Make your own snow skin mooncakes

You do not need to be an ace in pastry-making to prepare your own snow skin mooncakes. This week, Mr Anup Kumar, the executive sous chef of cooking school Allspice Institute, shares a recipe that is suitable even for children.

To simplify the process, get mooncake fillings at bakery goods shops.

Mr Kumar, 33, usually goes for durian paste, mung bean paste, matcha paste, red bean paste or lotus seed paste.

The fun part is making your own snow skin dough. He suggests using yellow, cherry, blue or green food colouring. Or skip the colouring and make white snow skin mooncakes.

Mr Kumar recommends flavourings such as lychee, strawberry, banana, durian, pandan and peppermint.

Each recipe makes 400g of snow skin dough, which you can divide into 100g portions and with a different colouring and flavouring. Use 3ml of colouring (one to two drops) and 3ml of flavouring for every 100g of dough.

Similarly, instead of using 320g of the same filling, you can use four portions of different fillings.

SNOW SKIN MOONCAKES

Ingredients (Makes 16 mini mooncakes)

• 50g of tapioca starch or cornflour (for dusting)
• 120g snow skin flour mix
• 20g cornflour
• 80g sugar
• 65g margarine
• 180ml water
• 12ml colouring
• 12ml flavouring
• 320g mooncake filling

You will need a plastic mooncake mould (29cm x 6.5cm). Each mould makes four mini mooncakes of 5cm x 4cm x 2.5cm.

METHOD

1. In a clean unheated pan, add the dusting powder and place the pan over low heat. Gently fry for five to seven minutes.

2. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. Set aside.

3. Sieve the snow skin flour mix and cornflour into the heatproof mixing bowl of an electric mixer. Set aside.

4. In a saucepan, add sugar, margarine and water. Place the pot over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved and margarine is melted into the water.

5. Once the margarine is completely melted, pour the mixture into the snow skin flour mixture. The mixture has to be hot when you pour it into the flour mixture. The heat helps cook the flour.

6. Turn on the electric mixer on low speed for one minute to combine the ingredients to form a dough. Then increase the speed to medium and beat for four minutes.

7. Add colouring and flavouring, continue to mix for a minute to combine well.

8. Place the dough in a clean bowl. Cover with clingwrap, make holes in the clingwrap and chill for two hours.

9. Divide the dough into 25g portions. Take each portion and roll into a ball, then flatten it in your palm into a disc of 5cm in diameter.

10. Take 18g to 20g of filling and shape into a ball. Place the filling in the centre of the dough disc. Wrap the filling with the dough, rolling it into a ball.

11. Dust each ball with the cooked tapioca starch before pressing it into the mould.

12. To remove the mooncakes from the mould, knock the sides of the mould before turning it over to let the mooncakes slide out.

13. Chill until ready to serve.

FOLLOW HEDY KHOO @HEDCHEFHEDYKHOO ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE CULINARY ADVENTURES