Mid-Autumn Festival (2) - Snowskin Mooncakes

As promised, I'm back with another post for Mid Autumn Festival preparation , and this post will be about 'Snowskin Mooncake" also known as "Ping Pi Mooncake" (in Mandarin that is, hehe). Lately, I found that a lot of people has developed the liking for this snowskin mooncake instead of the traditional baked ones, well, I don't really know the reason why, maybe because some says that the Baked mooncakes normally uses the 'lard' in the making, and that is not quite a healthy option :)

Then, snowskin mooncake uses no oil at all and it doesn't have to be baked too! Well, maybe that's the reason, but anyway, I personally likes Snowskin Mooncakes too. It's serve chill and not so sweet, and the snowskin effect kinda makes it a little lighter compared to the baked ones.......blah, blah, blah.....hehe, ignore me, LOL

I have enquired a few friends about this snowskin mooncake recipe as I'm a bit confused with the flour that it uses. Some mentioned about 'cooked Glutinous Rice Flour', whereas others mentioned 'Kao Fen'. However, I asked my MiL and she said that Kao Fen is actually Glutinous Rice Flour........but what I'm confused is how come when the recipe mentioned Kao Fen, it didn't asked to be 'cooked" ?? Does that meant Kao Fen is already a 'Cooked Glutinous Rice Flour' ?? I'm actually still not certain on this, but Alexandra told me that there is this shop here that sells 'Kao Fen' from Hong Kong, and to avoid those confusion, just use that and worry no more if it has to be cooked or not....*tongue*
I tested on the 1st recipe that a friend gave me and she suggested that I just bake/ fry the Glutinous Rice Flour in the oven/wok for about 10 minutes before using. Unfortunately, I did just that and the skin did not turned out the way a 'Ping Pi' should be :(

Well, maybe it was my miscalculation when mixing in the water to the flour+shortening that caused the error....*sigh*

Well, as determine as I am (you should know me by now), I'm not gonna just settle for that , so I decided to use Alexandra's recipe and bought myself a packet of that Hong Kong Kao Fen, and Alexandra willingly offered me to go to her house for a baking session, hehe  *wink* With her guidance and step by step instruction and tips, I managed to produce the perfect 'Ping Pi' mooncakes that I have always used to eat during Mid-Autumn Festival!!! Thank you so much Alexandra, muaks! She also offered me her 'Traditional Mooncake" recipe too , will post that in the next round ya ;)
For now, if you really want to make 'Ping Pi Mooncakes', it has never been easier, trust me!! I have never thought that I could made two types of mooncakes in one night (started at 6pm and finished at 12pm, burning midnight oil for this ....but hey, I got myself enough mooncakes to gift-away, isn't that worth all the effort?)

Here is the 'Simple & Fool-proof' Recipe courtesy of Alexandra (check out her blog too, she has yummy recipes you might like too).

SNOWSKIN 'PING PI' MOONCAKE RECIPE

Makes about 4 - 5 (160gm) mooncake

Ingredients 
100gm Kao Fen 
95gm Icing Sugar
30gm Shortening
130ml 'cold' water (might not need to use all) 
1 tsp flavoring paste
Food colouring 

Fillings : Your choice - Lotus Paste, Durian Paste, Red Bean Paste etc.


Method

1. Sift Kao Fen and icing sugar into a bowl. 
2. Rub shortening into the flour and sugar until mixture resembles 'crumbs'.
3. Mix in the flavoring paste and food colouring into the cold water, stir to fully mixed.
4. Slowly add cold water into the crumbs and mix it in to get a dough consistency that does not stick to your hands. Knead to form a dough that is pliable. 'Do not over knead'. (Note: you have to monitor the amount of water use, some flour will absorb more water, and some won't. Therefore it's either 130ml is too much or too little for you.....so add bit by bit)
5. Let the dough rest for about 20-30 minutes. While waiting, scale the filling to each portion of 95gm, and roll it into a ball. 
6. When the dough is rested, scale it into a portion of 65gm , and roll it flat on your palm, wrap a piece of the filling into the centre, and seal it in. (Note: Remember to dust the mooncake and the mold with extra 'Kao Fen' or 'Snow Powder' before putting the mooncake into the mold to press).
7. Store the mooncakes in the fridge until ready to serve. 

Sounded really straight forward and easy right? So, what are you waiting for, you are still in time to make a batch for this Mid-Autumn Festival celebration .....;)

Pandan Snowskin with Green Tea Paste Filling

Happy Snowskin Mooncake Making!!

 

Mid Autumn Festival (1) - Dragonfruit Jelly Mooncake

 

It's the 8th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar and that means "Mid -Autumn Festival " is around the corner. I have always remember how it was celebrated every year, I always make it a point to bring the kids in the evening after dinner for a walk around the "Taman" we stayed, with each of them carrying their candle-lighted lantern. Then we will stopped at the nearby basketball court , where other neighbors joined in with their kids too. 

