Mooncake Made Easy

By Editorial Team, 

Snow skin mooncake is not only delicious but simple to make as it needs no baking and requires few ingredients.

Mooncakes are often expensive due to their exclusivity. So this season, why not try your hand at making your own mooncakes? The best part is that they only require several ingredients and a few hours of your time to make! Less than 10 ingredients are needed to make snow skin mooncakes, and no baking is required. Served chilled, they have a powdered or “snowy” appearance that make them look delicate, not to mention delicious!

INGREDIENTS
100g roasted glutinous rice flour
90g icing sugar
30g shortening
150ml cold water

FILLING OF YOUR CHOICE
Choose from lotus paste, red bean, matcha, and more, many of which are readily available at most supermarkets. Food colouring or flavour drops like green tea, rose, and vanilla are other options to consider.


 

MAKING THE DOUGH
In a mixing bowl, sift the roasted glutinous rice flour and icing sugar. Rub the shortening into the flour mixture until the consistency looks like coarse bread crumbs. Mix in the cold water one tablespoon at a time, and if you want, you can add food colouring or flavouring. Knead the dough until it becomes soft. Put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to let it rest.

DIVIDE DOUGH AND FILLING
Based on the size of the mooncake moulds, divide the dough and the filling. The proper ratio is one part dough to two parts filling.

FORMING THE MOONCAKE
Make a thin circle out of the ball of snow skin. Put the filling ball in the middle of the dough, and then cover the filling with more dough. Place the ball with the seam facing up in the floured mould (sprinkle the mould with roasted glutinous rice flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the mould) and gently press it in. Turn it over and put it on something flat. Press down hard on the mooncake mould’s lever so that the shape of a mooncake is made, and the faceplate makes an imprint. Then squeeze the mould to open it up and take out your mooncake. Do this with the rest of the dough. Put in the fridge for six hours before serving.
• To reduce the sugar level of the snow skin mooncake, use fruits or dried fruits as the filling. You can also add nuts or seeds to increase fibre and nutrient content.
• Snow skin mooncakes are best eaten the day they are made. If you have leftovers, keep them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge. They will keep for about three days. You can also freeze them for up to two weeks.

MOONCAKE BITES
• Mooncakes are seasonal and are normally available one month before the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar (or sometime from September to October).
• In Chinese culture, the full moon is associated with prosperity. The round shape of mooncakes is a symbol of family unity.