Saturday, August 19, 2006

Traditional Moon Cake








Ingredients for making Lotus paste:

600 gm. Lotus Seeds
560 gm. Sugar
500 gm. Groundnut oil
1 1/4 Tablespoon Alkaline water
2 Tbsp. Maltose
1 tsp. Alkaline water
1 Tbsp. Condense milk
1/2 tsp. salt
for caramel: 4 Tbsp. sugar

Method:

(1) Mix Lotus seeds with 1 1/4 Tbsp. alkaline water and 3 Tbsp. water, rest for 20 mins. Then pour in hot boiling water and cover it for about 20 - 30 mins. Wash away the lotus seeds skin, then add water (about 3 rice bowls) and pressure cook until lotus seeds are soft. (Rough guide - I used fissler pressure cooker, so I waited until the red knob appears, then continue boiling at medium heat for about 20 mins. then off the fire and wait until my cover can open.

(2) Blend the lotus seeds until very fine.

(3) Heat the wok and fry the 4 Tbsp. sugar with some oil till sugar turns caramel in colour. Pour in blended lotus seeds, sugar, oil,salt and fry till water dries up.

(4) Add in maltose, 1 teaspoon alkaline water and milk and mix well.

For Mooncake pastry:

350 gm. Hong Kong flour
90 gm. oil
200 gm. Moon cake syrup (Moon cake syrup recipe is in my blog too)
1 1/4 tsp. alkaline water

This paste yields about 18 nos. of mooncakes

Method:


(1) Mix the above ingredients together and rest for at least 1 hour before moulding it with lotus paste.
(2) Mix 30 gm.of roasted olive seeds and 30 gm. of roasted melon seeds into the lotus paste. weigh the lotus paste and wrap in salted egg yolk.
(3) Wrap with about 45 gm. of pastry and press into mooncake mould. Knock out from the mould and bake the mooncakes for 10 mins., cool slightly then brush with egg glaze , then re-bake again for another 10 mins. or till golden brown.

168 comments:

Amrita said...

aunty yochana do u know a recipe for the black sesame paste for mooncakes?

Aunty Yochana said...

amrita,

I have the recipe but it's not easy to cook it. You must perfect your normal lotus paste first.

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yochana,
Egg glaze is it the whole beaten egg or just the egg whites? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yochana,
Egg glaze is it using the whole egg or just the whites?
Thanks, ann.

Amrita said...

oh i thought its like the "ah-balling" kind of filling....

How many mooncakes does your recipe make? I wanted to try 1/2 the recipe today

diddy said...

looks great!! Do you have the recipe for your 5 nut mooncake filling? I saw a pic of it over at Jo's and I'm salivating for it! So far, I've only done normal red bean paste (thrown in with a few nuts). Can't wait to try other ones!

Aunty Yochana said...

ann, egg glaze, I use 1 egg yolk + 1/2 egg white.

Aunty Yochana said...

amrita,

what is "all-balling" filling????
My recipe yields about 18 nos. of mooncakes.

Anonymous said...

Hi Yochana

Could you please advise what oven temperature is required for the lovely mooncakes of yours?

Thanks
Ange (aka vegiemite @KC).

Aunty Yochana said...

Dear Ange,

First you bake at 200C for 10 mins, take it out, cool it slightly, brush with egg glaze then re-bake for another 10 mins at 175C.

rgds

Rusti said...

Hi Yochana,

For the lotus paste, how much water to add to pressure cook it? Just enough to cover the seeds? And how long should I cook it? Thanks a million

Rene said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Lovely mooncakes. Yum!

^cherie said...

Hi Yochana,

Where can i get all the ingredients? PH? Or grocery stores eg: NTUC will do? Don't think i've seen melon seeds, lotus seeds and olive seeds before.

Also, what is maltose?

Sorry for so many questions!

Aunty Yochana said...

rusti, add about 3 rice bowl of water and pressure cook. This is only a rough guide. As long as the water can cooke the nuts, after all you need to fry it until dry. Happy frying!!

Aunty Yochana said...

cherie,

I normally get all the ingredients from Sun Lik at 33, Seah Street, next to Raffles Hotel.

rgds.

Aunty Yochana said...

I have edited the recipe to make it clearer on how to boil the lotus seeds. Please refer to my recipe.'

rgds.

