What is a moon cake?
A moon cake is a Chinese dessert traditionally eaten during the mid-Autumn festival. This culture are still widely celebrated in the Chinese community and is often celebrated within families and moon cakes are commonly given out a gifts to extended families and friends.
The mid Autumn festival is base around the appreciation of the Lunar year and involves moon watching, which explains the shape of the moon cake which is very commonly round.
What exactly is Wheat Starch?
Do not confuse wheat starch with wheat flour, even though the two derives from the same source. Wheat flour is the flour that are grounded from the wheat kernel, whereas wheat starch is the starch that has been extracted from the endosperm part of the wheat kernel but has gone through the process of having gluten separated from the starch. This process technically makes wheat starch gluten free. Although most wheat starch are considered gluten free, in reality, it is difficult to completely separate wheat starch from the protein that contain gluten in the wheat grain. Under the Food and Administration (FDA)'s gluten free labelling, wheat starch is only allowed in gluten-free food as long as the final product contain less than 20 ppm (parts per million) of gluten. If you are concern about gluten in the product, it is best to check the labelling on the packaging.
If you have celiac disease, you may need to consider this starch as containing traces of gluten. Alternatively, wheat starch can be substituted for corn flour, which is gluten free.
RECIPE
Makes 15 x mini Moon cake
(For Larger mooncakes, double the recipes)
Custard fillings
50 ml Full cream milk
30 g Castor sugar
35 g Wheat Starch / Corn flour
9 g Custard powder
50 g Egg
15 g Unsalted butter
Method
1. Place milk and castor sugar in to a pot over medium heat until the sugar have dissolved.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together egg, wheat starch and custard together until smooth.
2. Bring the milk to a mere simmer, then pour over the egg mix while whisking, then transfer the custard back into the pot and over low heat, keep cooking the custard while constantly whisking until it thickens .
Note: be sure to make sure that the sides and bottom do not catch and burn in the pot.
3. Once the custard have thickens in to a really thick paste, remove from the heat, then whisk in the butter and keep whisking until all the butter are melted and the paste is smooth and try to get rid of as much lumps as possible.
4. Wrap the fillings in cling film and store in fridge to cool.
5. Once cooled, portion the custard in to 15 x 15 g individual balls, wrap and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
Snow skin wrapper
50 g Glutinous rice flour
40 g Rice Flour (88% Rice , 12 % Water)
25 g Wheat starch / corn flour
45 g Icing Sugar
190 ml Coconut milk
25 ml Vegetable oil
30 g Extra Wheat Starch
Note: The rice flour from western supermarkets here in Australia are quite different from the one you would get from the Asian groceries. The one in the western supermarket tends to be coarser and quite dry. I would highly recommend that you get the Asian Rice flour for best result.
Method
1. Sift all the dry ingredients in to a bowl, then add in the coconut milk and vegetable oil, mix with a whisk until there are no more lumps.
2. Cover with a cling film and place over the steamer and steam covered with a lid over high boil for 30 to 50 minutes or until the mix is thick and translucent.
Meanwhile, place the extra 30 g wheat starch over a frying pan over low heat and stir to cook and dry out the starch slightly. Transfer into a bowl to cool completely and set aside until ready to use.
3. Remove the bowl from the steamer and with the help of a fork, mix the gooey mixture until smooth again, then wrap the dough with a cling film and store in the fridge to cool completely or overnight.
4. The next day, portion the dough in to 15 x 20 g.
5. Roll the dough in to a ball, then press it flat between your palms and with the help of your thumbs, create and indent and while stretching the dough to 1/2 size larger than the filling. place the filling in to the indent in the centre of the dough and wrap the filling. Roll in to a smooth ball, then lightly roll the moon cake balls on to the dried wheat starch, then press it in to the mould.
6. Release the dough from the mould, dust off any excess starch, serve.
If you are keeping in for the next few days, store in an airtight container in the fridge. The moon cake is best consume within 2 days.
Short Videos
Work the moon cake wrapper in to a smooth dough, then wrap and store in the fridge to rest for at least 4 hours or overnight.
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