Shanghai Mooncake 上海月饼

This year instead of making the famous Cheesy Shanghai mooncake, i made this normal Shanghai mooncake using custard and butter without cheese. This recipe was highly recommended by a customer i met when i was shopping at the usual bakery ingredients shop. She said this recipe was sharing by the owner of this shop few years ago and it was published in a Chinese newspaper. She is true, the crumbly buttery pastry, sweet red bean paste and salty taste from salted egg yolk, their taste just well blended together..and you will not feel too sweet to taste this mooncake.

Don't worry when you see this mooncake cracked after baked (one tip advise from the chef is do not overbeat the butter and sugar), it will come back to the same shape after it has been cooled down.

This time i did not top with the usual melon seeds, instead sprinkle black and white sesame seeds..resulted very fragrant sesame aroma..

Shanghai Mooncake 上海月饼

(recipe source: adapted from cookbook writer cum chef Wendy Kor, with minor changes)
*makes 16pcs

Ingredients
250g butter (salted)
150g icing sugar
1 egg (large)
380g plain flour
60g custard powder

Filling
~ 700g red bean paste or any of your preferred filling
16pcs salted egg yolks, brush with rice wine, steamed for 5mins (I use homemade salted eggs)

Black and White sesame seeds
Egg wash-1 egg yolk+1tbsp water+1tbsp milk

Method
1. Weight red bean paste for 40g each and wrap with 1pc salted egg yolk and shape it to ball, set aside.
2. Sift plain flour and custard powder, set aside.
3. Beat butter and icing sugar till creamy (do not over beat, 2-3mins just nice).
4. Add in egg, beat well to combine. Add in sifted flour and custard powder, lightly to combine to form a soft dough.
5. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 30mins.
6. Weight dough for 50g each and shape to ball.
7. Flatten dough with your palm and wrap up the red bean paste filling into it and shaping it like an egg shape then place on baking tray (you may dust hands with Kor Hun (cooked glutinous rice flour).
8. Lightly brush the whole mooncake with egg wash and decorate top with black and white sesame seeds.
9. Bake at pre-heated oven at 180C for 20mins.
10. Leave to cool and store in mooncake box.


Beside this, please hop over to check out Quay Po's Cooks event of THINK OUT OF THE SHELL - Join the Pastry Challenge which organized by Nutriplus. This contest is good because it means for home bakers only, like you and me but not Professional bakers. What you need to do is just create a recipe using Nutriplus eggs.

Ya, another great news from Quay Po, her son Nick Davis new single "Lost in Time" is available in USA iTunes stores. Lets come and support this young and talented man !!