Chinese Dessert Recipes

Baked Red Bean Mooncake

This festival is also known as Mooncake or Lantern Festival which falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar (usually September). Such traditional sweet Chinese desserts are usually best enjoyed with freshly brewed Chinese tea.


Ingredients For Syrup

500 ml				Water
450 g			        	Rock Sugar
2 stalks				Pandan (Screwpine) Leaves
1 tbsp				Maltose			

Method

Boil rock sugar and clean screwpine leaves in water until sugar has completely dissolved. Lower heat and cook until sugar mixture is thick. Turn off heat and add in maltose. Stir gently with a metal spoon until maltose has dissolved. Allow syrup to cool which will be use later for the skin of the red bean mooncake.

Ingredients For Pastry & Filling

200 g			        	Homemade Syrup
1 tsp			        	Baking Powder
3/4 tbsp				Alkaline Water (Kan Sui)
50 ml			        	Peanut Oil
275 g			        	Plain Flour; sifted
500 g 				Red Bean Filling; mixed with toasted melon seeds
1			        	Egg Yolk; added pinch of salt. This is for glaze.

Method

Mix together syrup, baking powder and peanut oil. Add alkaline water and mix well. With a wooden spoon, fold in sifted flour and mix until a dough is formed. Cover with a wet towel and let dough rest for 2 hours.

Divide dough and red bean filling into even portions. Roll each dough portion and flatten with your hand. Ensure that the centre of each dough is thicker than the sides. Wrap each filling with the flattened dough. Seal edges well and roll filled dough lightly between your palms until the filling is entirely covered. Dust mould with flour. Press filled dough firmly into dusted moulds. To dislodge mooncakes, knock mould on all directions against hard surface. Do not attempt to pry it out. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Brush mooncakes with egg yolk mixture. Bake for another 15 minutes or until mooncakes turn golden brown.

Be careful not to over bake your mooncakes or the fillings will spill out from the dough.

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