Traditional Moon Cake

Moon cake is traditionally made during Mid autumn festival in China. This is where it all started. The Chinese people would celebrate it by making lanterns and making moon cake and i think there is a story behind this celebration. Something about a lady in the moon. :)

Well here it goes!!

Ingredients

(1) 300 ml Golden syrup

7 tbsp peanut oil *

1tsp Alkaline water

2 tbsp flour

(2) 500g flour

Method

Mix (1) in in a small bowl and set a side overnight to rest.

Sift flour in to a bowl and make a well(can be done on the table) pour (1) in the well and knead till it all comes together.

Cover with a wet towel(plastic wrap) and rest 30 min. then divide the dough in to portion according to your mold size. ratio filling to dough 60%:40% or 3:2

Anyway i portion this 40g per portion and 6 portions of 26g.

The filling I didn't make this time around but i bought it in(saves time)

made 3 types of filling for this traditional moon cake

Filling (1)

1 can of red bean paste (510g each)

Sunflower seeds(toasted)

Filling(2)**

100g walnuts (toasted)

100g almond (toasted)

100g melon seeds

100 sunflower seeds

2 pcs candied mandarin orange (finely chopped)

100g candied winter melon strips( finely copped)

seasoning

50g caster sugar

6 tbsp groundnut oil*

3 tbsp sesame paste(tahini)

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp ice water

100 g roast glutinous rice flour

1 tsp brandy

1/4 tsp pepper

Filling (3)

2 cans lotus paste(510g each)

sunflower seeds(roasted)

Filling(1)

Place red bean paste in a stainless steel pot and cook it out for 15-20 min to get the excess moisture out, add seeds mix thru and set a side to cool. Once cooled portion to 40g each.

Filling (2)

combine all into a bowl and mix till it comes together portion in to 60g each

Filling (3)

Place lotus paste in a stainless steel pot and cook it out for 15-20 min to get the excess moisture out, add seeds mix thru and set a side to cool. Once cooled portion to 60g each.

Egg wash

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

50ml milk

To put it together

Roll out the dough in to a round shape place the filling in the middle (60g filling:40g skin, 40g filling: 26g skin) bring the skin up and seal the filling in. Place the moon cake in a flour dusted moon cake mold(if you just want to make it for your self and don't have the mould its ok, the main thing is the taste:D). knock it out and there you have your first moon cake. Repeat the process till finish. ( for the red bean paste filling i used a smaller mold). keep the moon cakes under a damp tea towel till your all done.

Glaze the moon cake with egg wash using a brush.

In a pre heated oven of 230C, place the moon cakes in the oven for 10 min and take it out to cool for a bit and re-glaze it again with egg wash and back in to the oven to bake for another 10 min. Then cool on a wire rack.

Best to be eaten a few days later. This is to allow the oils to come out to develop the flavors (lets say 2-3days would be best but minimum of 1 day)

* now days many people are intolerant to peanuts, normal vegetable oil would do. traditionally lard was used.

** 100g chinese bbq dried chicken cut finely, i didn't use this because it is hard to find it where i live. Just switch the pork to chicken breast. some recipes use the pork ones. :)

Curry Puff With Potato Filling

Hi this was an impromptu or should i say i felt like making it at the time... the filling was made up with what ever i had:)

Filling :

500g potato, peeled and diced

1 medium size onion, diced

2 tsp of garlic, crushed

1 tsp ginger

curry powder, to your liking

Salt and pepper

coriander

250 coconut milk

Dough:

Water dough:

200ml oil

120g shortening

200ml water

640g plain flour

oil dough:

200g plain flour

120g shortening

Method

Filling- mix curry powder with some oil to make a paste. In a hot pan/ pot with a little oil fry off the paste with the garlic, ginger and the onions, till fragrant. then add in the potato and coat it with the paste. add the coconut milk and bring up to the boil, add Salt and pepper and then simmer till its cook (you might need to add a little water or veg stock while cooking, when needed) when the potatoes are cooked but not mushy fold in the coriander and set a side to cool and chill.

water Dough- mix everything in a bowl till it forms a dough, portion it to 100g each

Oil dough- make sure the shortening is room temperature rub in the flour, and portion in to the same amount of water dough you have

then roll out the water dough, round and put the oil dough in the middle and seal the dough. press down the dough and roll it, oval and roll it up like a swiss roll and turn it where the swirly part is facing up and on the beach press it down and roll it, oval and roll it up like a swiss roll. ( repeat the same process with the other water and oil dough). leave it to rest for 20-30 mins.

For a smaller curry puff cut the dough so that you can see the spiral, place the cut side down press down and roll in to an oval shape put some filling in the middle and pleat the sides.

in hot oil of 160-170C fry the pastries till golden brown, served hot or warm. with a coffee or tea :)

enjoy:)

Cha Siew Pau

Filling:

500g Char siew(chinese BBQ pork) small dice

1 tbsp oyster Sauce

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp corn flour

2 tbsp water

Method:

Combine everything and lightly fry in a pan till all combined. Set a side and cool. Chill well if possible overnight.

Dough mix:

12g dried yeast

2tbsp tepid water

1 tsp sugar

500g pau flour(hong kong flour)

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

250ml water

6 tbsp sugar

5 tbsp shortening

Method:

In a small bowl mix yeast and 1 tsp sugar and tepid water, give it a stir. then sprinkle some of the flour over it and set a side to let the yeast do its magic:) till frothy.

In another bowl sift flour and baking powder and and add in all the dry ingredients, mix well. make a well in the middle and add in the yeast mixture, add water and mix well till it forms a dough, knead in the shortening till smooth. Leave a side covered with a cling film or a damp tea towel till double in size. knock down dough and shape in to a log and cut in to 16-17 portions (small pau)

how to put the pau together?

roll the dough in to a circular shape and put some filling in to the middle, bring up the sides to seal. *try not to get sauce on the outer ring of the dough it will help in the sealing proses and it will not open up when steamed:) place a piece of grease proof paper at the bottom of the pau.

leave to rise 10 - 15 min(well depending on the temperature the time will vary). Then steam pau over rapidly boilling water for 12- 15 minutes.

oh if you have leftover filling this is one way of using it up :)

Wedding cake With Orchids

This is my first time making orchids. I thought about making them for a long while, if i should just stick to roses or challenge my self and learn in the same process :)

So Here it goes.

want to know how to recycle drinking cans? well this is one of the ways :p

My Back up plan if the orchids failed:)

Roses anyone?

This took me abit over 2 days to finish just the flowers. a bit of a rush work, the petals actually not set properly. Every step needed at least 24 hrs to dry. All because I don't Have Talose powder(which helps in the setting process). In a rush i gave it 12hrs to set in between. Thank God