Homemade Shanghai Mooncakes

I know I had been disappeared for so long and I had missed the whole summer season, but I am back again and just in time to welcome the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival or most of you will name it as Moon-cake Festival.

To welcome Mid-Autumn Festival, moon-cakes can not be left out for this celebration and this is what am I going to share with you today.  In Malaysia, there are many types of moon-cakes, especially the varieties of fillings.  Lotus seed and red beans paste are most popular among of all, normally will be wrapped in a thin crust skin, whereby, we normally name it as traditional moon-cakes.  But this round, I am challenging myself with a different type of skin - Shanghai Mooncakes.  The only different is the skin which are crisps and buttery crust like biscuits and I had chosen red bean paste as the fillings.  I have also made some with additional duck egg yolk which goes well wrapped around by the red bean paste.    

As this was my first trial, the result of the look from outside does not attractive due to over-cooked (I promised, I will be more careful next round....sigh), but I am quite satisfied with the taste overall.  Do not feel panic when you see some cracks on the skin, that's pretty normal for Shanghai Mooncakes.

Happy trying and Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all of you!

Ingredients 

Pastry Skin:

300g superfine flour

40g custard powder

1 tsp baking powder

90g icing sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

60g shortening

60g butter

Fillings: 

Your choice of fillings, I used red bean paste.

400g red bean paste.

4 duck egg yolks, steamed for 5 minutes (optional)

White & black sesame seeds for garnishing

1 egg glaze

Instructions

1.  Sift flour, custard powder and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, follow by icing sugar to mix.  Add in beaten egg, mix well.

2.  Combine butter and shortening into the mixture and lightly mix in to form a soft dough (do not knead).  Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.

3.  While waiting for the dough to ready, make red bean paste into small balls of 40g each.  

4.  Wrapped in steamed 1 egg yolk in each of the middle of the red bean paste ball.  Set aside once all done.

5.  Preheat oven at 180 Celsius degree for 20 minutes

6.  When skin dough is ready, divide dough into portions of 60g each.

7.  Flatten dough and wrap a piece of filling and shape into a dome and arrange them on a greased baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes.

8.  Remove the tray from oven and leave aside to rest for 5 minutes.  

9.  Brush the moon-cakes with egg glaze and garnish with some white and black sesame seeds on top and continue to bake for another 15 minutes.

10. Leave it to cold before serving or storage.