Jen said...

yochana,

happened to get into here while searching for sun lik stuffs.

i've just taken up mooncake lessons at CC and i'm stuck at yam paste. Do u do that? How do i prepare the yam? I dont know how to choose fresh ones, neither do I know how to prepare them. Do I cut them into slices and steam them? How about the removal of the outer layer part?

From above qn, u should know that I'm a newbie to even cookery!!! :P Thanks for yr help.

Aunty Yochana said...

Jen,

Choose a big and light rounded Yam. You have to cut off the outer skin, don't wash under running tap, just wipe away the dirt with a damp cloth. Slice it and steam till soft. Mash the yam while still hot so that it will become fine. I'm surprised that the instructor at the CC never teach you how to cook the yam paste.

rgds.

Jen said...

ya i'm also surprised. she just say steam it. to a newbie like me, i know nuts about handling the yam. i learnt how to do the spiral stuff but the very basic of yam handling i dont know anything. maybe because all the students are housewives etc, more experience so teacher assume everyone know :(

thanks for yr detail information! so its okay regardless of which country yam i choose? thailand, indonesia etc?

Jen said...

yochana,

i've a basic qn to ask regarding mooncake mould. for the wooden type, how do i actually do to protect it? i heard about soaking it in oil? how long etc? do i need to wash it with soap? thanks

Aunty Yochana said...

dear Jen,

Ya...I was told to soak the wooden mooncake mould completely in oil for at least 1 week but frankly speaking, I never do that for my entire collection and nothing happens and it's easy to use too. Of course you can wash with soap...otherwise your mould will stink with all the oil.

Jen said...

hiya yochana

i just baked my cake. done with it and its 5am!!! argkkkkkk

i tried mini traditional. i follow my teacher receipe of bake 15mins and then put on glaze *i just put egg yolk on top. no mixing with water... and then bake for another 15mins. now, my mooncake is like ROCK! hah. very hard type. machiam the green bean pastry we ate at times. :(

i saw yr timing is only 10mins, glaze, 10mins. so if i am doing a mini size, should i still follow yr timing or reduce it further? does the size of the mooncake matters for duration of baking?

oh ya, i bought the table top oven with fan. not sure if the fan helps to dry out the mooncake too......thabks

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Jen,

OMG...5 a.m.? I'm in dreamland.

Ya...size of mooncakes matters, so bake a shorter time (how many mins I can't possible tell you but definitely less then 10 mins each time) because each individual oven's temperature differs.

Congrats on your new oven but try your best not to use fan cos they brown very fast and it's still uncooked.

rgds

Jen said...

hiya yochana

thanks for the advice. still have some qn. i was told fan will dry the food out. but the promoter said fan also good. then husband said her friend mentioned fan helps to make cooking even!!! then now i choose 'conventional oven' mode, it comes with fan! sobsob. cannot choose 'no fan'.

what should i do then? do i spray water in the mooncakes too? so like when u mentioned 240degree celsius (think so), does it mean i should more or less follow this temperature or try ie, 220 to 240 degree celsius? i did warn up my oven first before baking my mooncakes. feel like crying since i bought wrong oven. humpf!

Aunty Yochana said...

jen,

your oven is okay, just that you have to learn to get used to it and understand your oven.

Don't bake your mooncakes at 240..bake at 200C for 10 mins, cool the mooncakes slightly then brush with egg glaze and then rebake for another 10 mins. even if you are using fan. Using fan normally turns brown faster so you better judge by yourself. Cut down the cooking time.

rgds

Jen said...

hiya yochana

thanks for the advice and guidance. btw, egg glaze= egg yolk? or to add a percentage of water to egg yolk? if its water & egg yolk, whats the percentage? thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

jen,

somebody asked the same question above, anyway, here it is:

1 egg yolk + 1/2 egg white + a little egg yolk colouring (a drop)

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I wasnt sure what alkaline water is. Do you just add baking soda to water? Or is it sold somewhere?

Thanks,

Nhumi

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Nuhmi,

Alkaline water is called "kan sui" in cantonese. It's also called Lye water or air abu in malay.

