Rejoice the Mid-Autumn Competition with these Mooncakes with Chestnut and Chocolate, a scrumptious autumnal mixture which everybody will love! Full and complete recipe to make mooncakes from scratch with step-by-step photographs.
Chestnut and Chocolate Mooncakes
I’ve lastly accomplished it! I’ve lastly been in a position to feed my children sufficient mooncakes that, this yr, once they heard that the Mid-Autumn Competition was approaching in September, they obtained all excited and mentioned they couldn’t wait to eat mooncakes once more ☺️
After all, they’re referring to my Chocolate Fudge Mooncakes (the Purple Bean Mooncakes rank second and the Lotus Seed Mooncakes are politely left for me).
However, final yr, within the spirit of making an attempt one thing new, I made some mooncakes with a chestnut paste filling. They have been impressed by my childrens’ favorite Chestnut Anpan from our native Japanese bakery, however I assumed I might add some chocolate chips to sweeten the deal. My children (and my husband!) gave them an enormous thumbs up!
Serve them whereas they’re nonetheless heat, and the chocolate will nonetheless be gooey on the within!
Chestnuts and Chocolate
Chestnuts are actually standard in European desserts, particularly once they come into season in autumn, and we all the time have a tube of chestnut cream to unfold on toast when somebody is feeling indulgent.
One in every of my favorite desserts in winter is a Mont Blanc, additionally known as Vermicelles within the German-speaking a part of Switzerland, which is actually chestnut purée served with crushed meringues, whipped cream and possibly some grated darkish chocolate.
I frequently make my Mont Blanc Pavlova within the winter months since you actually can’t beat the mixture of meringues, cream and chestnuts.
Because the Mid-Autumn Competition takes place when the roasted chestnut distributors begin to arrange their stalls right here in Zurich, it appears becoming to make mooncakes utilizing chestnuts 🌰
Mooncake Moulds
Urgent the mooncakes into completely different fancy shapes is undoubtedly the enjoyable a part of this recipe!
The mooncake moulds I exploit for this recipe are low cost and cheerful units that are available on Amazon.
I like to recommend shopping for a set with a number of moulds so that you’ve got a wide range of patterns to make use of, and likewise a mixture of sq. and spherical moulds.
If you’re making an attempt to introduce younger kids to mooncakes (or any Asian cake, for that matter), it helps to have enjoyable, cartoon shapes readily available to entice them. Though, I’m fairly neutral to the Whats up Kitty moulds for myself!
The mooncake moulds are available in just a few sizes – 50 g for small mooncakes (typically a superb portion for 1 particular person), or 100 g for big mooncakes supposed for sharing.
You may also purchase mooncake moulds in different sizes, however you will have a superb maths background to calculate the ratio of dough to filling 🙂
Make Mooncakes
Make Chestnut Paste
It’s doable to purchase ready-made chestnut paste right here in Europe, however making your individual implies that it’s more energizing and with no preservatives added, plus you possibly can management the sweetness of the paste.
I wouldn’t go as far as to prepare dinner and peel the chestnuts myself; the supermarkets right here in Europe readily promote pre-cooked chestnuts in vacuum-sealed luggage that are very simple to make use of in all candy and savoury recipes. Frozen chestnuts additionally work properly (thaw them first), in addition to canned chestnuts. Simply be sure that the chestnuts haven’t been sweetened or flavoured in any approach – you need them plain for this recipe.
You may also discover ready-made chestnut purée, each unsweetened and sweetened. I might advise in opposition to utilizing the unsweetened chestnut purée as a result of I believe it’s too clean – you need some texture within the filling for these mooncakes. However, at a pinch, if that’s all that yow will discover, I believe it could work high-quality on this recipe. However the sweetened chestnut purée is unquestionably too candy for these mooncakes.
I make my chestnut paste utilizing the same methodology to how I make Purple Bean Paste or Lotus Seed Paste. You must prepare dinner the paste to dry it out, in order that it turns into agency sufficient to make use of as a filling within the mooncakes.
