lot. I only bought 3 mould and filling and some flour. And some boxes. Not too bad!

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  9. Where can I buy the filling and the mould? Can share the price as well?

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    1. Hi I got all my mooncake supplies from Kwong Cheong Thye at Aljunied - you can google for the address! Unfortunately, I bought other items as well so I cannot remember how much it was. :)

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  10. Hi Diana,

    Really look nice n yummy.
    Kindly advise where can I buy kao fen/cooked glutinous rice flour?

    Really interested to try n make some.

    Thanks,
    Margaret

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    Replies
    1. Hi Margaret! Thank you! I got all my mooncake supplies from Kwong Cheong Thye at Aljunied - you can google for the address! :)

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