You're in US so I'm not too sure where to get it. I normally bought mine from the bakery mart or market.

rgds

Anonymous said...

hi Auntie!!
I've made 2 batches of the lotus paste n they turned out great! Thanks for the fantastic recipe! Many of my friends say that it's the best lotus paste they have tasted!!! I agree with them too!!
For the second batch, i doubled the recipe and it came out very soft n mushy....is it becos i didn't fry it down enough or perhaps left put some ingredient? Also, the colour is quite light....what should i do next time to make sure the paste is firm n brown? TIA!! :D

Aunty Yochana said...

ioyces,

next time don't fry too much at one time. Doubling up the recipe is not easy. I suggest you make the lotus paste what how you did in the first batch. To make it firm fry a little longer but don't let the oil leak out. In case it leaks out, add in some water and stir thoroughly and fry till well mixed and the oil will seep into the lotus paste again. If you want more brown, in the beginning when you caramelize the sugar, fry it more brown and your paste will becoming darker in colour.

rgds.

Unknown said...

This little piglets are so adorable!!! How did you make them?

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Cheryl,

I used my hands to mould it.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi! Aunty,

I would like to try your mooncake recipe, but i will be using commercially available golden syrup, do i use the same amount of syrup.

How to make the imprint so nice n visible?? Pls give me advice.

Thks

Celia

Anonymous said...

Hi ! Aunty, sorry it's me again. I have tried making mooncake using another recipe, everthing else is about the same as your recipe except for the flour, it uses plain flour but your recipe call for hong kong flour. Will this have any effect on the texture of the skin?

My previous was not too successful. The imprint is visible before baking but after baking its like looking at it without my glasses-> blur n not visible.

Pls kindly provide me with some advice. I m planning to make mooncake for this year Mid Autumn.

thks

Celia

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Celia,

It's better to use Hong Kong flour for making mooncakes. They are softer whereas the plain flour makes the mooncakes very hard.

When you bake your mooncakes, bake at 200C for about 10 mins, take it out, cool slightly then brush with egg glaze and rebake again at 175C for another 10 mins. or till golden brown.

rgds

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Celia,

It's better to use mooncake syrup. The green tin "Lyle's" golden syrup will make the skin very hard. Maybe you should dilute with a little water.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,

Thank u for all your advice. I will take note n try again.

This time round i think it's abit late to make the mooncake syrup(have to wait 1 yr for it to mature), so i will take your advice of diluting with abit of water and use Hongkong flour instead.

Wish me better result this time round.

Thks.

Celia

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

If I wan to juz make ard half of what the recipe can yield, do I juz half everything?

Regards
Mrs Tan

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Mrs. Tan,

Ya, you can half the recipe if you want to.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Tks for your reply. I've actually posted a few queries for numerous recipes at your blog. You really take the effort to answer every one of them. I really appreciate that. Thanks once again.

Regards
Mrs Tan (one of your cooking 'fans')

Aunty Yochana said...

You're most welcome Mrs. Tan.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yochana,

If I were to prepare the lotus paste 1st and then leave it to end of the week to make the mooncake, do I need to keep the lotus paste in the fridge?

Regards
Mrs Tan

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Mrs. Tan,

no need to put into the fridge but if you want to keep at room temperature longer then brush some oil on the surface to prevent it form turning mouldy.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Aunty Yochana,

Do u mean cooking oil? Any kind?

Mrs Tan

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Mrs. Tan,

Yes cooking oil like peanut oil or cornoil.

rgds

Anonymous said...

aunty yochana,

tks a million. enjoy your national day tomorrow.

Rgds
Mrs Tan

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

Need your advices on the following:
1. How many grams of lotus paste to be used to wrap the salted egg yolks vs the 45gms of pastry?

2. If no salted egg yolks to be used, how many grams of lotus paste should be used, so that the pastry will be not more than the fillings?

Cheers

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Kate,

The amount of lotus paste normally depends on the size of your mooncake mould.

This is only a rough guide. You try and adjust to your liking then use a marker to record it onto the mould so that next year you need not crack your head..

Pastry is 45 gm.
Paste plus egg yolk is about 135 gm.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

Thank you for your speedy response : ) Have a great weekends ahead : )

Cheers

n2inpink said...

dear Aunty, OMG the little pigglet is hands moulded? two thumbs up!

May i know what is groundnut oil? possible to subtitute it with other oil? any advise? or can I get it from NTUC fairprice or phoon huat?

for alkaline water, can i omit it? may i know what is it for?

thanks in advance

Aunty Yochana said...

hi n2inpink,

There are many brands of groundnut oil selling in NTUC - Knife brand , Cock's brand,etc. You can also use cornoil if you want to.

Alkaline helps to make the pastry has a darker shade of colour.

rgds

n2inpink said...

thanks for your fast respond!

takecare......

n2inpink said...

dear aunty yo,

for Lotus paste recipes, there is 2tbs maltose. may i know what is this? any subtitude? or where I can buy it? I'm not convinience go to sun lik or Kwong Cheong Thye, they close very early, my office is quite far. but my house near to phoon huat & NTUC, is PH golden mooncake syrup good? have you try before?

thanks in advance.