Make Lye Water
Lye water is an alkaline water utilized in some recipes to assist with texture or color. For instance, lye water offers pretzels their signature darkish brown color. For mooncakes, a small quantity of lye water is used to present the dough a deep, golden color.
Lye water is available in Asian grocery shops in some nations, however not in others. As a result of its efficiency and irritant issue, lye water is even banned in some nations.
If you’re unable to purchase lye water, please see my recipe on learn how to make Lye Water with step-by-step photographs.
Make Mooncake Dough
Please see full recipe directions within the recipe card under.
This dough is pretty fascinating in that it makes use of golden syrup for each moisture and sweetness. I don’t suppose you possibly can substitute the golden syrup for an additional sort of syrup, neither is it worthwhile if you wish to create a mooncake which is each genuine in style and texture.
I exploit Lyle’s Golden Syrup, which is often utilized in British and Australian baking recipes.
When making the mooncake dough, you desire a combination which is pretty gentle and pliable. If the combination seems to be too dry and crumbly, add a touch of water to attempt to convey the dough collectively. In any other case, a dry dough can be troublesome to roll out later to stretch and canopy the filling.
If you roll out the dough, it ought to really feel each sticky and oily.
Form the Mooncakes
Please see full recipe directions within the recipe card under.
Mooncake moulds typically are available in two predominant sizes:
- 50 g moulds – the filling ought to weigh 30 g, and the dough ought to weigh 20 g
- 100 g moulds – the filling ought to weigh 60 g, and the dough ought to weigh 40 g
You’ll be able to mess around with the ratio of filling to dough, however the complete weight needs to be near the dimensions of the mould, in any other case the cake won’t match into the mould.
Relying on the consistency of your dough, you could have to mud your mould with some flour to stop the dough from sticking.
It could take you just a few makes an attempt to know the way a lot stress to use and when to launch the mould, however you need to get the dangle of it fairly rapidly.
Bake the Mooncakes
Please see full directions within the recipe card under.
Mooncakes have to be baked twice. The primary bake is usually to set the sample earlier than making use of any egg wash. In any other case, making use of the egg wash first may forestall the patterns from staying in place.
After the primary bake, it’s worthwhile to let the muffins cool barely earlier than making use of the egg wash. When you apply the egg wash too quickly, the egg may coagulate on the muffins and depart spots on the floor.
The egg wash needs to be brushed solely very frivolously on the muffins – you need simply sufficient to moisten the dough and to assist the muffins brown evenly. I like to recommend utilizing a pastry brush with high-quality (pure) bristles which is healthier at making use of the egg wash over the intricate patterns; a silicone brush typically picks up an excessive amount of egg wash.
The second bake is to totally prepare dinner the mooncakes till they’re golden brown throughout.
Ideas for Making Mooncakes
Making mooncakes is an artwork kind, and this can be a recipe which requires loads of endurance and a little bit of observe. It took me a number of makes an attempt earlier than I obtained the dangle of it and understood how the feel and consistency of each the dough and filling needs to be.
My suggestions for making mooncakes are:
- Begin not less than the day earlier than. Not one of the parts of mooncakes are notably troublesome, however all of them take a little bit of time. Beginning all the pieces the day earlier than will make you are feeling much less harassed and rushed in relation to making the precise muffins.
- Use a digital kitchen scale. Baking is culinary science, and science requires precision. In the case of making mooncakes and guaranteeing that every ball of filling and dough is precisely the proper dimension in order that it could actually match into the moulds, a digital kitchen scale will make life a lot simpler. It’ll additionally assist to make sure that your dough is made with the proper ratio of liquid to flour.
- Experiment with completely different mooncake moulds. Yow will discover many low cost and cheerful mooncake moulds on Amazon. Some moulds look very stunning however they don’t maintain their outlined strains as soon as baked. I’ve just a few enjoyable moulds for the children, together with some Whats up Kitty shapes, which I discover to be too detailed to maintain their kind throughout baking. This could possibly be as a consequence of a wide range of causes, however don’t be too disillusioned if the muffins find yourself wanting like little clean buns – they may nonetheless style nice!
