Snow Skin Mooncakes 冰皮月饼

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Snow skin mooncakes are a Chinese dessert that have a soft and chewy skin (similar to mochi). They can be filled with custard and red bean. The fillings can be endless depending on your preferences. The colorful skin can be dyed different colors for a super pretty appearance. These snow skin mooncakes are eaten during Mid-Autumn Festival for dessert. Read more about this significant Chinese holiday below!

The snow skin mooncake has strawberries added to the center to resemble the egg yolk and full moon. You can also substitute with your favorite fruit 😉

What are mooncakes?

Mooncakes are a Chinese dessert and eaten on mid-autumn festival! Traditional mooncakes are baked with a golden exterior (like a flaky cookie) filled with a lotus paste and golden egg yolks. The golden yolk resembles the full moon on mid autumn festival.

What is Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節)?

Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 15th day of the 8th lunary month which always has a full moon. In chinese, the holiday in slang is called ‘8th month, 15’ (八月十五). The official holiday name in Cantonese is 中秋節, Jūng-chāu Jit.

The significance of the holiday is family gathering. All close family members get together on this day because the moon is the brightest and most round. When all the family is there, we call it a family reunion dinner which also has the character round in the phrase.

During Mid-Autumn Festival, we eat these foods during the reunion dinner: grapefruit, taro, peanuts, chestnuts, and of course MOON CAKES!

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED FOR YOUR SNOW SKIN MOONCAKES:

Note: no substitutions for the wheat starch, rice flour and glutinous snow skin mochi ingredients. Those ingredients are needed for the texture ◡̈

serving size: 12 mini mooncakes (6-10 people)

snow skin (mochi):

• 2 tablespoon wheat starch ($1-2 at the asian grocery store!)
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour (mochiko flour)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
• 1/4 teaspoon matcha powder (optional) – for coloring the mooncakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ube extract (optional) – for coloring the mooncakes

custard:

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon condensed milk
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 tablespoon wheat starch or corn starch

assembly:

• snow skin mochi
• custard
• 6 strawberries (top stem cut off), halved
• 1/4 cup toasted glutinous rice flour
• mooncake molds (I got mine from Amazon!)
• nonstick baking mat or cutting board
• rolling pin

STEPS TO MAKE THE SNOW SKIN MOONCAKES:

Snow Skin (mochi)

• Step 1. To make the snowskin’s chewy and soft exterior, mix the following ingredients with a whisk: 2 tablespoon wheat starch, 1/4 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour (mochiko flour), 1/2 cup milk, 1 tablespoon condensed milk, and 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil. Mix until there are no clumps and the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl with a plate, plastic wrap or a cheese cloth to prevent water from coming in to the batter when steaming.
• Step 2. Boil water on medium-high heat in a large pot. Once water is boiling, place covered bowl on a steaming rack. Steam for 20 minutes.
• Step 3. After steaming, take the bowl out of the pot and cool for at least 10 minutes. Make sure the snowskin is not too hot to touch. Knead the snowskin dough until it becomes soft and easy to move around similar to play-doh!

• (OPTIONAL) To make colored dough, roll the dough in a ball. Then, split the dough in half. Use half for white dough. Then, split the other half in quarters. Add 1/4 teaspoon matcha powder (or food color of choice) to the dough and knead until it turns green. Add 1/4 teaspoon ube food coloring to the other piece of dough and knead until it turns purple.

Custard Filling

• Step 4. To make the custard, mix 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1 tablespoon condensed milk, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, and 3 tablespoon wheat starch or corn starch. Whisk until there are no clumps.

• Step 5. Pour mixture in a pot and cook on low heat. Continuously mix with a whisk and then use a rubber spatula to fold in the custard. Cook for 4-7 minutes until the custard has thickened and looks like a paste.
• Step 6. Refrigerate for an hour prior to making the mooncakes. Wrapping the mooncakes with a firm custard is easier.

Assembly

• Step 7. Toast 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour on low-medium heat. Continue to stir the flour in a pan for 4 minutes and set aside. Cut strawberries in half and remove the tops.
• Step 8. Lay out a non-stick baking mat or cutting board. I’m using mini mooncake molds, so I will use less dough. Adjust the amount of snowskin dough depending on your mooncake mold. Grab 15-19 grams (having defined measurements of the dough ensures that it can fit in my mooncake mold!) of snowskin dough (some white, green and purple dough makes it so pretty!) and roll in a ball. Add toasted glutinous rice flour on the surface of the mat and on top of the dough. Flatten dough with a rolling pin. Add half a strawberry and 1/2 tablespoon custard. Finally, pinch the mooncake shut.
• Step 9. Place the pinched mooncake in a mooncake mold and gently press the mooncake to the sides. Push the mooncake mold to make the impression and you should have a mooncake! Be careful as the mooncakes are very soft/fragile and transfer to a plate (add toasted glutinous rice flour to the plate to prevent sticking). Refrigerate for 30 minutes prior to serving so the shape hardens!
• Step 10. Eat the mooncakes immediately as it tastes the best fresh! If you can’t finish them, you can place in a closed container for 1-2 days. Before eating, microwave with a wet paper towel for 1-2 minutes until snowskin is soft or steam them for 2 minutes. Happy mid-autumn festival!

Looking for more delicious dishes for Mid-Autumn Festival? I have some good Chinese dishes from my family:

• honey glazed sea bass – super easy baked fish to wow your Chinese family!
• sweet and sour pork ribs – inspired by Din Tai Fung’s ribs taste sweet, sour and savory! Perfect with rice
• chinese stuffed tofu – steamed tofu with shrimp is healthy and light!

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