Later in the night, I will normally make a pot of  hot refreshing 'Jasmine Green Tea' and serve mooncakes, for the past few years all the mooncakes were either bought or given as gift by friends (except for the jelly Mooncakes, hehe), but this year is definitely going to be 'different' as I am serving 100% Homemade mooncakes....yeah!!! How does that sound? I just love it because it's not so much of the quality or what, but knowing that it was homemade, its just feels satisfying!!

So, to start of this Mid-Autumn festival celebration preparation, I made some Dragonfruit jelly Mooncakes to kick off, as this is the easiest and the kids just love to eat them since I have a few packets of agar-agar powder in the cupboard. Of course, the mission will be to learn to make some snowskin mooncakes and as you might still remember my last year traditional mooncakes (the bake ones) are not as nice and presentable too. So I'm going to try some new recipes and improve it :)

This is a very simple jelly mooncake, so for those of you who are interested to make some for the kids in the house or the neighborhood, do try it out. Hope you and your family will like it ......stay tuned for more Mid-Autumn Festival Mooncake preparation coming soon......cheers!

DRAGONFRUIT JELLY MOONCAKE RECIPE

(Makes about 8-9 mooncakes)

Ingredients for Filling

25gm caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp agar-agar powder

125ml water

70ml fresh milk

55ml evaporated milk

1. Put sugar, agar-agar powder and water in a pot under medium heat. Stirring to dissolve the agar-agar powder and sugar and bring tit to a boil. Turn the heat off and add in the milk , stir to mix.
2. Pour the solution into small molds (eg. small cups filling only about 1cm in height) and let it set.
3. Remove it from the  mold and use a fork to scratch the surface (top and bottom). Set aside.

Ingredients for Skin

100gm caster sugar

4 tsp agar-agar powder

600ml water

150gm red dragonfruit (pureed)

4 pcs of pandan leaves (tied in a knot)

1.  Boil water with sugar, agar-agar powder and tied pandan leaves in a pot. Dissolves the agar-agar powder and sugar and bring to a boil.
2.  Turn the heat off and stir in the pureed Dragonfruit. 

  To Assemble

1. Pour the some 'skin' agar-agar solution into the mooncake mold filling only about 1.5cm.
2. When it is half set, put in the 'filling' and then fill up the mold with the balance of the 'skin' agar -agar solution to the rim of the mold. Let is set.
3. Unmold and chill in the fridge before serving.

Have a nice day!

 

YUM CHA STYLE - DURIAN PANCAKE (1)

I bet a lot of you like 'Yum-Cha' where you find a really comfortable place, not too crowded, not too expensive and they serve really yummy desserts and snacks....and best of all, you can just hang in there with your BFFs and chat the whole day from A-Z....LOL

In fact, I haven't been going out to Yum-Cha places for quite sometime already, not that I don't like, but it's just so hard to find the time that the ones you wanted to hang around are free at the same time as you are....you know what I mean? Sometimes when you are so free, your friends might not be..........and worst of all, some are not living in the same town as you are.

However, the topic of this blog is actually about this 'Durian Pancake', so I will not bore you with my babbling about my going out yum-cha story, hehe.... Actutally, the other day, I had a dinner meet with a few of my really old time BFFs, and one of them came back to KK for the "National Raya holidays" (National Day and Hari Raya) with her son. So after having our really 'heavy' seafood dinner, we head to a place called 'Lucy's Kitchen' for dessert and also to continue our gossiping, LOL

We ran through the menu and ordered some drinks and one of my friend suggested that these 'Durian Pancake' and 'Mango Pancake' is a 'must try'. Therefore, we ordered one of each, and it came ......like 3 'golden pillows' in each plate, wrapped up with whipped fresh cream mixed with durian flesh  and mango pieces. It was served cold and once you bite it, you'll know that you have fallen in love with them, hahaha.

That's how I got hooked, and guessed what, the following day, I was out searching every corner of the earth looking for a recipe to make this pancakes.

