Colorful Snowskin Mooncakes (includes steps and different varieties ideas)

After our successful experimentation of Baked Traditional Mooncakes with the basic Plain, Single Yolk, Double Yolk, etc, here we are experimenting the mooncake dessert world which is the snowskin mooncakes.

Check out our recipe of Traditional Baked Mooncake (includes steps and different varieties ideas)

Getting back to topic. This recipe yields approx 17, 60g Snowskin Mooncakes.


Basic Snowskin Dough

Dough Ingredients
150g Koh Fun/Kou Fien (or prepare your own self cooked Glutinous Rice Flour, method can be found in this recipe of ours)
150g Icing Sugar
70g Shortening
150ml Cold Water
Coloring

1. Sift the Kou Fien & Icing Sugar in a mixing bowl.
2. Gently rub the Shortening in to te dry mix until no lumps of Shortening can be found and looks like crumbs.
3. Divide the crumbs into equal portions in small bowls depending on the number of colours you wish to have. Same as well with the Cold Water then mix in the coloring into the water.
4. Pour in only a tablespoon of Colored Cold Water at a time to the Dry Crumbs. Slowly knead them until well combine.
5. Place the snowskin dough in a airtight container and chill the dough in the fridge for 30mins to an hour before use.


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Below are my creations: All here to share! Will update more soon and hopefully add on the step by step guide photos. Below are the experimented best weight of paste & other required ingredients.

Rainbow Snowskin Mooncake with Plain White Lotus
Total 340g; per mooncake 20g Snowskin Dough
Total 680g; per mooncake 40g Paste
Icing Sugar

1. Roll each color dough into 1cm diameter strips, line them all together and give it a tight squeeze and roll.
2. Slice them equally approx 19g to 20g.
3. Use a rolling pin and roll the Snowskin Dough flat.
4. Next Roll the paste into a ball.
5. Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Snowskin Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Snowskin Dough.
6. Lightly coat with cooked glutinous rice flour. Shake off any excess flour. Place it in the Mooncake Mold and flatten the shaped Snowskin Dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
7. Gently push out the Snowskin Mooncake and store in a air tight container.
8. Let it chill overnight before consuming.




Snowskin Mooncake with Plain or Alcohol Chocolate Truffle
Total 340g; per mooncake 20g Snowskin Dough
Total 425g; per mooncake 25g Paste
Total 17; per mooncake 1 Plain or Alcohol Chocolate Truffle
Icing Sugar

Plain and Alcohol Chocolate Truffle recipe link here! For Snowskin Mooncake, generously coat the truffles with a layer of Dark Chocolate believe it will taste better. Going to try shelled Truffle next round! Alternatively you can buy ready made from bakery or look around for Truffle sold in chocolate shop.

1. Portion the Snowskin Dough equally approx 19g to 20g.
2. Use a rolling pin and roll the Snowskin Dough flat.
3. Next Roll the paste into a ball create a well big enough to fit the Chocolate Truffle and wrap the paste around it evenly.
4. Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Snowskin Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Snowskin Dough.
5. Lightly coat with cooked glutinous rice flour. Shake off any excess flour. Place it in the Mooncake Mold and flatten the shaped Snowskin Dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
6. Gently push out the Snowskin Mooncake and store in a air tight container.
7. Let it chill overnight before consuming.

Snowskin Mooncake with White Lotus and Honey Grapefruit Lemon
Total 340g; per mooncake 20g Snowskin Dough
Total 425g; per mooncake 20g White Lotus Paste
Total 425g; per mooncake 20g Honey Grapefruit Lemon Paste
Icing Sugar

1. Portion the Snowskin Dough equally approx 19g to 20g.
2. Use a rolling pin and roll the Snowskin Dough flat.
3. Next Roll the paste into a ball create a well big enough to fit the rolled Honey Grapefruit Lemon Paste and wrap the White Lotus paste around it evenly.
4. Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Snowskin Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Snowskin Dough.
5. Lightly coat with cooked glutinous rice flour. Shake off any excess flour. Place it in the Mooncake Mold and flatten the shaped Snowskin Dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
6. Gently push out the Snowskin Mooncake and store in a air tight container.
7. Let it chill overnight before consuming.

