R khooks

Say it with…valentine mooncakes

“Won’t you be my valentine?” A question which will be on many people’s tongues this 14th. Not mine though. I tend to be a bit more cynical and find the whole thing way too commercial. But then I guess if you’re unluckily attached to someone who needs that kind of reminder, than once a year is better than none a year.
I may be cynical in regards to valentines but I do have a small weakness for anything in a heart shape, though. For some reason I often end up making a cake, biscuits or other foods in heart shapes.
I’ve been wanting to make mooncakes ever since I saw this. Mooncakes are a chinese pâtisserie eaten normally for the mid-autumn moon festival. The traditional ones are baked whereas the new wave are “no cook”. Either jelly/agar agar or kao fen “fried glutinous rice flour” based. They’re usually sliced in wedges and served with tea.

It was the first time I ever attempted a mooncake. It’s definetly something which takes practice. Sorry about the “vague” recipe. You may end up with leftover filling or snowskin. Let me know if you try it out. Here are a few tips:

1. You need cold/dry hands. The dough warms up quickly and starts melting when you handle it too much.
2. Use a 50/50 icing sugar and kao fen flour to dust the rolling pin, hands and surfaces
3. Using bigger cutters/moulds makes it easier to work with. I tried small but it’s quite fiddly. Oh, and if anybody knows where I can get hold of mooncake moulds in France please email me.

Valentine mooncakes

Ingredients for snowskin (the outside bit of the cake):
(adapted from various sites)
120 g Kao fen - fried glutinous rice flour
130 g icing sugar
125 g coconut milk
50 g shortening, cold and cubed
Mix all the dried ingredients together. Add the shortening and rub into flour mixture until you have a “crumble/sand” like texture. Pour in the coconut milk and form into a dough. Wrap and chill for 10 minutes.

Ingredients for dulce de leche & coconut filling:
50g dulce de leche
50g Kao fen - fried glutinous rice flour
50g dessicated coconut

Mix together until you can form a dough. If the mixture is too crumbly, add a tiny bit more of dulce de leche.

Ingredients for chocolate centre:
50g icing sugar
50g cacao powder
1 tablespoon golden syrup
Couple of tablespoons coconut milk

Mix together all the ingredients apart from the coconut milk. Add the coconut milk by a tablespoon. Stop adding the coconut milk when you can form a dough.

To make:
The size of the mooncake really depends on your mould. It’s a bit trial and error. Basically the smallest part will be the chocolate filling, make a small ball. Then take a slightly larger amount of dulce de leche dough. Roll into a ball and then flatter out. Place the chocolate ball in the center and wrap the dulce de leche dough around it. Form a ball.

Now take a larger amount of the snowskin dough. Roll out to an even thickness (enough to wrap the filling). Place the filling in the middle and wrap the skin around. Form into a rough heart shape (similar to the one you’re using as a mould). Push into flour dusted mould/cutter and knock out. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

This recipe in taking part in “A heart for your valentine”. Take a look for other “hearty” recipes.