Aunty Yochana said...

hi n2inpink,

you can buy maltose from phoon huat, wet market or ntuc. They are very common.

Rgds.

n2inpink said...

dear aunty yo,

it's me again :)

ask you an amateur question ah?
is maltose same with golden syrup?

i play cheat when made lotus paste, didn't put maltose as i saw only 2 tbsp :P
i tried 1/3 recipes, very very nice... all use up.
wanna make it again, this time want to do more proper one, that's why asking about maltose again.

thanks in advance!

now wanted to

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi n2inpink,

maltose is malt sugar.

Maybe the next round you try with maltose and see whether the texture is better.

rgds

maria said...

hi
please tell me where you can buy these molds for mooncakes?
i lived in USA
or can you give the website to buy ?
I love all the mooncakes you did very beautiful
Thanks

Priscilla said...

Hi Aunty Yochana

I am currently in Vancouver and came across your blog from Imperial Kitchen.

Very new to baking and learning to make the traditional mooncake since the ones sold here do not taste quite the same as the ones sold in Singapore.

Need your advise:
1) If I could not get the alkaline water, can I leave this out?

2)I am probably too late to make my own golden syrup and can it be substitute with maple syrup?

blursotong Priscilla

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Priscilla,

Yes you can omit the alkaline water. Use Lyle's Golden Syrup instead of maple syrup. I'm not too sure about the maple syrup but you can experiment with it.

rgds

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Maria,

I bought my moulds from Singapore and Malaysia. It's easily available over here.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy, is the Hong Kong Flour = Pau Flour? Those flour that is used to make "Pau"? HK flour is not "Kao Fen" hor? Thank you.

regards,
jadelotus

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Jadelotus,

Yes Hong Kong flour is the pau flour.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Dear Lucy, thank you for your help always. Thinking of using your recipe(omiting the alkaline water) to make piglets for the kids. :)

regards,
jadelotus

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

I have made the traditional bake skin mooncake, this time round taking your advice using hong kong flour. The texture is in fact softly and it is edible after 2 days. But i need to seek your advice on the shaping of the mooncake, dont know why sometime can shape very well but sometime after baking it become like disfigure, the base like expand until very big.
Can Aunty kindly give some experience advise.

Thank you

Celia

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi celia,

It's overbaking problem. First you bake for 10 mins. Take it out and rest for a while. Brush with egg glaze and then return to the oven for another 10 to 15 mins. Do not overbake otherwise it will be fat at the bottom but when it's cooled, they will shrink back.
Remember the paste is soft so when it's in contact with heat, they will flow down.
rgds

Anonymous said...

Thank u Aunty. Will take note of the pointer that u have given.

Aunty, in fact i have bought the Alan Ooi mooncake book but in the book they did not mention rest the dough for 1 hour, so my lst try was all misformed mooncake, small head big bottom. Then i remember that in your blog u mention must rest for 1 hr, so i did a second batch which is better in shape, but my glazing skill still not very good, not very satisfied with the appearance. But anyway will try again this weekend.

Thank u for your prompt reply. U have been so helpful.

Celia

Yan said...

Hi Yochana...
came into your blogpage via LeeLee's link page...
the piglets you made are so adorable and chubby ...
will peep into your blogpage more often too ...
cheers
yan

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi celia,

When brushing, use a brush that is not too soft and don't dip too much egg mixture. Just lightly brush with the egg glaze a few times rather then applying a lot at one time which makes is ugly looking.
Have fun...

Hi yan's deelites,

happy browsing.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,
Tot of making this tonite and i would like to know if using hong kong flour, do we still need to wait for a few days before we can eat it? Thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi delia,

for my mooncakes, no need to wait overnight. Can eat right out from the oven,

rgds

Anonymous said...

Aunty,
Was wondering whether this mooncake pastry can be made into the mooncake pastry cookie or we need to change the ratio. BTW, i have excess mooncake cheese paste, what can i do with it? Thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi delia,

normally when I have excess paste, I will pinch some dough and press into the piglet mould. Knock it out and bake in the oven. No need to change anything....

rgds.

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

Thanks to u. Following your advice, this year the mooncakes i made received very good comments.