Lesson Learnt: Don't bother trying to coat a layer of chocolate to saperate the Paste...

Normal storage tips: Place it in a air tight container and store in fridge immediately, consume within a week.
To store up to a few weeks: Place it in a air tight container and store in freezer immediately. A night before consumption, place the container in the fridge and let it thaw. Or Typically thawed a few hours in a fridge before serving, to allow them to soften. Refreezing is not advised.

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Below are some photo spams of the finish products. Will update more soon as we create new ones.


Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Chocolate Truffles (includes steps and different varieties ideas)

Truffles are delicious and can expensive! We're experimenting how to make a beautiful and yet delicious truffles. To be eaten or to be use for our bakes.

Apologize for the ugly starting photo below. Will be working out a nicely finish version soon.

Plain Chocolate Truffle
140g Dark Chocolate Droplets
Pinch of Seasalt
3 tablespoons of Heavy Cream / Thicken Cream

Double boil method is the best to work with.
1. Bring a 1/4 pot of water to a simmer.
2. Place a Alluminium bowl over and melt Dark Chocolate Droplets.
3. Whisk in the Seasalt for approx 15secs.
4. Remove and add in the Heavy Cream / Thicken Cream and Whisk till well combine.
5. Pour it into a airtight container and let it chill until firm (approx 30mins to 1 hour).
6. Prepare a layered of plastic airtight container.
7. Divide and shape the firm Truffles. Place them on the plastic with some gaps in between.
8. Cover up and refrigerate it until firm(approx 30mins to 1 hour) and it is ready to use or be eaten.


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Below is twist and our creations: All here to share! Will update more soon and hopefully add on the step by step guide photos. Below are the experimented best weight of paste & other required ingredients.

Alcohol Chocolate Truffle
140g Dark Chocolate Droplets
Pinch of Seasalt
1.5 tablespoon of Alcohol (Cointreau/ Courvoisier/ Chivas/ Champagne/ Jack Daniel's/ Kahlua/ etc..)
1.5 tablespoon of Heavy Cream / Thicken Cream

Double boil method is the best to work with.
1. Bring a 1/4 pot of water to a simmer.
2. Place a Alluminium bowl over and melt Dark Chocolate Droplets.
3. Whisk in the Seasalt and let it melt for approx 30secs.
4. Whisk in the Alcohol until well combine
5. Lastly, add in the Heavy Cream / Thicken Cream and Whisk till well combine.
6. Pour it into a airtight container and let it chill until firm (approx 30mins to 1 hour).
7. Prepare a layered of plastic airtight container.
8. Divide and shape the firm Truffles. Place them on the plastic with some gaps in between.
9. Cover up and refrigerate it until firm(approx 30mins to 1 hour) and it is ready to use or be eaten.


Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Eat everything with your fingers - at Tung Lok's Dancing Crab, Grandstand!

"Remember when your mummy said 'don't eat with your fingers?' That doesn't apply here!"

Today we're visiting Dancing Crab - Louisiana Seafood, the newest concept by the Tung Lok Group. Occupying what was previously the sparsely-patronized Modern Asian Diner at the Grandstand, this restaurant aims to bring Lousiana style seafood to the Singaporean palatte - with an interesting twist: You're actively encouraged to eat everything with your fingers!


Utensils are optional here - they're not even provided unless you specifically ask. What's even more enticing is that if you order any of the seafood combos, the entire bag is dumped right in the middle of the table (on new plastic sheets, of course) for everyone to just grab whatever they want and lick off their fingers afterwards.


The restaurant itself is a weird East meets West fusion concept. On one hand the food is Louisiana style and you have American Top 40 Pop and Rock hits blasting out of the stereo. On the other hand there's a Carlsber Beer Lady walking around serving Beer, and occasionally a restaurant-wide yum seng toast; If you empty your drink during this toast you get a refill on the house.


Fizzy Lemonade - $4 each
The restaurant is immensely popular, with queues of up to an hour on weekend nights. If you've made a reservation (or are willing to wait), once seated you might try the Grilled Butter Roll ($2) - good for soaking up the sauces that come with the Seafood Combos.


