Makes approx. 13 small moon cakes of 50g gram each or 3 large moon cakes of 180g each
Ingredients:
Outer Pastry approx. 270g:
1. 120g plain flour (1 cup)
2. 30g Graham flour (1/4 cup)
3. 65g golden syrup or honey (1/4 cup)
4. 30g vegetable oil (3 TBS or 45ml) (I use sunflower seeds oil)
5. 3/4 tsp lye water (alkaline water) (3g) You can buy lye water from a Chinese grocery store.
6. 1 egg yolk (approx. 18g) (optional)
7. 1 tsp matcha powder (2g)
8. 0.5g salt (equivalent to just a quick dash of salt)
Filling approx. 400g:
1. 100g dried mung beans (yields approx. 275-300g of cooked mung bean paste)
2. 100 - 120g date paste
3. 50ml olive oil
4. 1 TBS matcha powder (5g)
Directions:
Prepare the filling first:
This can be done ahead of time or the day before :-)
1. Rinse and drain 100g of the mung beans.
2. In a pot, add mung beans and cover it with about 1 inch of water above the beans.
3. Bring to boil, and cook under medium heat until the water is boiled down and the beans are soft, about 1.5 hour. Monitor and adjust with more water, if all the water has evaporated, before the beans are cooked.
4. Drain away any excess water and blend with a hand blender until smooth.
5. The mung beans are done when you can mash them easily with a fork. Drain the cooked mung beans, but keep the water.
6. Using a handheld blender, blend until smooth. Add back some mung beans cooking water if it is needed to achieve a smooth consistency.
7. Heat a pan on medium high heat on the stove, add the mung bean puree and 50ml of olive oil into the pan. Stir and cook until the mung bean paste and oil are incorporated into the puree.
8. Add 120g date paste and 1 tablespoon of matcha power to the mung bean paste. mix well and cook until the paste is pulling away from the pan and coming together as one piece, looking shining and smooth, about 6 to 10 minutes, depending on your heat level and how much water you added while blending the mung beans. The paste shouldn't stick to your hands.
9. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool before using. The paste will thicken quite a bit after cooling down.
Then prepare the outer pastry:
1. In a mixing bowl, add 65g of golden syrup or honey.
2. Add 30g of vegetable oil (I use sunflower seeds oil.)
3. Add 3/4 teaspoon (3g) of lye water, which is alkaline water.
4. Add 0.5g of salt (optional) and mix well.
5. Add 30g of Graham flour
6. Add 120g of plain flour
7. Add 1 egg yolk (optional)
8. Mix until combined. Don't overmix, otherwise it will become too flexible and lose its strength to hold the filling.
9. Wrap the pastry dough with a kitchen wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
Assemble:
1. Weigh 20g of pastry dough and roll into a ball. Place the pastry dough on a plate, cover with a string wrap and set aside.
2. Weigh 30g of mung bean filling and roll into a ball.
3. Wrap the filling into a dough as shown in the pictures below.
4. Lightly coat it with flour.
5. Place each of them into the moon cake mold.
6. Press and make it fit evenly into the mold.
7. Gently knock the moon cakes out of the mold.
8. Place them neatly on a baking tray laid with baking paper. Sprinkle a bit of water to prevent them from cracking under baking.
9. Bake for 5 minutes at 165 degree Celsius and let them cool down for 15-30 minutes. Very important, don't skip this step, otherwise, the pattern of your moon cakes will be blurred during baking.
10. Meanwhile prepare egg wash with 1 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of water and mix well.
11. After the moon cakes have cooled down for 15-30 minutes, very lightly coat it with just one stroke, apply the first coat of egg wash. otherwise again the pattern will be blurred during baking.
12. Bake for another 5 minutes and take it out and let it rest for another 15-30 minutes.
13. Lightly apply a second coat of the egg wash on the moon cakes.
14. Bake for another 5 minutes and take it out of the oven. You can off the oven now.
15. Once the moon cakes have cooled down, store in an airtight container for 2-3 days for the moon cake to rest and set, before eating... now is the time to train your patience!!
Additional Information:
Our children love mung bean moon cakes too. Mung beans are one of the best plant-based sources of protein. They're rich in essential amino acids, antioxidants, and nutrients that may help reduce blood pressure, LDL cholesterol levels, and heart disease risk.
The ratio of pastry to filling for each moon cake is 40/60, i.e. 70g of pastry to 110g of filling. If we are making the small moon cakes, we would use 20g pastry to 30g filling.
In my family, we love the pastry, so we sometimes even make it 50/50, i.e. 25g of pastry and 25g of filling, but you can also use a ratio of 30/70, i.e. 15g pastry to 35g filling.
If you are using honey instead of golden syrup, just be aware that your moon cake pastry will take a longer time to soften. So you will have to wait for 3-4 days instead of 2-3 days, before they are tasty enough to be eaten.