Mooncake using hong kong flour is really soft n dont need to wait for a few days to "return oil".

Next year i will try to perfect the shaping n brushing skill to get uniform result for every bake.

Thank u Aunty! A really big thank u to you.

Celia

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi celia,

Congrats to you. Hope to see you bake more mooncakes next year.

I have a friend who used my recipe to make her mooncakes and now her friends are ordering mooncakes from her. Really happy for her tho...

rgds

L4niee said...

hi aunty

Hong Kong flour is bleached all-purpose flour right? i live in the US and we don't have Hong Kong flour :(

Aunty Yochana said...

Yes you're right L4niee.

rgds

Anonymous said...

hi aunty,

I tried your lotus paste today! But i omitted alkaline water and substitute maltose with honey, as they dont sell maltose here :( The honey taste was too strong, and not to my liking! How can i kill the honey taste without re-doing the whole process again?? thanks

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi lisa,

just omit it lah...

rgds

Anonymous said...

Aunty,
may i know 1 tsp and 1 tbs in your recipe is about how many mL?
Thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Christine

1 tsp = 5 gm

1 tbsp. = 15 gm. (about 3 tsp).

rgds.

Anonymous said...

hi aunty yochana,

i would like to try making your mooncake. May i know how to select salted eggs? Because some salted eggs are very dry and pale. I like those which are still golden in colour and "oily" looking ones. Thanks! :)

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Jas,

I don't know how to select but I also tell my egg vendor that I need it for mooncakes and they give me special salted eggs without the black earth. They gave me those specially made for mooncakes, soaked in salt water. Very expensive and they sell only in large quantities like the whole carton.

rgds

Anonymous said...

hi yochana,

can you tell give me some simple steps on how to use a mooncake mould?

thanks,
Risako

Anonymous said...

oh sorry yochana, i get how to mould the mooncakes now...

these are great mooncakes.
risako

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunt Yochana, I really love the wide variety & range of food you make. Whenever I think of any cake to make, I will come to your site to look for advices & comments. Thank you for your generosity in sharing with us your experience!

Aunty Yochana said...

You're most welcome Bummybun

rgds

Anonymous said...

Dear Aunty Yo,

I have tried making traditional moon cake last year, on the first day the mooncake is very nice. But after a week, my mooncake baked skin color tone changed to 2 color, and part of the skin did not skin onto the lotus paste. Why is it so?

Thank you.

Best regards,

Jac

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Jac,

It means that your lotus paste has oil leak. the skin seeped the oil causing a two tone discolouration and the skin leaving the paste.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana

1) If the lotus seed is without skin, i can skip the step one, which is to add in the alkaline water and soak in hot water for 30 mins, right?

2) If i don't have a pressure cooker, does that mean i cannot make the paste?

Appreciate and thank you for your advice.

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi CN,

Yes you can skip the step one.

(2) You can use a normal pot to boil the lotus seeds until they are cooked through and soft enough to blend into a paste.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Dear aunt Yochana,

I tried the traditional mooncakes. They tasted good except that the sides are not brown enough. Can you please advise how do I make them darker in colour? Thanks!

Yen Li

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Yen Li,

The sides? You mean your paste is not dark enough. I think it's your moon cake syrup. It's not dark enough. Add in little bit more of alkaline water and some treacle.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,
Thanks for your reply. But what is treacle? By the way i used KCT mooncake syrup. I'm not suppose to lengthen the baking time or the mooncakes will turn hard right?Sorry to trouble you again.

Yen Li

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Yen Li,

Treacle is a thick, dark sugar syrup produced during raw sugarcane refining. It's easily available in cold storage or NTUC.

Huh....did KCT tell u that you can't lengthen the time? Strange? For me, sometimes when i don't have the time, I'll leave the paste in the fridge or at room temperature overnight and it still works...

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty Yochana,
Thanks for your advice.
No they didn't tell me that. I was just thinking if I lengthen the baking time to make the side skin darker,it may cause the mooncakes to be harder. Am I right?

Yen Li

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi yen Li,

Oh I see...now I know what you meant.

Rule no. 1 - never never overbake your mooncakes. It will expand and crack in the oven because of the lotus paste.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your help and advice.You're wonderful aunty and a great baker!

Regards,
Yen Li

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,
Opologise if u've answered for this qns.

may i know when we rest the dough for an hr. Do we need to cover the dough with a cloth? dry or slightly damp? will dough be better after resting for 2 hrs instead of 1hr =p?