Truffle Fries ($7) were as competent as can be for re-fried frozen shoestring fries sprinkled with truffle-aroma'ed olive oil. Comes with a small sauce plate of dip but we much preferred to just dip the fries in the seafood combo sauce.


We also tried the Garlic Soy Sauce Wings ($9) which were a mixed bag - we really liked the oriental/asian flavour profile and the usage of a tempura-like batter, but thought that the batter absorbed too much oil (or the wings weren't drained well enough) making the wings a tad bit soggy and oily.


Of course, the stars of the show are the various Seafood Combo Bags - we go for the Combo Bag #01 ($80) which comes with a whole ~1kg Sri Lankan Mud Crab, 300g Prawns, 250g Mussels, Potatoes, Corn and Sausages. In your choice of Gravy of course: Signature (Mild, Spicy, Extra Spicy), Herb Butter or Beurre Blanc. Prawns are fresh and have a great solid bite, Crab was delicious with our Signature (mild) choice, but the mussels were strangely and disappointingly small (hardly any bigger than a 20cent coin).


The aftermath of the meal certainly isn't pretty! Thankfully the restaurant provides plastic aprons so you won't get any seafood juices on your clothes.


We really did enjoy ourselves a lot at the dinner. It's a little strange and yet liberating to eat your food directly off the table - and to hell with forks, plates, spoons and other utensils. The amount of seafood that comes in that $80 bag is fairly reasonable, too! On the flip side on weekends the wait staff - comprising mainly of attractive sweet young things (both genders) - can't quite cope with the crowd and as a result service is a little slow and spotty.

Nevertheless Dancing Crab is now firmly one of our favorite restaurants in the Grandstand area - and we'd definitely recommend it. Reservations highly recommended unless you don't mind wandering the nearby Giant or Pasar Bella shopping areas for 30-60 minutes while you wait for a table. Non halal.

Traditional Baked Mooncake (includes steps and different varieties ideas)

Time pass by so quickly that it's this year where I have set a goal to check mooncake off my exploration list. Since Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival a.k.a Mooncake Festival only comes once a year, it's definate the time to start experimenting!

This recipe yields 7, 160g++ Mooncakes


Mooncake Dough, Salted Egg Yolk & Glaze

Dough Ingredients
200g Superfine Flour
120g Golden Syrup
40ml Peanut Oil
2ml Alkaline Water

1. Mix Golden Syrup, Peanut Oil, Alkaline Water until well combine then set aside.
2. Sift Superfine Flour in a small mixing bowl and make a well in the center.
3. Pour in the Syrup Mixture in and use a spatula to slowly fold in until well combine.
4. Portion the dough into 40g per portion and cover it with plastic while it rest.


Glaze Ingredients
1 Egg

Mix till well combine then pour it through a sift then set aside.

Salted Egg Yolk Ingredients
Salted Egg Yolk
Drizzle of Chinese Cooking Wine
Drizzle of Sesame Oil

Remove salted egg yolk whites and place the Salted Egg Yolk in a plate add Chinese Cooking Wine & Sesame Oil. Coat well and put in the steamer to steam for 5mins and leave it to cool.


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Below is my creations: All here to share! Will update more soon and hopefully add on the step by step guide photos. Below are the experimented best weight of paste & other required ingredients.

Plain Paste Mooncake
Total 875g; per mooncake 125g Paste
Total 7g; per mooncake 1g Lightly Toasted Melon Seeds

1. Use a rolling pin and roll the Mooncake Dough flat.
2. Next Roll the paste into a ball.
3. Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Mooncake Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Mooncake Dough.
4. Dust some flour on the Mooncake Mold and place it in and flatten the dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
5. Gently push out the unbaked mooncake on a lined baking tray. Approx 1 to 1.5 inches apart for even baking.
6. Bake in preheated oven (top bottom mode) at 180°C for 5mins.
7. Let it rest and cool for 8mins.
8. Glaze the mooncakes with a soft brush.
9. Bake for another 10 mins at 175°C.
10. Leave mooncakes to cool fully then storing for 2-3 days, the Mooncakes will get set and the pastry skin will be shinny and soft and ready for serving. Chinese they call this process 回油.

