Friday, 20 September 2024

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Mooncake "Doll" Biscuits (公仔饼)


Makes 270g of 5 biscuits of 50g each

1. 150g plain flour (1 1/4 cup)

2. 70g golden syrup or honey (1/4 cup)

3. 30g vegetable oil (3 TBS or 45ml) (I use sunflower seeds oil) 

4. 1 tsp lye water (alkaline water) (4g) You can buy lye water from a Chinese grocery store.

5. 1 egg yolk (approx. 18g)

6. 0.5g salt (optional, equivalent to just a quick dash of salt)

Egg Wash:

1. 1 egg yolk

2. 2 tsp water or fresh milk

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, add 70g of golden syrup or honey.

2. Add 30g of of sunflower seed oil or other vegetable oil.

3. Add 1 teaspoon (4g) of lye water, which is alkaline water. 

4. Add 0.5g of salt and mix well.

5. Add 1 egg yolk and mix well. 

6. Add 150g of plain flour and mix until combined. Don't overmix, otherwise it will become too flexible, lose its strength to hold the filling.

7. Wrap the pastry dough with a kitchen wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour.

Prepare egg wash:

Mix 1 egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of water or fresh milk together.

Shaping:

1. Weigh 50g of pastry dough and roll into a ball. Repeat this step with the rest of the dough.

2. Place each of the balls into the moon cake mold.

3. Press and make it fit evenly into the mold.

4. Gently lift up the mold and release the moon cakes out of the mold.

5. Place them neatly on a baking tray laid with baking paper. 

6. Very lightly apply the first coat of egg wash on the biscuits, otherwise again the pattern will be blurred during baking.

7. Bake for 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius.

8. Remove from the oven and very lightly apply the second coat of egg wash.

9. Bake for 5 minutes. Any longer, the mooncake biscuits will expand too much and crack.

10. Remove the moon cake biscuits from the oven, apply the third coat of egg wash if needed. Otherwise, let it cool down completely.

11. Once the moon cakes have cooled down, store in an airtight container for 2-3 days for the moon cake to rest and set, so that they will become flavorful and beautiful before eating... now is the time to train your patience!!

Additional Information:

Growing up, I used to eat these mooncake biscuits in Singapore. They were usually in the shape of fish or rabbits and I loved eating them as a treat during mid-autumn festival.

The story goes that in those olden days in Singapore, the bakers baked these to test out the dough for adjustment before baking moon cakes. But they became very popular with children who don’t like moon cakes with fillings 😃 In Singapore, they come in shapes of fish and rabbits that appeal to children. 

But I heard from my friend that in Guangzhou China, they eat mooncake "doll" biscuits too. So these mooncake biscuits must have been passed down from China to Singapore :-)

References:







In a mixing bowl, add 70g of golden syrup (Please ignore the reading on the picture - we make rather reduced sweetness mooncake biscuits for my family).

Add 30g vegetable oil (I use sunflower seed oil) and 1 egg yolk (approx. 18g) and mix well.

Add 150g of plain wheat flour. Combine into a dough, but don't knead it too much, just combine is good enough.

This is how the dough looks like.

Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Roll and weigh into balls of 50g each.

You get roughly 5 - 6 balls.

Place each ball into the mooncake mold.

Press down.

Lift up and release the mold and your mooncake biscuit is formed :-)

Close-up :-)

All 5-6 mooncake biscuits are formed.

Prepare egg wash with 1 egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of water or fresh milk.


Very lightly apply the first coat of egg wash on each biscuit.

Bake for 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius. Any longer than 5 minutes, the pastry will expand and crack.

Here is how they look like after first baking.

Very lightly apply the second coat of egg wash on each biscuit.

Bake for another 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius. Any longer than 5 minutes, the pastry will expand and crack.

Here is how they look like after first baking.

Very lightly apply the third coat of egg wash on each biscuit.

Bake for another 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius. Any longer than 5 minutes, the pastry will expand and crack.

They are done :-)

Once the moon cakes have cooled down, store in an airtight container for 2-3 days for the moon cake to rest and set, so that they will become softer, more flavorful and beautiful before eating... now is the time to train your patience!! They will turn darker, 

These are the mooncake biscuits that have been rested for 1 day :-)


Mooncake biscuits after resting for 2 days.



Mooncake biscuits after resting for 2 days.

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