Mid-Autumn mini mooncakes

Sorry if this recipe comes a bit too late since I made these right before mid-autumn and this post has been sitting in my draft box for a while. I hope next year I will be able to share my recipes sooner so everyone can give it a try on the very day! This recipe is one of those I have never imagined myself trying it on my own, so I am beyond excited to share with you. It's been over 5 years before I was able to celebrate mid-autumn festival with my family in Hong Kong, and this is my boy's very first experience the real authentic celebration. To celebrate this memorable year, I took the courage to try this almost impossible challenge of making my own moon cakes. The craving for traditional treats has slowly grown in me as I began staying overseas – moon cakes, traditional red bean pudding, rice dumplings, beef noodles, you name it. I used to love all those new kinds of frozen moon cakes with fruity fillings and interesting flavors, but this year I found it more meaningful to stay authentic and classic. This recipe is adopted by a popular asian food blog, for 12 mini mooncakes (the smallest moon cake mold available). I removed the egg yolk part for the filling and replace the lotus seed paste with chestnut and sesame filling.

Prepare time: 60 minutes
Baking time: 10-20 minutes
12 mini mooncakes (50g each)

Ingredients:
100 gm plain flour

60 gm golden syrup, store-bought
½ tsp alkaline water (aka lye water)
28 ml vegetable oil
420g lotus seed puree/paste (replaced with store-bought chestnut and black sesame paste)

Egg Wash 

1 large egg yolk

2 tbsp egg whites

       

Steps:

1. Use a large bowl, mix the golden syrup, alkaline water and oil well. Sift in flour and knead into a dough. Don’t over-stir or else it becomes hard. Cover with a film wrap and set in the fridge for 40 minutes
2. Roll lotus paste into a long tube. Cut into small pieces and each weighs 35g. Roll each portion into a ball shape. Set aside
3. Preheat oven to 180 °C (356 °F). Prepare the egg wash: whisk the egg yolk with the egg white. Sift through a fine sieve
4. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, each weighs about 15g. Roll each portion into a ball shape. Cover a dough portion with a cling wrap and roll into a thin disc. Then take a lotus paste ball, wrap and seal the lotus paste ball with the dough 
5. Grease the mooncake mould and place the stuffed mooncake into the mould. Press the mould into the bottom of the mold until it's spread evenly across the entire mold. Lightly press the mould handle, then remove the mooncake from the mould. Transfer the stuffed mooncake onto a lined baking tray. Repeat this step to finish the remaining dough and lotus paste
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. About 5 minutes before the baking time, remove it from oven and brush the mooncakes with egg wash. Continue to bake until the pastry turns golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve it fresh from oven or until it becomes soft overnight

Tips:

1. Store in an air-tight container. The pastry will become soft, called “回油” （literally means ”returns oily and soft’） and shiny in one or two days
2. You MUST grease your mold with oil or flour generously to avoid the dough from sticking to the bottom
3. The dough tends to get sticky because of the syrup. It's best to work on the dough while it's still chill from the fridge. If the weather is hot and humid in your area, keep the rest of the dough in the fridge while you are preparing the stuffed moon cakes
4. In order to create identical moon cakes, use an electric weight to weigh each dough and filling
5. As a reference, the ratio of dough and filling of this moon cake is 3:7, and I found the thickness of the dough is a tad too thin. Maybe next time I will try 4:6 ratio for a thicker dough
6. The alkaline water helps make the shell fluffy and soft by neutralizing the acidity of the syrup. Please make sure the amount of syrup and alkaline water is measured correctly. Too much alkaline causes the shell appears too dark, while too less the moon cakes will look less appealing 

The Signature Lemon Cake

There was one time my home was loaded with unused lemons, and I have been brainstorming ways to turn them into some citrusy goods. Thanks to my friend, Sarah's, recommendation I found the perfect lemon pound loaf adopted from Eat, Little Bird (with some personal adjustments).  I have been craving for some classic lemon flavors and this loaf gives me just the right amount of moistness and sweetness, the perfect hint of tartness and a burst of lemon flavor in my mouth. Right on the first bite, I told Sarah "this got to be our signature cake if we ever open our bake shop". How can anyone resist a good piece of lemon cake?


Servings 1 regular pound cake loaf
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 40-45 minutes
Preheat Oven: 356 ºF (180 ºC)

Ingredients:
175g plain flour (1 1/2 cup)
175g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
125g butter (1/2 cup)
2 large eggs, room temperature
4 tbsp milk
1 whole lemon zest
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Syrup
50g icing sugar
1/4 lemon juice

Icing
100g icing sugar
1/4 lemon juice

Steps:

1. Preheat oven. Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Leave butter and eggs until room temperature
2. Cream butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in lemon zest and fold in gently
3. Sift flour and mix all dry ingredients together. Add them to the batter until combined. Add milk and vanilla extract. Do not over mix
4. Pour batter into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown
5. During the last 10 minutes of the baking time, prepare the lemon syrup and icing. To make syrup, dissolve the icing sugar with the lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook until the syrup thickens. Set aside until it cools
6. To make the icing, mix lemon juice and icing sugar until dissolves and creates a white and thick consistency
7. After the cake is ready, poke holes on the cake and spoon syrup over the cake evenly. Leave the cake cool completely in the pan. After the syrup sets in, pour the icing over the loaf literately

Tips:

1. Be aware of the size of the stick you use to poke the holes on the cake. Otherwise it may make the cake look less presentable (see picture)
   
2. Icing is optional, since the original recipe doesn't call for that. But I like how the icing adds a new texture to the cake and makes the cake more flavorful