SHANGHAI MOONCAKE

The Muslim have started their fasting on 1/8/2011 which coincides with the 7th Lunar Month. That means that the 8th Lunar Month is just around he corner. It is time for mooncakes.

I had the opportunity once to get some coaching from my cousin, a "sifu" in making mooncakes and selling them every year. But she had prepared everything beforehand and I was told to mix this and that only. So in the end, I have been eating commercial produced mooncakes.

Now I have bookmarked the recipe for Shanghai Mooncakes since last year. So during the weekend, I finally made the effort to try it out and I found that it is not that difficult after all.

Mooncakes making requires precise measurements- from the dough to the paste itself so that you can get a perfect mooncake- one that is "thin skin and filling full". However, I prefer to eat the crust more than the filling itself as I find that the filling can be too sweet and too much calories! So this type of Shanghai Mooncake is just right for me-golden buttery and crumbly crust- yummy.

The pastry dough which is mixture of flour, custard powder, sugar, butter- to a fine breadcrumbs before binding together with eggs.

The cake speciality stores are already stocking up on the various types of lotus paste, pandan paste and red-bean paste. Time saving and convenient to use. Just have to weight them correctly.

Rolled them into balls with some pumpkin seeds for some bite as I did not insert any salted egg yolk here.

Next divide the dough into balls (again weighed them) and rolled out to disc.

Wrap the lotus paste with the dough. Make sure to seal the edges well. Use both palms to roll them into round tall shape.
Bake them in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Brush with egg wash and return to the oven to bake for another 25 minutes or till golden brown.

This is an important step.

The paste is not too sweet and still moist after baking. The crust is crispy at the first bite but it turned crumbly in the mouth.

Enjoy them with a cup of hot fragrant Chinese tea.