Next, do u strain ur egg glaze beore use?

lastly, Possible to just use fried kao fen to dust the mould & hands? or need steam hk flour or any other flour is ok?

Thks here

lyn

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi lyn,

Don't use kou fen to dust ...it makes your snow skin dry and hard the next day.

yes I strain my egg glaze.

Resting 2 hours is better than one hour.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Thks Aunty,
How abt covering the dough with dry or damp cloth? Pls kindly enlighten, thank u...

lyn

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Lyn,

Just cover it with a plastic will do. The wet cloth will tend to soak up the oil in the dough.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Muuuaaakkkk Aunty....thks thks for ur super prompt reply this time...Am gonna bake it tonight...

One last qns pls(paisay, just came out from my mind 'blush')...

Need preheat oven? 'blush...blushhh' =ppp

lyn

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi lyn,

Preheating oven is an important to all bakes.

haha...have fun there.

rgds

Seko & Soc said...

Dear Yochana,

I'm cooking lotus paste now. It's seems too much oil and difficult to dry up even I cooked nearly 1 hour already. Oil over the lotus. I'm afraid of not drying the paste. Can you advice, how long did you cook the lotus paste? Can I use the paste after it being cool within the day or leave it next day?

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Seko

I cooked for about 2 hours..

To rectify your oil leak problem, add in some water and recook again. Stir it and it will bind together with the oil into the paste. Try this and see how it goes.
rgds

CheezyHeart said...

Hi Aunty,
I just bot the mooncake shinny glaze, it is true that this can be replaced with egg galze? Will it be better than using egg glaze.

Thannk you.

Seko & Soc said...

Hi Yochana,

Thanks for ur advice. I will try it again.

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi ChezzyHeart,

I bought the shiny glaze and threw it away after that. It's for making vegetarian mooncakes. I still prefer the traditional egg glaze.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,
I just made the golden syrup! And very excited to start on mooncakes next week. This would be my very first time making mooncakes.
One quick question, when I made the golden syrup I added the lemon and after I simmer the syrup, all the lemon pulp dropped and are in the syrup! Is it ok use the syrup with the lemon pulp?

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi cheryl,

After cooking the syrup, discard the sliced lemon and pour the syrup into bottles. You can kept it for years...won't turn mouldy.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,
Do u use grill mode, top heat, top & bottom heat or fan mode to bake the traditional mooncake? thanks

Aunty Yochana said...

hi anonymous,

I just use the normal top and bottom heat. No grill at all.

rgds

Anonymous said...

hi aunty yo,

how are you?

Just to check with you for bake mooncakes with homemade lotus paste (because no preservatives), should i store in room temp for them to return oil or in the fridge?

thanks to you, now i can made mooncakes as gifts! This is really enjoyable and meaningful. Thanks aunty yo! I will show u my mooncakes ones they are done! All credits goes to u! thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

Thumbs up Jas.

If it's already baked, you can keep in the fridge, no problem. Keep it in the fridge after two days at room temp.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,
For 125g mould. What will be the proprotion of skin & filling? thks

linda

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

May I check do you steam the salted egg yolk before wrapping it into the lotus paste? I worry that it will lose its yolk oil if I steam it before use but also worry that it will be raw. Some recipe book shows to steam and some don't. Please advise. Thank you.

- Cookie Monster

Eileen Tan said...

Hi aunty yochana
I tried to bake the mooncake using the recipe which I learned from cc. Quite similar to yours. But before I bring it to bake, the skin start to melt. After put in oven for a few min, it melt till can't see the shape of the mould. Endup after bake, all the mooncake out of shape. Can advice what is wrong to cause this problem? Thanks!
Eileen Tan

Aunty Yochana said...

Oops eileen..you should ask the teacher who taught you. She should be the best judge to her own recipe.

rgds..

Aunty Yochana said...

hi cookie monster,

better to bake for 5 mins in the oven before wrapping.

rgds

Eileen Tan said...

aunty yochana
Thanks for yr prompt reply. That recipe is a few yrs back when I learned but never tried one. Will try yr recipe n bake again. Can check with u, I still left with half kg of lotus n intend to bake yr pigglet. Can I know how much pastry do I need? Can just follow the full recipe of yr pastry? BTW, saw u using the mickey plate I am so happy. Because I afraid I didn't pack it nicely n post it will spoil it.

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Eileen,

you mean the mickey mouse plate is from you?? I thought it's from Weliana. Oh..thank you so much.

rgds

Aunty Yochana said...