Single Yolk Golden Lotus Paste Mooncake
Total 770g; per mooncake 110g Golden Lotus Paste
Total 7g; per mooncake 1g Lightly Toasted Melon Seeds
Total 7; per mooncake 1 steamed Salted Egg Yolks

1. Use a rolling pin and roll the Mooncake Dough flat.
2. Next Roll the paste into a ball create a well big enough to fit the Salted Egg Yolks and wrap the paste around it evenly.
3. Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Mooncake Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Mooncake Dough.
4. Dust some flour on the Mooncake Mold and place it in and flatten the dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
5. Gently push out the unbaked mooncake on a lined baking tray. Approx 1 to 1.5 inches apart for even baking.
6. Bake in preheated oven (top bottom mode) at 180°C for 5mins.
7. Let it rest and cool for 8mins.
8. Glaze the mooncakes with a soft brush.
9. Bake for another 10 mins at 175°C.
10. Leave mooncakes to cool fully then storing for 2-3 days, the Mooncakes will get set and the pastry skin will be shinny and soft and ready for serving. Chinese they call this process 回油.

Double Yolk Golden Lotus Paste Mooncake
Total 665g; per mooncake 95g Golden Lotus Paste
Total 7g; per mooncake 1g Lightly Toasted Melon Seeds
Total 14; per mooncake 2 prepared Salted Egg Yolks

1. Use a rolling pin and roll the Mooncake Dough flat.
2. Roll the paste into a ball create a well big enough to fit the some nuts and wrap the paste around it evenly, repeat until the total weight portion is 125g.
3. Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Mooncake Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Mooncake Dough.
4. Dust some flour on the Mooncake Mold and place it in and flatten the dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
5. Gently push out the unbaked mooncake on a lined baking tray. Approx 1 to 1.5 inches apart for even baking.
6. Bake in preheated oven (top bottom mode) at 180°C for 5mins.
7. Let it rest and cool for 8mins.
8. Glaze the mooncakes with a soft brush.
9. Bake for another 10 mins at 175°C.
10. Leave mooncakes to cool fully then storing for 2-3 days, the Mooncakes will get set and the pastry skin will be shinny and soft and ready for serving. Chinese they call this process 回油.

Mixed Nuts Lotus Paste Mooncake
Total 315g; per mooncake 45g Golden Lotus Paste
Total 7g; per mooncake 1g Lightly Toasted White Sesame Seeds
Total 7g; per mooncake 1g Lightly Toasted Black Sesame Seeds
Total 126g; per mooncake 18g Macadamia Nuts
Total 126g; per mooncake 18g Dried Cranberries
Total 126g; per mooncake 18g Almond Nuts
Total 126g; per mooncake 18g Hazelnut Nuts
Total 42g; per mooncake 6g Pumpkin Seeds

1. Use a rolling pin and roll the Mooncake Dough flat.
2. Roll the paste into a ball create a well big enough to fit the Salted Egg Yolks and wrap the paste around it evenly. Combine the 2 portions into 1.
3. Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Mooncake Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Mooncake Dough.
4. Dust some flour on the Mooncake Mold and place it in and flatten the dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
5. Gently push out the unbaked mooncake on a lined baking tray. Approx 1 to 1.5 inches apart for even baking.
6. Bake in preheated oven (top bottom mode) at 180°C for 5mins.
7. Let it rest and cool for 8mins.
8. Glaze the mooncakes with a soft brush.
9. Bake for another 10 mins at 175°C.
10. Leave mooncakes to cool fully then storing for 2-3 days, the Mooncakes will get set and the pastry skin will be shinny and soft and ready for serving. Chinese they call this process 回油.

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Below are some photo spams of the wrapping process steps will try to get all the steps photo taken.

No.2 Next Roll the paste into a ball
No. 3 Place it paste in the middle of the rolled Mooncake Dough and wrap the paste evenly with the Mooncake Dough.
No.4 Dust some flour on the Mooncake Mold and place it in and flatten the dough to conform to the shape of the Mooncake Mold.
No.5 Gently push out the unbaked mooncake on a lined baking tray. Approx 1 to 1.5 inches apart for even baking.

