expatdiva: Moon Cake 1.

When entering at the local baking ingredient shop last month, the only thing I have in mind was to purchase the usual wholemeal flour for the routine bread making. And what a commotion in the shop! Never have I seen so many customers at one time..That morning, the shop was jam packed with ladies, all were literally busy talking, inquiring and purchasing (including the premixed) ingredients and molds of making DIY, the Moon Cake.

I have bought two wooden Moon Cake molds from a Chinatown many years ago and they have been sitting in the pantry for years which I thought, so far I have only used it once.

I like the old fashion wood work mould, a bit of a nostalgic, bring back some sweet childhood memories..But apparently, not only such Moon Cake wooden block is still very popular, there are others available which are made in plastic.

I have used the round shape mould

To enrich your ideas about Moon Cake Festival, please take a look at the following links :

What is Moon Cake Festival?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake

All kind of Moon Cakes
https://www.google.com.my/search?q=moon+cake&sa=N&rlz=1C1ASUT_enMY503MY511&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=zGcoUr6uCMnZrQfT7YH4BQ&ved=0CCgQsAQ4Cg&biw=1366&bih=667

MoonCake Moulds
https://www.google.com.my/search?q=moon+cake&sa=N&rlz=1C1ASUT_enMY503MY511&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=zGcoUr6uCMnZrQfT7YH4BQ&ved=0CCgQsAQ4Cg&biw=1366&bih=667

How could I just stood there, queuing for my turn at the cashier, with all the commotion around me. The noise and the excitement of the DIY baking Moon Cake was unbelievable!! OK, wait a minute, let me check it out. I was being carried away and it was true, there are SO many new DIY ready made products on the shelves..I was indeed getting inspired by the atmosphere of DIY Moon Cake around me..Not only have I bought the wholemeal flour, but, I, too, have decided to get some of the DIY stuffs like lotus paste, red bean paste and a new version named Tiramisu Coffee Paste; the flour and the alkaline water..

Obtained this recipe from Moon Cake, by Chef Khoo See Yew, One Publisher. No. 19, 3rd Print. Page 45. This recipe book is available in the local book stores.

The book is filled with any delectable Moon Cake recipes, but I have chosen this recipe because it looks familiar.

Having not really eaten or tasted any Moon Cake for some years, I thought I knew how it tasted by the look of the lotus and the red bean pastes; no doubts, I am going to give it a try!

Going through the recipe, it looked quite daunting especially for the beginners. There are many steps to be taken into considerations. Please read the recipe, make sure you have understood. Thank goodness that this recipe book has good explanations as well as a lot colorful illustrations. Hope they helped.. Otherwise you need to attend a demo baking class to ease the curiosity.

Prior baking this, you make sure you have all the ingredients and tools, the most vital part when making any dessert, is to follow the recipe. Please DO NOT change the recipe unless you have tried making it several times. For example the sweetness; you may change it by reducing the amount of sugar..The major changes of the amount of ingredients in a dessert recipe may effect its texture and its flavor.

All the ingredients were bought from the local baking store. Pardon me I have made a slide changes and were in the Italic writtings.

Single Egg Yolk Lotus Paste Moon Cake

Ingredients:

300 gm low protein flour

250 gm sugar syrup

70 gm peanut oil

1/2 tablespoon alkaline water

1/8 piece lime juice of a whole lime

Method:

1) Mix the sugar syrup, peanut oil, alkaline water and the lime juice together. Rub it well.

2). Slowly pour in the flour and knead into a fine dough. Leave to rest for about 3-4 hours.

Filling:

130 gm lotus seed paste X 8 nos

1 whole salted egg (single) I used duck salted egg
A few melon seeds (toasted melon seeds, I added 30 gm)

Egg for brushing (2 egg yolks + 1 whole egg)

Method:

1. Mix the lotus seed paste with the toasted melon seeds.

2. Divide the dough into 40 gm each.

3. Roll the lotus seed paste into round ball and tighten, which weighs about 130 gm each and if you add in the salted egg, the weight must also be the same whether it is single yolk. Flatten the moon cake dough and wrap with lotus seed paste.

4. Place the moon cake into the mould, press even and knock it out.

5. Spread some water onto the moon cake and bake in the oven under the temperature 180 Celsuis for about 10 minutes or until it is slightly brown in colour. Remove.