Oh eileen I forgot to reply you about the lotus paste piggy. it depends on the size of your piggy. Use 60 gm paste to 100 gm fillings.

rgds

Eileen Tan said...

aunty yochana
no la, I ordered on her behalf n sent it to u, hehe!

Aunty Yochana said...

OIC ...anyway still thank you to you lah..

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Thanks for your prompt reply and advice. May I know how to bake the yolk? Just arrange them on the baking tray? or do I need to put oil on them? And at what temperature should I bake them? Sorry to have asked so many questions...1st timer so please pardon me.
Thank you very very much for your help :-)
- Cookie Monster

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi cookie monster

you can either rub it with sesame oil or wine and then bake for 5 mins.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Sorry, may I know bake at what temperature? Thank you.
- Cookie Monster

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi cookie monster

bake at 180C

rgds

You Fei said...

Hi,

May I know for the lotus paste right, do I blend it into a fine paste with the water used to boil the lotus seeds? I saw your step by step pictures on pandan lotus paste and it seems to me that your blended paste is quite "watery".

I tried making the paste yesterday and since my mother said boiling it will cause the flavour to be in the water instead she asked me to steam them instead. As a results i could still blend them into paste form but it was rather dry as compared to your pictures. However, i still managed to get a pretty nice lotus paste in the end =) Just wondering how to make it up till your standard =p

Please advice..thanks!

Regards,
You Fei

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi You Fei,

yes you have to blend the lotus paste with water. don't worry about the water, it will dry up and still goes into the lotus paste. Blending this way will make the paste smooth. If you steam it, the paste will be more coarse.

rgds

You Fei said...

Hi aunty,

Thanks for the speedy reply! I'll give it another shot and let you know how it turns out =))

Regards,
You Fei

Anonymous said...

HI Yochana,

I hv tried your recipe, the taste is good but I failed on the skin texture. The sides are hard n the base turns out like cookie, hard and crispy :(

I tried both top n bottom fire with and without fan, both the base turn out same :( Do u know whether I hv gone wrong? Could it be the timing?

Other than that, the mooncake taste nice :)

Best regards, et

Aunty Yochana said...

hi et,

Guess you have to attend a mooncake class. It will save you a lot of mistake and money that way.

rgds

Anonymous said...

hi aunty!

can i check with you, 90gm of oil and 200gm of mooncake syrup is equal to how many ml?

many thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

I tried this recipe again today. The moulding of mooncake was OK but after the 1st bake, the mooncake sagged and was a bit out of shaped. Do you know what went wrong? Bake at 180C for 10 mins followed by 30mins rest, egg wash and bake again at 180C for 10 mins.

Rosalynn

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yochana,
i tried making your mooncake but am having trouble wrapping the pastry around the paste. i do a 2/3 filling to 1/3 pastry. every time i try to wrap, the pastry tears and i can never seem to cover the paste completely. i end up with holes all round my mooncake. can you please advise.

thank you,
thao

Anonymous said...

aunty yochana i have baked the mooncake.. the taste is good, but i failed on the skin.

1) My skin was too moist, sticky at touch. Is it i have not bake long enough?

2) For glazing, do i have to glaze the side also or the top surface will do?

3) The mooncake also looks oily, but taste still ok. Is it normal or i did something wrong?

Hope to seek your advice.

Thank You.. cn

Aunty Yochana said...

hi anonymous,

You have to rest your dough 2 - 3 hours before moulding. Maybe your mooncake syrup is too thick. Glaze only the top of the mooncakes. Side no need to glaze. Oil seeping out is due to your oily lotus paste, not the skin.

rgds

Aunty Yochana said...

hi anonymous,

gm and ml is the same.

rgds

Unknown said...

Hi aunty I was wondering if the lotus seeds can be canned or does it have to be dry? If it can be canned do u still undergo the same method for making the paste? Thanks so much your site and creations are wonderful

Aunty Yochana said...

hi nhi,

cannot use canned lotus seeds...

rgds

MH said...

Hi, aunty yochana!

I just started making mooncake this year using your recipe. Just want to let you know that the mooncakes were very well received! :) Hop to my blog if you've the time. Thank you very much!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi MH,

I saw your blog...Thumbs up!!

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,

I got a bottle of maltose that I bought in order to do mooncakes. And now it's sitting in my pantry, I've got no idea what should I use them for. Do you have any recipes like steamed cakes which I can use them? Please advise.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana, Thank you for sharing with us your recipes :D
Your mooncakes seem amazing and I cannot wait to try them!

