Happy Mid-Autumn Festival with the cutest mooncakes ever! These mooncakes are no bake and no mold needed! Instead of the traditional baked sugary pastry mooncake wrappers, I used a rice flour based "snow skin" with a golden, creamy pumpkin filling.
There are many different types of mooncakes in Chinese cuisine - the cantonese style with the buttery baked pie crust like skin and usually a custard filling, the Su Zhou style that has a flaky and layered skin, and the snow skin mooncake, which is the tenderest and lightest of them all. The word snow skin is translated from the Chinese words, Bing Pi, 冰皮, which literally means ice skin. The texture is very similar to the Japanese mochi, soft, gentle, tender, gooey, and chewy.
The initial mixture of the snow skin might surprise you because unlike most doughs, the snow skin "dough" will be very fluid and "soupy", but don't panic! That's just how it's supposed to look and then you need to steam the mixture and knead, eventually it'll become an opaque and bouncy dough.
And since it's autumn there has to be pumpkin! I used pumpkin puree to create a creamy, silky, and not overly sweet filling. Finally I HAND SHAPED the wrappers and fillings into these bunny shapes! It was so fun and easy and you really need no mold!
May this recipe bring a touch of fun spirit and surprise to your dining table. And please find me on instagram @veganbunnychef I would love to hear from you!
INGREDIENTS:
For Snow Skin -
35 gram glutinous rice flour
35 gram rice flour
20 gram wheat starch
20 gram syrup
150 gram soy milk (or other plant milk)
20 gram vegetable oil
1 teaspoon beet juice for coloring
Extra glutinous rice flour for dusting
Black sesame seeds for eyes
For Pumpkin Filling -
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
sweetener if needed
TO MAKE:
- Heat pumpkin puree in a sauce pan over low heat, slowly stir in the glutinous rice flour, combine well until reach a thick paste texture;
- Let pumpkin mixture cool down for 20 minutes, transfer onto a piece of plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour, then form into 20 gram balls, cover and transfer to freezer for 30 minutes;
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the glutinous rice flour, rice flour, and starch, then slowly pour in the syrup, oil, and plant milk, whisk till smooth;
- Pour the mixture through a sieve to get rid of any lumps that might be in there;
- Transfer the mixture into a container that can fit into your steamer, cover the container with plastic wrap to prevent water from dripping in, steam for 25 minutes;
- Once steamed, stir and fold with a silicone spoon while it's still hot, keep folding and kneading, the mixture will become smoother and shinier;
- When mixture cools down enough to handle, knead with hands for some more, about 10 minutes, until reach a shiny, smooth and bouncy dough, wear plastic gloves to prevent sticking;
- Take 20 gram of the dough and add the beet juice to it, knead and mix until liquid all combined, wrap the pink dough and white dough separately and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before use;
- Meanwhile, prepare some cooked glutinous rice flour for dusting, in a dry pan, stir and toast about 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour over low heat for 5 minutes, set aside;
- Once everything is ready, begin assembling the mooncakes, divide the white dough into 20 gram balls and pink dough into 2 gram balls;
- Flatten the white dough into a round, push down in the center to make it thinner, then flatten the red ball and fill it onto the thinned part, smooth it out, the pink will show through from the other side;
- Add a ball of pumpkin filling to the center and pinch up the edges to wrap the filling and seal, roll into a ball again;
- Roll the ball into cooked glutinous flour to prevent sticking, use a chopstick to poke and lift the pink area to create ears, add 2 sesame seeds for eyes, and finally add another tiny white ball for the tail;
- Serve immediately, enjoy!