- Make a wide range of fillings. When you have time, make a wide range of fillings and use the identical mould for every sort of filling, in order that you realize what’s inside. Not everybody likes salted egg yolks (particularly children), so I typically solely make half a batch with salted egg yolks inside. Lotus seed paste is my favorite filling, however I additionally love crimson bean paste and chestnut paste. There are additionally many “fashionable” fillings you could attempt, akin to inexperienced tea paste and chocolate fudge.
- Use enjoyable moulds for youths. Indulge the children and use enjoyable cartoon or animal-shaped mooncake moulds to entice them to attempt the mooncakes. Large children (aka adults!) love the lovable cartoon moulds too!
- Make a big batch. Given the time dedication required for making mooncakes, you could as properly make 1-2 batches – they make nice items for family and friends!
- Apply makes good. Like with most issues in life, after you have made mooncakes a couple of times, the method turns into much less daunting. I discover making mooncakes to be a bit like making specifically stamped cookies.
Mooncakes with Chestnut and Chocolate
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook dinner Time: 30 minutes
- Complete Time: 1 hour half-hour
- Yield: 18-20 small mooncakes
- Class: Desserts
- Methodology: Oven
- Delicacies: Chinese language, Vietnamese
Rejoice the Mid-Autumn Competition with these Mooncakes with Chestnut and Chocolate, a scrumptious autumnal mixture which everybody will love! Recipe with step-by-step photographs.
Components
For the Chestnut Paste
- 500 g cooked chestnuts (I purchase them in vacuum-sealed packs)
- 100 g caster sugar (or extra to style)
- 1/2 teaspoon high-quality salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4–5 tablespoons boiling water
- 100 ml sunflower oil (1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon) sunflower oil (or one other flavourless oil)
- 100 g darkish chocolate chips
For the Mooncake Dough
For the Egg Wash
Directions
For the Chestnut Paste
- Place the chestnuts, sugar, salt and vanilla into the bowl of a giant meals processor.
- Blitz the combination till it’s a clean paste, including sufficient boiling water as you achieve this till all the pieces comes collectively in a clean paste. The combination needs to be like a really thick hummus.
- Scrape the combination right into a massive non-stick pan.
- Begin cooking the paste over medium-high warmth.
- Use a spatula or wood spoon to stir the paste in order that the moisture can evaporate from the combination.
- As you stir, add a few tablespoon of the oil at a time.
- Preserve stirring till the oil is well-incorporated into the paste.
- As soon as the combination has emulsified, add some extra oil.
- Proceed till all the oil has been added.
- As soon as all the oil has been added, proceed stirring the combination in order that it could actually thicken.
- Ultimately, the objective is to have the ability to fold the paste from the outer-edges into the centre till the paste is slightly agency and may maintain its form. By this stage, the paste will resemble a really gentle cookie dough.
- Watch out to not over-cook the paste as it could actually burn.
- Switch the paste to a big bowl and let it cool utterly. The paste will agency up extra because it cools.
- Combine the chocolate chips by way of the cooled chestnut paste.
- If you’re making this paste forward of time, you possibly can maintain it in an air-tight container within the fridge for a number of days.
For the Mooncake Dough (this step requires approx. 45 minutes)
- Make the Mooncake Dough on the day you intend to make the mooncakes.
- In a big mixing bowl, whisk collectively the golden syrup, oil and lye water.
- Add the flour.
- Combine all the pieces collectively till a dough types.
- Flippantly knead the dough till you may have a gentle and clean ball of dough. If the dough is simply too crumbly and doesn’t come collectively properly, add some water.
- Wrap the dough in some plastic wrap.
- Go away the dough to relaxation at room temperature for not less than half-hour.
To Put together the Mooncake Filling
- For a 50 g mooncake mould, the filling ought to weigh 30 g (along with the Mooncake Dough of 20 g, the cake will weigh 50 g).
- For a 100 g mooncake mould, the filling ought to weigh 60 g (along with the Mooncake Dough of 40 g, the cake will weigh 100 g).
- Portion the Chestnut Paste as obligatory utilizing a digital kitchen scale. This recipes makes about 20 x 50 g mooncakes, so measure out 20 parts of the Chestnut Paste.
- Roll every bit of Chestnut Paste right into a ball.
- Place the balls of Chestnut Paste within the fridge whilst you get on with the remainder of the recipe.
To Put together the Mooncake Dough
- For a 50 g mooncake mould, the Mooncake Dough ought to weigh 20 g.
- For a 100 g mooncake mould, the Mooncake Dough ought to weigh 40 g.
- At this stage, the dough ought to really feel barely oily and sticky.
- Portion the dough as obligatory utilizing a digital kitchen scale. You need to have sufficient dough for about 20 mooncakes.
- Roll every bit of dough right into a clean ball.
To Assemble the Mooncakes
- Line a big baking tray with baking paper.
- Flatten a chunk of Mooncake Dough into a skinny spherical form which is simply massive sufficient to encase the filling.
- Convey the perimeters of the dough up across the filling, cupping the combination between your thumb and forefinger as you achieve this.
- Gently pinch the dough till it stretches to utterly cowl the filling.
- Pinch any cracks collectively, and even add a bit of additional dough to patch up any cracks if obligatory.
- Roll the combination right into a clean ball.
- Place the balls of crammed dough onto the lined baking tray.
To Form the Mooncakes
- Put together the mooncake moulds by affixing your required stamp to the plunger.
- It could be clever to frivolously mud the moulds with some flour to cease the muffins from sticking to the stamps. However I typically discover that the dough doesn’t stick, particularly if you’re utilizing the plastic mooncake moulds like I’ve.
- Place one ball into the mould. For sq. moulds, I like to recommend gently pushing the ball of dough right into a squarish-shape together with your fingers earlier than inserting it into the mould.
- Place the plunger straight onto the baking tray, and press the plunger down with some mild stress. When you press down too arduous, you may flatten the muffins an excessive amount of.
- Gently launch the mould from the cake.
- Repeat with the remaining balls of crammed dough.
- The muffins don’t unfold as they bake, however I might nonetheless suggest spacing them aside in order that they bake evenly.
To Bake the Mooncakes
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F (with out fan).
- Bake the mooncakes for 10 minutes.
- Take away the baking tray from the oven and let the muffins cool for 10 minutes.
- Scale back the oven temperature to 160°F/320°F (with out fan).
- In the meantime, make the Egg Wash by whisking the egg with some water in a small bowl.
- Flippantly brush the mooncakes with the Egg Wash, utilizing a pastry brush with high-quality bristles (a silicon brush picks up an excessive amount of egg wash for this process). Attempt to keep away from placing an excessive amount of Egg Wash onto the intricate patterns on the floor. When you have an excessive amount of Egg Wash on the muffins, use some kitchen paper to blot the muffins.
- Return the baking tray to the oven.
- Proceed baking the mooncakes for 10-Quarter-hour, or till they’re golden brown throughout.
- Let the mooncakes cool utterly on the baking tray, which is able to permit them to develop a crisp backside.
To Retailer the Mooncakes
- Retailer the mooncakes in an air-tight container at room temperature for as much as 1 week.
- The mooncakes are usually served after 1-2 days when the dough has softened barely and the patterns grow to be extra settled and outlined. Nonetheless, I like to recommend making an attempt not less than one whereas it’s nonetheless recent and the dough is considerably crispy.
- The mooncakes may also be saved in an air-tight container within the fridge. Convey the muffins to room temperature earlier than serving.
Kitchen Notes
SMOOTH OR CHUNKY CHESTNUT PASTE
My household love chunks of chestnuts within the chestnut paste, so I normally reserve a big handful of chestnuts, and break them roughly into the cooled chestnut paste, earlier than mixing them in with the chocolate chips.
WHAT TYPE OF CHOCOLATE TO USE
I’ve used small darkish chocolate chips within the recipe, however be happy to make use of finely chopped darkish chocolate.
OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this web site state temperatures for a daily oven (i.e. a standard oven with out fan). When you have a convection oven with a fan, please seek the advice of the producer’s handbook on learn how to modify the temperature and baking time accordingly.
CONVERSIONS
To transform from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this useful Conversion Chart for Primary Components.
