Mooncake: Cook-off IV

[Tepee]

Dai Ga Cheh Sue-On has given the mandate to start this cook-off. You guys don't know how pleased I am to see some interested parties already. Sheetz and Trillium and *a secret candidate*, let's make mooncakes! Come one, come all!

Different kinds of Mooncakes

Bing Pei/Snow skin (Unbaked mooncake) - Interesting recipe here and here, here, mine (the simplest)

Cantonese Mooncake

Chue Chai Paeng/Mooncake Cookies - here

# Teochew Spiral Mooncake - here

# Yolk Pastry Mooncake - here

Jelly Mooncake (lots of variations) - here, here, here, scroll down mid-way to Aug 12 entry, article plus recipes

# Shanghai Mooncake - I'll post the recipe below.

# No moulds needed.

Moulds can be purchased online here and here.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I'm exhausted posting all those links. Whew. Feel free to add recipes, ideas, experiences, and post, post, post your mooncake pics.

Shanghai Mooncake Crust

300 g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 T custard powder (I used Bird's)

150g butter

1 egg (weight 70g with shell)

100g icing sugar

The recipe is enough to make 11 mooncakes; 50g crust dough to 100g filling paste which makes a very thin skin before baking, but will show more after baking. When weighing, make allowance for the egg yolk if you intend to add it.

Edited August 24, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[Tepee]

Sheetz, I copied your post from the Mooncake thread here to answer a couple of your questions.

Let's see....you'll be needing a mooncake mould. I've updated my page on Mooncake Moulds Do you have anyone in chinatowns in the US who can get it for you? If not, I'd be happy to shop for one.

They can be purchased online. I'm somewhat intrigued by the moon cookie molds, but I don't know how much filling I could put in them. They would definitely make nice gifts, however.

How much filling? Very little. Not much space in that mould after all.

Do your grocers carry lotus seeds, melon seeds (I reckon it'll be easier for you to get pumpkin seeds which will do), red beans (preferably from Tianjin), maltose, alkaline water?

Lotus seeds? Not likely. Pumpkin seeds? Yep. Red beans? Maybe, but I know I can get the premaid paste in a can. Maltose? Possibly. Alkaline water? Don't think so. However, I think I can buy most, if not all, of these online.

Please note that there is a difference between paste for regular chinese pastries and baos, and mooncake pastes. Mooncake paste is cooked longer and is firmer, has oil added. I doubt if your can-paste is suitable for mooncake. However, there could be a possiblity that you can turn it into a mooncake paste.

Edited August 24, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[SuzySushi]

Count me in! I'm going to fool around with some jelly mooncakes and maybe the snow skin ones if I can find the koh fun -- I've never noticed it in markets near me, but then I've never gone looking for it, either!

I have some nice plastic molds from Malaysia that I bought on eBay last year. They look like an ice cube tray with fancy indentations (several different shapes). I'd gotten them to make plain Jell-O, but now realize they were probably meant for mooncakes!

[Tepee]

Hi Five, Suzy!!

If you can't find Koh Fun (cooked glutinous rice flour), scroll down here for instructions on how to make it from plain glutinous rice flour.

[hzrt8w]

You guys don't know how pleased I am to see some interested parties already. Sheetz and Trillium and *a secret candidate*, let's make mooncakes! Come one, come all!

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Good luck to all of you! Baking is not my thing... I will be applauding and cheering for you guys while munching on my store-bought ones.

And let me know if you need an agent to sell your mooncakes in cyberspace!

[Dejah]

Yeah!!! Looking forward to the results. If Ben Sook hasn't grab the honours already, I want to be the cyber taster!

[sheetz]

I'll check at my local chinese grocer this weekend but I suspect I'll have to order most of the supplies online.

So does anyone know of a single US online source that carries all the necessary molds and ingredients? I don't want to have to order things from 5 different sources because the shipping costs would be too high. I'll need molds, various seeds/beans (lotus seeds, red beans, or any others that would work), and alkaline/lye water.

[Bond Girl]

This chinese chick is in too. But, it's not jong chu yet by the lunar calendar is it?

[Dejah]

This chinese chick is in too.  But, it's not jong chu yet by the lunar calendar is it?

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Julian calendar: Sept. 18th.

[jackal10]

I'm not remotely Asian, but I do like mooncakes. Spurred on by Teepee here is my first attempt at a Shanghai mooncake]

Teepee's recipe for all butter crust. Found some tinned sweetened lotus nut paste in the local Asian supermarket. "Wu Chung" brand from Taiwan. I think its right stuff as it has a picture of a Shanghai mooncake on the tin. Teepee's instructions are 100g of paste to 50g of wrapper.