Many of you would say, what's the big deal about pancakes?? Well, the texture of this pancake is not like the usual morning breakfast pancakes that we used to eat. They are very smooth, soft in texture but it doesn't tear when wrapped in with those fresh cream. It's not oily, and it has a really nice yellow color, not burnt marks from the pan and really really 'thin'. I know I'm pretty lousy when it comes to describing of something.....but those of you who has eaten this at any Yum -Cha outlet, would agree and know what I meant :P
I posted on my Facebook to ask if anyone has a recipe for this, and sad to say, some doesn't even know what I'm looking for......*sigh*
Anyway, after a thorough search through the internet, I found Wendy actually ever posted a Durian Pancake in her blog and she adapted the recipe from Elaine's blog, where she made the Mango Pancake version. I copied both and decided to try Wendy's version first as I have Durian at home to clear, hehe....
Erm, I wouldn't say I totally like it, as the texture was not as smooth, and maybe because I did not made it thin enough, it appeared to be quite tough and thick, when folded to wrap the fillings, it actually break at the sides. My in-laws tasted it and agreed that we need to do some changes to the recipe to better perfect it :) 
Anyway, I will buy some mangoes to try the Mango Pancake recipe ,as I find that the type of flour used in the Mango Pancake was not the same as the Durian ones, and who know, this is the fact that the pancake turned out otherwise. Anyway, thanks to Wendy and Elaine for sharing these recipes, at least I know where to start to do my experiments :)
If you are interested to try it out, you can hit on the above recipes button, and it will leads you to both Wendy's and Elaine's blog page. Of course, they have more yummy tested recipes to share with you all too.

Thanks for Sharing !! 

My Battle with Macarons.........(2) The French Meringue Method with Fresh Egg Whites

After yesterday's attempt in making macarons......and succeeding it, I am indeed very happy, hehe :) However, I realized that this success is only the beginning, as a total success in 'Macaron Making' is not only to have a mac with feet, but the overall form of a macaron has to be standard, in order to have a perfect match when pairing them together, and also to have a perfect texture in and out ....for example, a friend told me that a macaron is supposed to be crispy on the outside (the shell part) and 'chewy but not wet' in the inside. Moreover, the inside should not be 'hollow' as some of mine actually turned out that way yesterday :(

I have been searching and googling the internet for more background stories of Macarons. OK, I admit I'm a bit obsessed with this little 'yo-yo'.........or 'totally' obsessed with it, :P

I realized that a lot of 'experts' out there do fail once in awhile in their macaron baking , even-though they have been baking it like baking a normal cookie.
I also realized that they stick to the method which they find they are comfortable with. I have also come to know there are in fact 3 methods of making macarons :-

1. French method - this method uses raw egg whites (either fresh egg whites or the most recommended 'aged' egg whites) beaten to a peak (French Meringue) and mix into the almond mixture;
2. Spanish method - beaten egg whites, but with higher sugar content, added to the almond mixture;
3. Italian method - this one uses a cooked sugar syrup added into beaten egg whites (Italian Meringue) and then added to almond mixture.

A lot has been said about the above methods, some mentioned that the Italian method promises a more solid shell but a lower feet, while the French method is more straight forward and promises a higher looking feet, however, the shell sometimes can be hollow.......but no matter which method you opt for, the end result still bolts down to the 'macaronage' stage, where the 'folding' technique comes in.

Anyway, I wish to try all the methods if possible to see the end results and to find one that I am comfortable with. However, this 2nd attempt I chose to use back the French method, but instead, I used fresh egg whites instead.....meaning I just cracked open it from the shell and no aging involve, as I also realized that the 'egg white' is also one of the very often talk about caused of a failed macaron.

I used back the same recipe I did yesterday except for the egg whites. 

Well, like what I did yesterday, I piped all the mixtures on 2 trays of lined parchments papers. This time I also did not use my Mastrad Macaron Sheet as it doesn't fit nicely into the oven, I wanted to stick to just parchment paper this time. I let it sit for 30 minutes plus (about 45-50 minutes) for the second tray, as my oven can only fit one tray at a time. Not being very optimistic (as usual when it comes to macaron), I brought a stool and sat right in front of the oven staring into the window, praying for those 'dainty feet' to appear before my eyes (sounded really crazy , I know).

Yes!! during the 8th minute, those pretty little feet slowly and gracefully raised up from their little skirts. Hehe.........I couldn't believe my eyes and like many have said........I was jumpin up and down (ya, again) and was so thrilled that I have succeeded 2 days in a row!!! WooHoo!! Should I head to the nearest 4D outlet and try my luck? kekeke........nah! just kidding :P

So, waited for them to come out of the oven, check on the shells, pretty crispy and solid.......then broke them in half to check the inside, much better than the previous day I would say........not so much emptiness (hollow) this time :)

I promise to myself that I will try to bake macarons more often now, so that I can master it, and also next attempt, I will try with some flavoring in it.......maybe Mocha! I have so many Macs, for once in my life, that I can play with it..........enjoy my pics ya and hope that they will encourage you to whip up a batch too........don't worry too much about failing or having a feetless mac........try it first, to know what Macaron making is about, and you'll figure out the techniques later, trust me!!~

Till then........enjoy!

Happy Macarons Baking!!

You can even make 'Macaron Pop'....aren't they cute?

My Battle with MACARONS ......(1) The French Meringue Method With 'Aged Egg Whites'

"Love it.......or hate it?"....LOL

Macarons! Macarons! Macarons! Are you scare of hearing this word?  or are you furious with it that you have a 'Love Hate' affair with it, and each time you hear its name, it makes you has goosebumps, but yet you wanted so much to make it and hold it in your hands and feel it melting in your mouth? LOL.......