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Below are some photo spams of the finish product.


Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Condensed Milk Bread Recipe (includes steps & different varieties ideas)

The pretty dreamy look of this bread that have been popular for a while among bakers catches my eyes, but was holding back due to my mooncake exploration planning which the blog post is in progress!

Coming back to this recipe, I prefer this bread over the other 1st bread recipe Xtreme Express Bread / Buns / Rolls Recipe. WHY? This is way more soft, fluffier, and doesn't have the strong yeast smell/taste.


It's so pretty that you wouldn't believe this recipe only takes approx 110mins or 130mins! Best part you very little time working on it most of the time waiting for the dough to proof.

Bread Dough
200g Bread Flour
15g Condense Milk
120g Fresh Milk
20g Castor Sugar
3g Yeast
3g Salt
20g Unsalted Butter (room temp)

Place all ingredients for bread into a mixing bowl use a dough hook to knead for 10 mins or until dough is shinny.

Remove and shape into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl, place the ball of dough and cover it with Clingwrap and let it proof for 30 mins or double in size.


While waiting let's prepare the other ingredients~

Condense Milk Glaze
20g Condense Milk
20g Unsalted Butter (room temp)

Mix Condense Milk glaze ingredients until smooth.


Final Egg Wash
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vege Oil

Beat Egg with Vege Oil and strain through a sift before use. You can use any glaze that you have left over from other bakes.

Next, prepare a greased bundt pan or a chiffon tin.

After all these you still have time to play with your phone or laptop.

When 30mins is up, punch down the gas and roll the dough into a rectangle.


Glaze the dough generously with the Condense Milk Glaze. Don't move the rolled dough yet! Cut them in cubes like how you cut pizza by using pizza cutter / baking spread tool / knife / anything that would do the job.

Artistically arrange the dough cubes around the inner ring and building upwards of the greased bundt pan.


Cover it with Clingwrap and let it proof for 40 mins.

5mins before the second proof is completed. Preheat overn to 170ºC.

When 30mins is up, brush egg wash onto the bread and sprinkle your toppings.


Bake for 25mins. Remove from oven and dust it with icing Sugar. When it is totally cool you may wanna dust it again with icing sugar, as the previous one would have melted.

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Below is my creations: All here to share! Will update more soon as i get inspired. Below are the experimented best approx weight of other required ingredients to give this recipe a twist. You may add as much as you & your love ones like!

Cranberries & Almond Condense Milk Bread
For Topping
50g Cranberries
70g sliced Raw Almonds

Part of the topping can be used as filling sprinkles to be added on after glazing the dough generously with the Condense Milk Glaze.


Dark Chocolate Crumble Condense Milk Bread
For Topping
40g All Purpose Flour
4g Unsweeten Cocoa Powder
35g Brown Sugar
25g Butter (room temp)
50g Dark Chocolate Droplets

Mix All Purpose Flour, Unsweeten Cocoa Powder, Brown Sugar, Butter until well combine. It'll look like Crumbs, stir in Dark Chocolate Droplets and set aside to use after glazing the second proof.

Part of the topping can be used as filling sprinkles to be added on after glazing the dough generously with the Condense Milk Glaze. However, sprinkle only the cumble without Dark Chocolate Droplets. Also, be caution not to sprinkle too generously as it will break the structure apart.


Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Vanilla Ceylon Tea Sponge Cake

Exploration of adding tea to the baking world~ It has a mild hint of Dilmah Ceylon Tea, love it as a special cake base to be used for cake creations! Goes really well with Coffee or Tea, too!


Ingredients
250g Premix Sponge Cake Flour
4 Eggs
50ml Water
50ml Vegetable Oil
50g of fine Dilmah Ceylon Tea Leafs


Whisk together the Premix Sponge Flour, Eggs, Water, Vegetable Oil, and Dilmah Ceylon Tea Leafs on high speed for 8 minutes. Place in the oven to bake at 160ºC for 15 to 20 minutes. Use a cake tester stick or wooden stick to check, if it pulls out clear it's done!

Cool in the tray for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove from tray to totally cool.


Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~