However, I have some questions as I'm not an English native speaker. Could you tell me what are the following ingredients please? ( maltose and alkaline water.) Moreover, is condensed milk the one which is very sweet?

Many thanks!

Florence

PS my email address is laendra@hotmail.com

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi florence

maltose is like a thick sugar syrup - something like golden syrup. Alkaline water is Lye water - transparent white.

Condense milk is the thick milk. We used it for coffee and tea too.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

I had tried followed your recipe making the lotus paste and the Traditional Moomcake yesterday. It came out really good. The paste is very nice. Your recipe really help
me a lot. The next thing I'm trying out is the moon cake syrup.I'll let you know the result when i had done it.

Thanks

Miwa Yutaka said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

I saw your mini mooncake and is really very nice. I would like to make myself but I am not sure what is hk flour flour chinese name? or where got sell hk flour? Thanks.

kelly said...

hello aunty yochana,

can i reduce the oil used for the lotus paste? cos i dont like too oily.. haha.

thank u

kelly said...

Hello aunty yochana,

sorry to ask u another qn. i tried to make e paste already but it took sooooooo many hours to boil till soft (cos i dont haf a pressure cooker) i added sodium bicarbonate, then it became very soft in half an hour. but the paste would stick to your mouth when u eat it, even though i fry till very dry. and i find there is a slightly funny taste, different from normal lotus paste. may i know is it because of e sodium bicarb?

thank u very much, really appreciate it :) God bless u!

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

My paste turn out to be very sticky!! It just stick everywhere!! It stuck onto the mixing bowl where I left to rest for an hour, on my hands, on the weighing scale, on the rolling pin & board. I end up having lesser dough and more paste.

Was that something wrong with the measurement?

Please advise.

Tks,
AG

Anonymous said...

HI Aunty Yochana,

The paste J made turn out very sticky. I had problem shaping them and end up adding more flour which resulted in hard pastry. What went wrong? And can I reduce the sugar syrup in the pastry?

Tks & regards,
AG

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi AG

You have to rest your dough for longer period.

The dough is supposed to be soft. You must know how to handle it.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Dear Aunty Yochana,

Thanks for your advise. I will try making the dough again.

Regards,
AG

Susan said...

hi aunty, can i use top flour instead of HK flour,tq

Ade said...

Aunty yochana,

May i know how do i cook the lotus paste if i do not have a pressure cooker?

And do i have to brush the mould with oil before moulding the mooncake?

Celine said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Do you have the recipe only for the traditional "little piggy" mooncake without the filling?

This is my favourite during my childhood time.

Celine said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Do you have the recipe only for the traditional "little piggy" mooncake without the filling?

This is my favourite during my childhood time.

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

I would like to make mini mooncake. Can i know the dough/filling portion to use for 63g mould? Thanks alot!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi anonymous

u can either use 50%/50% ...it's up to individual's taste. If you like more skin, use more skin then.

rgds

yin said...

hi aunty, i realised that when i wanted to start wrapping the dough was very oily even after i rested it for an hour. why is that so? also, after baking, i find that my mooncake has a mouldy look. what could be the cause? thanks

Anonymous said...

You are an amazing baker. I am planning to make some traditional mooncakes, but I have one question: What is the purpose of using alkaline water?

Thank you for your help and attention.

Betty

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yochana,
I can't find the recipe for your mooncake syrup, can u advise where to find it? I'm going to try making mooncakes for the first time, and would like to use your recipe. Thanks!

Cheers,
Claire

Chinese Soup Pot said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

I just want to say that I'm very impressed with your moon cake and lotus paste recipe. It is so wonderful that you are sharing and passing along this traditional Chinese baking recipe. Thanks again!

Linee Yeo said...

Help!!! My paste is just a big oily mess!!! How to get it absorbed into the lotus paste???

Jennifer said...

Hi Auntie,

I just found your site. It's awesome! However, I can't find the moon cake syrup recipe. Could you please post the link to the recipe here in the comments?

Thanks,
Jennifer

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty,
Just made lotus paste using another recipe...the result isnt too good, the paste is quite dry.
Then I came across ur recipe..i want to try it out.
Do I need to drain the water from the boiled lotus seed before blending?or blend with the remainder of water from boiling lotus seed?
Or shud I boil it until all the water has gone?
Thanks in advance :)