I totally understand how you feel, as I am definitely one of them!! I hate Macarons! I love Macarons! I wish I can make it! I will make it!! Well, that's what I once said to these 'little monsters' and to myself that one day, I will make them without fail! Well, when I look back at my 'one and only' attempt that I had a batch of macarons with feet was way back last year in May, *sigh*...........see how scare I am to ever again face these little shells? hehehe (kidding)

Well, you might be wondering why out of a sudden I was into making macarons again. Actually I suddenly get caught up with this macaron fever when I recently saw quite a number of blogs and websites with really pretty macaron pictures and all sorts of yummy flavors. It really kills me to even think back my failure in making them.......and I make up my mind that I'm definitely not going to let that failure haunt me and leave a scar in my baking history!! Sound serious huh? LOL.....

So I decided it's time to try test them again since I haven't had any orders in line, I can concentrate in experimenting it again and maybe find out why I failed. I bought my icing sugar, ground almond and a tray of fresh eggs (Grade B). I'm sure a lot of you have ever gone through tonnes of tips and testimonials and advice and 'dos and don'ts' of macaron making. Here are some of the important ones......

What others say:-

1. You must use 'aged egg whites' at least 24 hours. Some even encourage you to leave it at the kitchen counter for about 3 days (wow, I wonder salmonella exist in those eggs or not?!);
2. You must leave the piped macarons for at least 30 minutes or more before putting them into the oven to bake so that there will develop a 'shell crust' before the baking;

And this time I used the very basic recipe from Bakerella, the Queen of Cake Pops and courtesy of Tartlette, the 'Queen of Macarons', hehe.

Basic Macarons.....with Easy to follow steps

110gm ground almonds

200gm icing sugar, sifted

90gm 'aged' egg whites

25 - 50gm castor sugar

Food colouring of your choice (powder/gel /paste)

Let's start:-

 

1. Whisk the egg whites in a standing mixer with a 'whisk' attachment at 'high' until foamy, then gradually add in the castor sugar and continue to beat until glossy- stiff peak form.  Once you reach a stiff peak, stop whisking. *Tip: Check on the peak after every 1-2 minutes.    

2. Put the ground almond and sifted icing sugar in a large mixing bowl, and stir to combine them together.

3. Then add your beaten egg whites into the almond mixture. Start to fold the egg whites to combine it together. 

4. Stop folding halfway to add in your food colouring, then continue to fold until all the ingredients are fully blended. To get the 'right consistency' of the mixture, it's not easy, but here's a guide from Bakerella...... " run a knife through the batter and count to 10, the line should disappear by then, and you have reach the right consistency!

5. Now that you have reach the 'magma' consistency, spoon all the mixture into a disposable piping bag with an open tip "O", and pipe onto prepared parchment paper (I piped mine on the macaron baking sheet that i just bought the other day). The size should be small, about 1.5" inches circle in diameter, as it will still spread a bit and stop.

6. Let the macaron sit for about 30 minutes or more (even up to an hour will be fine) before baking. This process is to let the shell crust and raised during baking, and leaves the 'feet' visible at the bottom! (Happy to hear the word 'feet' or are you already started to pray for it to 'please' appear before your eyes? LOL....I prayed very hard for mine to appear, kekeke)

7. Ok, finally , the waiting is over, now it's time to put the baking tray into the oven! Bake the macarons at a pre-heated of 150 degree Celsius for about 18-20 minutes. *Tips: Please monitor your baking time and temperature, as I find that my oven heat up more at 150 ~C and my macarons burned faster , so maybe a 130 / 140~ C would be better the next round. Check yours!

8. Are you sitting in front of the oven like I did? hehe......See the 'feet' appearing? Yes, they did, right about the 7th - 9th minute........"hallelujah"

 

9. Remove from the oven, and let it cool on completely. Slowly remove them from the parchment paper / silicon mate.

10. You are ready to match your macaron pair, and pipe in the fillings of your choice. I filled mine with 'Chocolate Ganache' and put them back into the fridge stored in an air-tight container, as a lot of people says that the macarons taste better on the second day.........true or false? LOL....find out yourself  *wink*

Finally! Some decent Macarons to pose for my photograph, LOL

And so, this is the 1st battle I had with the macarons after a one year 3 months break from the last attempt. I will be making them more often now, as I still have a lot of gaps and holes to fill and fix........I'm not at all satisfy with my macarons, as some of them are hollow in the inside, the base were not smooth and the inside texture was still not really properly baked............ so, bake with me and we can share the experience together!

Happy Macarons Baking!!

 p/s: Stay tuned for more macarons attempts from me....;)