The egg yolk is a cheat. I could not find preserved duck eggs, so this is a hens egg poached in salty water and a little Madeira standing in for Mirin. A little flour on the hands makes it easy to handle. Here it is half wrapped.

I also tried making some mini ones - 10g wrapper and 7g filling and about 3g of egg yolk. The teaspoon is for size comparison. They are about an inch across.

Here they all are before going into the oven, and after cooking. They cracked a bit.

Passable approximation: big and mini

The mini ones are a great success. I can see all sorts of uses, including petit four. You can eat one or more without the overlaod of a ecen a section of a full size one, and they are much more economical, having 5-7g instead of 100g of filling.

Edited August 24, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[SuzySushi]

Bravo, Jackal10!!! So, how did they taste?

[jackal10]

Like mooncakes...even better warm.

[trillium]

You were looking for salted duck eggs, not pai dan (the black ones), right? If you'd like, you can make salted chicken eggs instead of duck. It takes about a week and with good farm eggs is nearly as tasty as ones from duck. Just make a saturated solution of salt and water and leave your eggs in that for around a week. I like to put a little bit of tea leaves in my saline because the Pau Pau that taught me how to make them told me to, and I do think it makes the yolks oilier like she says.

regards,

trillium

[Tepee]

Awwww....I am so proud of you, Jack!! Your mooncakes look absolutely delicious! And, an excellent how-to! The teeny ones are so cute , a great tip.

Little comments:

1. Before you put them into the oven, roll the balls nice and smooth, then elongate them ever so slightly. Use your palms. Yours look wonderfully rustic, though.

2. Did I tell you that you're not supposed to cut them immediately? Let it rest for half a day at least, cuts better, less crumbly. For traditional cantonese mooncakes, you're to let them rest 3 days, for the oil to seep/distribute into the skin nicely. Yes, I know the torture of waiting... Is that why you made the bite-size ones - so that you can pop them into your mouth warm....mmm...

3. Cracks. Adjust your oven to 10 degrees less the next time.

p/s I'm glad you managed to find the lotus mooncake paste, saves a lot of work. Did you find it too sweet? I use white lotus paste as it's less sweet.

Edited August 25, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[Tepee]

Trillium, thanks for the recipe for making salted eggs. Salted duck eggs cost slightly more than 3 times the cost of a regular unsalted chicken egg.

Edited August 25, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[Dejah]

Trillium, thanks for the recipe for making salted eggs. Salted duck eggs cost slightly more than 3 times the cost of a regular unsalted chicken egg.

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Trillium:

Are you sure it was just one week for the salted eggs?

I make mine whenever double yolk eggs are available. Even with single yolks, it takes 3 weeks in heavy brine before the yolks are firm.

[Tepee]

I said this upthread...

Please note that there is a difference between paste for regular chinese pastries and baos, and mooncake pastes. Mooncake paste is cooked longer and is firmer, has oil added. I doubt if your can-paste is suitable for mooncake. However, there could be a possiblity that you can turn it into a mooncake paste. 

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Ah...now that Jack has managed to find mooncake-paste-in-a-can, my mind can rest easy. I'm nagging, but make sure they specify it's for mooncakes or has a picture of mooncakes on the can .

[jo-mel]

Like mooncakes...even better warm.

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I've always likes mooncakes at room temp -- with tea. Then last year I bought a box of mini ones of various fillings ---- including pineapple. Those were new to me as I'd always eaten the semi sweet cakes. Well, I put them all in the freezer so that I wouldn't pig out. One day I took a pineapple one and nuked it. The filling almost boiled because of all the sugar ------BUT what a flavor!!!! I don't normally have a sweet tooth, and my present diet makes sugar a no-no, but I went right out and bought a box of ALL pineapple, and ate one a week till they were gone -- from the freezer to the m'wave to my mouth. I can hardly wait to get them again this year!

[Dejah]

Like mooncakes...even better warm.

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jackal10:

MMMMMM....they look so good I almost licked my monitor.

Now THAT would raise hubby's eyebrows.

[hzrt8w]

Jack: you made it look so easy! Tempting tempting!!!

[Tepee]

Jack:  you made it look so easy! 

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You certainly did, Jack! I know I can't take photos and make mooncakes at the same time.

[Bond Girl]

Jack, I am inspired! Will try this weekend.

[Dejah]

Jack:  you made it look so easy!    Tempting tempting!!!

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nudge, nudge PUSH! PUSH! Over you go, hzrt8w!

[Laksa]

Thanks Jack, for an amazing demonstration.

I'm sure making mooncakes isn't in actuality as easy as Jack made it look. Remember, Jack's the guy who made shrimp crackers from scratch (!)

[Tepee]

Hz and Sue-On. You're 2 of a kind . Or is it tit for tat, lard for fat....?