The egg wash in done in two steps because it is very delicate and can easily destroy the pattern on the moon cakes, if too much egg wash is applied. For this reason too, it is very important to let the moon cakes cool down for 15-30 minutes in between baking before applying each round of egg wash
The golden syrup used to make the moon cake outer pastry can be easily made using homemade golden syrup.
If you don't have maltose for the filling, you can use golden syrup or honey.
These moon cakes are not overly sweet, unlike the commercial ones. The fillings of these moon cakes are naturally sweetened with dates. The sugar content in dates naturally occurs because they are whole, unprocessed fruits. Dates are nutritious fruits with potential benefits. Dates are a source of antioxidants that may protect against disease. Research has found that dates help support brain, digestive, and heart health.
Many recipes call for the soaking of the mung beans, but it is not necessary at all.
I have used olive oil in the mung bean paste filling many times and it turned out great, one couldn't taste the olive oil at all. For a less sweet version, 120g of date paste is sufficient.
Many of the moon cake recipes online don't contain egg yolk in the ingredient list of the outer pastry, but unless you are allergic to eggs, it adds to the taste, texture and nutritional value of moon cakes.
Unfortunately, you can't use more than 20% of wholewheat flour, as the dough won't be elastic enough and will be very difficult to handle, although it would not affect the taste of the moon cakes.
References:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mung-beans
https://whattocooktoday.com/matcha-white-chocolate-mooncakes.html
Prepare the filling:
Pack of 600g dates
Prepare 100g of dried mung beans.
Rinse and drain them.
In a pot add 4 cups (1 litre) of water or about 1 inch of water above the beans.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer.
Cook, covered with the lid slightly ajar (to prevent it boiling over), for 1 hour. Keep an eye on the water level as you may need to add more during the simmering.
The mung beans are done when you can easily mash them with a fork. 100g of dried mung beans yield 325g of cooked mung beans. Drain the cooked beans, but keep the water aside for later use.
Using a handheld blender, blend until smooth. You may need to add back some of the mung beans cooking water to achieve a smoother consistency.
Heat a pan over medium-high heat, add mung bean puree and 50ml of olive oil. Stir and mix well.
In a separate bowl, add the mung bean paste and 1 tablespoon of match powder and
Mix well.
Add 120g of date paste and mix well.
Stir and cook it until it is dissolved into the paste. Continue cooking until the paste is pulling away from the pan and coming together as one piece, looking shining and smooth, about 6 to 10 minutes, depending on your heat level and how much water you added while blending the mung beans.
Remove the pan from the heat and let cool before using. The paste will thicken quite a bit after cooling down.
Prepare the outer pastry:
Add 65g of golden syrup
Or 65g of honey instead, if you don't have golden syrup at hand.
Add 30g of vegetable oil such as sunflower seeds oil
Add 3/4 teaspoon of lye water (3g), which is alkaline water. You can buy lye water from a Chinese grocery store.
Add 0.5g salt (optoinal), just a dash will do)
Stir and mix together.
Add 30g of Graham flour
Add 120g of plain flour
Add 1 tablespoon of matcha powder and mix well.
Add 1 egg yolk (optional)
Mix until combined. Don't overmix, otherwise it will become too flexible, lose its strength to hold the filling.
Now the pastry dough is done. Wrap it with a kitchen wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
Weigh 70g of flour.
Place the pastry dough on a plate.
Cover with a string wrap and set aside.
Place a portion between two baking sheets.
Roll it out flat.
Remove baking paper. Place a filling on top of the dough.
Wrap the filling.
Now it's done :-)
Done :-)
Cover with a string wrap and set aside.
Lightly coat it with flour.
Place each of them into the moon cake mold.
Press and make it fit evenly into the mold.
Gently knock the moon cakes out of the mold.
Place them neatly on a baking tray laid with baking paper. Before placing them into the oven, lightly sprinkle a bit of water to prevent them from cracking under baking. Bake for 5 minutes at 165 degree Celsius. Do not bake for more than 5 minutes each time. Otherwise the moon cakes will expand too much and crack.
Meanwhile prepare egg wash with 1 egg yolk and
1 teaspoon of water and mix well.
After the moon cakes have cooled down for 15-30 minutes, very lightly apply the first coat of egg wash.
Bake for another 5 minutes and take it out. Do not bake for more than 5 minutes each time. Otherwise the moon cakes will expand too much and crack.
After the moon cakes have cooled down for another15-30 minutes, very lightly apply the second coat of egg wash.
Take them out and let cool. You can off the oven now. A day later, they are looking more golden and shining :-)
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days for the moon cake to rest and set, before eating... now is the time to train your patience!!
hese are moon cakes after resting for 2 days, look how golden and shining they are. The pastry is soft and firm, perfect for consumption now.
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