Do-it-yourself moon cakes
By Shi Yingying (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-17 09:16
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To celebrate the Mid-autumn Festival, bake some moon cakes, Shi Yingying tells how.
Moon cakes, elaborately decorated small round pastries, are a traditional gift during the Mid-autumn Festival, which falls on Sept 22 this year.
Once considered an expensive delicacy by Chinese, they have become what fruit cake is to those who celebrate Christmas. Often in elaborate packages, this seasonal food is given a gift, but rarely actually consumed in more than minute quantities.
The cakes, shaped like a hockey puck and very dense, are generally filled with thick sweetened pastes of seeds, beans or fruits. But as the range of food available to the Chinese expanded, what was once considered a rare and delectable treat is now considered too sugary and is avoided.
The simple way to have a control over sugar intake is to make them yourself.
"I've figured the ones I made are less sugary and softer than oily moon cakes sold in the stores," said Dong Shuangyan, 25, after her first experience of making Cantonese-style moon cakes at The Kitchen At Cooking Studio. The studio is a catering school that offers cooking classes.
"I would rather make some low-calorie and healthy ones myself for family and friends," she said.
Rather than a trend, homemade moon cakes are more like the return of old traditions for Tang Zhen, who teaches the moon cake class at his studio and is also the executive chef at Dongjiao State Guest Hotel. "Only 10 to 15 years ago, making moon cakes was an important custom of the Mid-autumn Festival," he said.
Unlike the currently popular Suzhou-style moon cakes that have meat inside and are more complicated to make, the sweet Cantonese-style variety involve little effort - just make the crust.
"The inside can be lotus paste, red bean paste or coconut paste, or even a salted duck egg yolk if you like," said chef Tang. The chef said that many good cake fillings are available in food markets and make up 70 to 80 per cent of the cake's weight. "Our job is to make the 30 or 20 per cent that's left."
Start by using 750 grams of low-gluten flour. Gradually add 210g of peanuts, 540g of sugar syrup and 5g of alkaline water to the flour. To create a soft dough that is enough to make 30 moon cake crusts, it is essential to mix the ingredients together slowly for about five minutes.
"The trick is to mix everything gently," said chef Tang. "Remember it doesn't have to be shaggy and sticky because it's not going to ferment later on, we just have to make sure everything is mixed up well."
The next step is more fun. Roll the filling round and press the dough flat. Keep in mind that the weight of the dough and weight of the filling need to be the same. For example, 90g dough will need 90g of filling. Now place it into the traditional moon cake mold, which is made of wood. Molds cost about 60 yuan, personalized molds with special patterns cost 100 yuan to 200 yuan.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured mold and press to fill the mold. The result is a standard moon cake shape with beautiful pattern on the surface. Brush the beaten egg yolk evenly on the patterned side and bake the moon cakes in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Don't be edacious and eat it up right after the bake, instead, put the moon cake aside at room temperature for about four to five days to allow the grease to release, softening and moistening the skin. Then it's time to enjoy.
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