Celebrate the mid-autumn festival with the dreamiest mooncakes ever! These snow skin mooncakes are tenderer than a baby's cheek, slightly chewy, velvety, and just sweet enough and balanced in flavor. Plus they are gluten-free and no bake!
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated by Chinese people. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is believed to be at its fullest and brightest. On this day, family and friends gather to appreciate the full moon while enjoying mooncakes.
There are many different types of mooncakes. The most traditional kind would be the baked ones with a buttery pastry crust, usually round or square-shaped, intricately decorated, and filled with sweet fillings such as lotus seed paste or red bean paste. In southern China, the "thousand-layer" mooncakes are more popular, with the pastry crust being light, layered, and crisp. And of course, snow skin mooncakes which is more of a modern-day twist on mooncakes using mochi as the wrapper.
It's hard for me to pick a favorite, however, the snow-skin type is in my opinion the easiest and quickest to make! And they have such a delicate texture that's also fun to play with. They can be served
INGREDIENTS:
50 g glutinous rice flour
50 g regular rice flour
25 g wheat starch or tapioca starch
25 g condensed coconut milk
185 g soy milk
25 g neutral taste oil
1 teaspoon matcha powder
Extra glutinous rice flour for dusting
TO MAKE:
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together everything except the oil and matcha, until completely dissolved and no lumps left, you can pass the mixture through a sift to make sure;
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl or Tupperware, cover with a heat safe lid or a plate to prevent water from dripping in, bring the water in your steamer pot to boil, and steam on medium high heat for 25 minutes;
- While waiting, toast some glutinous rice flour in a dry pan over low heat for 5 minutes, we will use this flour for dusting the mold later so it doesn't stick and we don't wanna eat raw flour;
- Make 25 gram balls of the filling you are using;
- Once the mixture is steamed, cut a few slashes in the mixture to let the heat out, pour in the oil, and press the oil in with a spatula;
- When the mixture is cool enough to handle, start kneading, the dough will be very very sticky at this point so make sure to wear culinary gloves to prevent sticking!
- Knead until the dough is very smooth and all the oil is absorbed, divide into two and knead the matcha powder into one portion to color it;
- Take a 15 gram piece from each of the white and green mochi dough, press the two pieces together, stretch it out and twist to create the marbling effect, then shape into a ball again;
- Press to flatten the ball and keep pressing so it's big enough to wrap the filling, add the filling to the center, use your thumb and index finger to close the opening, and roll into a ball once again, watch the video for better visual demonstration!
- Repeat until you finish with all the dough and filling;
- Dust the wrapped ball with some toasted glutinous rice flour, lightly dust the mold press with some flour as well, cover the ball with your press lightly press down and release immediately, the mooncake should fall out easily, repeat with all the wrapped balls;
- Chill the mooncakes in the fridge for 20 minutes before serving for even better texture, enjoy and happy Mid Autumn Festival!