月饼锦集 Mooncakes

【Cantonese-style Mooncakes】
by MaomaoMom

Mooncake is a Chinese traditional dessert for celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. The full moon symbolizes harmony and reunion of the family. There are two major styles of mooncakes: Cantonese- and Suzhou-style. This recipe is Cantonese-style, known for its beautiful shape with clear and exquisite pattern on crust. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept. 19.

Prepare time: 2.5 hours
Cook time: 25 minutes
Stand time: 2~3 days
Level: High
Serves: 17 servings

Ingredients:

Syrup (or Golden syrup):
1) 4 cups sugar (800 g), 1¼ cup water (290g), 2 large lemons cut into cubes, 2 tbsp white vinegar;
2) ¼ tsp baking soda, 2 tsp water, mix well;

Mung bean filling:
3) 1 package of split mung bean husked (400g);
4) 1¼ ~1 ½ cups sugar (260~312g), 3 tbsp corn starch, 4 tbsp condensed milk, ½~2/3 cup corn oil (105~130g);

Crust:
5) 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp water;
6) 2/3 cup syrup, 1/4 cup corn oil (53g);
7) 1.5 cup all-purpose flour (235g);

Egg wash:
8) 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp water, mix well.

Directions:

Syrup:
1: Add all ingredients of Ingredient 1) in a medium sauce pot; bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to low, simmer until temperature reaches 226F/108C then remove from heat. Slowly stir in soda water of Ingredient 2). Set aside to cool then filter out lemon pieces. Store the syrup in a clean glass container for 2 weeks before use.
Mung bean filling:
2: Rinse mung bean and place inside InstantPot pressure cooker. Add water to 4-cup mark. Cover the lid and place the pressure valve to “Seal” position. Press “Manual” button and set 25 minutes of cooking time. When it’s done, wait 5 minutes and then release the pressure and open the lid (Picture 1).

3: Transfer cooked mung bean to a non-stick pot. Add all ingredients of Ingredient 4) (Picture 2), stir and cook until mung bean filling sticks together and no water vapor is produced (Picture 3). Let it cool. Knead on a clean surface for a few minutes, then divide into 17 equal portions (80g each). Form into balls (Picture 4) with your palms.

Crust:
4: Combine all ingredients of Ingredient 5) in a container and mix well. Stir in 2/3 cup syrup (Picture 5, syrup that I made last year) and 1/4 cup corn oil of Ingredient 6), mix well. Add 1.5 cups flour and combine all ingredients with a fork to form very soft and sticky dough (Picture 6). Cover with plastic wrap and let it stand for 30-60 minutes.

Mooncakes:
5: In a floured surface, shape dough into a 1.5 cm log and divide into 20 equal portions (22g each). Roll out each portion into a circle about 6 cm in diameter; place a mung bean filling ball (Picture 7) on top. With both hands, gently push up the dough to cover the mung bean ball (Picture 8). Lightly dust the mooncake with flour, place it in the mooncake mold. Press down and release the handler (Picture 9); the mooncake is formed (Picture 10). Repeat for the remaining portions.

6: Preheat oven to 395F/200C, place 8-9 pieces on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 6 minute and gently brush with egg wash. Reduce to 340F/170 and bake for 7 minutes. Brush with egg wash again, bake for another 5 minutes. Broil low for 2-5 minutes until the surface turns golden brown. Store cooled mooncakes in an airtight container for a couple of days before serving.

Beautiful mooncake:

Cross-section:

Tips: Leftover can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Prior to serving, thaw at the room temperature. You can purchase mooncake mold here: Mooncake mold

SuZhou-style mooncake with meat filling 榨菜鲜肉月饼	【绿茶绿豆椪】	【Puff pastry cake with egg custard filling奶黄酥饼】
【Puff pastry mooncake with nuts filling】-【苏式椒盐月饼】	【紫薯广式月饼】	【绿豆椪】
【豆沙黑芝麻馅广式月饼】	【酥皮鲜肉月饼】	绿茶豆沙冰皮月饼

You might also like: