Sweet Red Bean Mooncakes

Part of my New Years resolutions are to teach myself more recipes that are either directly from my Chinese heritage or pay homage to them. I've grown up eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival so I want to start practicing recipes where I can make my versions of them come October 4th! 

For practice mooncakes, I gotta say I learned a LOT! I did a bunch of reading to see how different people make them and to learn more about the process of how they get their silky smooth but still crumbly exterior pastry. This whole treat takes at least 5 days before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor so PLAN AHEAD. I was hoping to have them ready for Chinese New Year but totally underestimated the amount of time it takes for them to "mature". You'll also need to get quite a few ingredients together between azuki beans, glutinous rice flour and kansui, which was the most difficult to find. In the recipe I provided the links to how to make it at home. 

Let's start with the filling. Sweet red bean paste is the most traditional when it comes to mooncakes. I opted to make my own and turns out it's pretty easy to make from scratch! I love that I can control the amount of sugar in it vs. the store bought kind. If you want to cut two days from your process then just buy the paste from your Asian store or online. 

After 24hrs of soaking beans overnight

Red bean paste complete!

I purchased my molds on Amazon. They're perfect since they are mini-molds and didn't cost very much. I thought for the pattern variety and ease of use it was totally worth the purchase. The key for mooncakes is to make sure the dough around the filling isn't too thick so that they come out of the mold and then bake/mature evenly. 

Freshly pressed out of the mooncake molds <3 

Straight out of the oven but they won't be ready for another 3 days! 

Another thing that was completely new to me was baking initially until the tops and edges start to brown, then remove from the oven, apply the egg wash and then return back to the oven to finish baking. While there are quite a few new ingredients you'll need, the good news is you'll have plenty left over to make mooncakes for all your friends and family! Recipe below for creating these beauties at home! 

Sweet Red Bean Mooncakes

Red Bean Paste: 
Makes about 1.5 to 1.75 cups of bean paste. Recipe adapted from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients: 

  • 1 cup Azuki Red Beans 
  • Water 
  • 3/4 cup granulated white sugar 
  • Pinch of salt 

.  Place azuki beans in a medium bowl and fill with water until it is 1 inch over the beans. Soak overnight for 8hrs-12hrs. 

2. The next day, you'll notice that they've become considerably more plump and absorbed a lot of water.  Drain, then rinse the soaked beans with cold water twice. 

3. In a large saucepan, add beans and fill with water until it is 1 inch above the beans. Keep in mind that beans will grow in size and also continue to absorb water as it's cooking. Place on a high heat and bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn off heat. Strain beans and pour out water. This was your first boil completed. 

4. Return beans to the pot and fill with water just till it covers it in the pot. Place over high heat and bring to your second boil. Then turn down heat to medium low just so the water continues to simmer. You'll be simmering for at least 1.5-2hrs so pull out a book but don't stray too far. You will need to add water as you go since the water will evaporate. Just make sure you continue to add enough water so the beans are covered. Stir once in a while to make sure they aren't getting stuck on the bottom. 

5. After 1.5 hours, check the beans by picking one up with a slotted spoon and pinch it to see if they're soft and mushy. If they are still hard in the center, keep cooking. It took me a few tries before I got the right mushy consistency. You do not want to see any "white" bits in the bean cause that means they're not done cooking. 

6. Once beans are mushy, prepare a fine mesh strainer above a bowl and strain any extra water out of the beans. Lightly jiggle the sifter to get the water out. Do NOT press or stir the beans because they will just push through the strainer into the liquid bowl. Keep liquid on the side in case you want to liquify your filling. 

7. Place strained beans into a food processor and then pulse until the paste is smooth. 

8. Return smoothed bean paste into the pot and add your sugar. Place on medium to medium high heat and start to melt the sugar. This will make your paste VERY thin but don't stop stirring. Keep going and eventually you'll cook off the excess liquid and then get a beautiful thick bean paste. Paste will continue to harden slightly from whatever consistency you stop cooking. 

9. Place bean paste into a bowl and apply plastic wrap directly on the paste to avoid it drying out. Cool to room temp then place into the fridge until ready to use. 

Mooncake Dough & Assembly: 
Makes 10 mini-mooncakes. Recipe adapted from Omnivores Cookbook

Mooncake Filling: 

  • 1/2 cup red bean paste, room temp
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp 
  • 1/8 cup glutinous rice flour 

Mooncake Dough: 

  • 56 grams golden syrup (I use Lyle's brand, found at Whole Foods or Amazon
  • 1/2 teaspoon kansui (or lye water/alkaline solution) 
  • 20 grams canola oil 
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 
  • 100 grams cake flour 
  • 1 large egg yolk + 1 teaspoon water + pinch of salt (this is for the egg wash only) 

Make the filling: 

1. In a small bowl, combine red bean paste, butter and rice flour with a spatula. Continue to stir until well mixed and incorporated. This should be dough light and easily rolled with your hands. If it's too soft, place into the fridge for 10 minutes to chill and harden so you can work with it. 

2. Divide the red bean mixture into 10 balls (about 20 grams per portion) and roll into balls. Place into fridge to chill while you work on the dough. 

Make the dough: 

3. In a large bowl, add golden syrup and kansui until it is well incorporated together. Add canola oil and mix until everything is evenly blended. Keep mixing until it's as mixed together as possible. 

4. Sift in cake flour and salt. Gently mix the dough together with the spatula until it can form a ball. Dough will be sticky but can hold it's shape. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour to the dough. 

5. Remove from the bowl and knead a few times with your hands in a folding motion. Cover in plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes. 

6. Knead again on a lightly floured surface and then let it rest for another 30 minutes. Dough is now ready to be used. 

7. Divide dough into 10 equal pieces. Working with one at a time, flatten and then carefully wrap the red bean filling that has been chilled. Do your best to apply the dough evenly around the filling covering any gaps so you can't see any of the filling.

8. Lightly flour the mold, then place dough ball into the mooncake mold with desired decorative plate. Press down and then carefully remove the mooncake from the mold.   

9. Place shaped mooncake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat rolling out dough, wrapping and shaping with the rest of the mooncakes. After completed, place baking sheet of mooncakes in the fridge to chill for 10-20 minutes until the dough hardens slightly. 

Baking the Mooncakes: 

10. Preheat oven to 360 F. Prepare egg yolk wash by adding 1 teaspoon of water and pinch of salt. 

11. Space mooncakes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper at least 1-2 inches apart. These will not spread but you want them to have enough room to breathe. 

12. Bake in heated oven on the center rack for 8-10 minutes until the tops/corners start to brown.

13. Remove from oven and quickly apply egg yolk wash. Make sure to only apply a thin layer of wash on the tops so you don't lose the design. Do not get wash on the sides of the mooncakes. You can also go back and clean up the design with a clean brush.

14. Place back into the oven and continue baking for another 9-10 minutes until the egg wash is golden brown.   

15. Remove from oven and cool the mooncakes on the baking sheet to room temp. Once cooled, place into an airtight container and let them mature for 3 days. After 3 days you'll notice the oils from the filling come out and create a very soft exterior. 

16. FINALLY EAT THEM! :) 

 

After 3 days of aging, the exterior has become silky smooth and crumbly. 

 

Death by Dark Chocolate Cake

Today is National Chocolate Cake day! I have to post about my very favorite chocolate cake recipe since it is my GO-TO and something that everyone loves. I've found that this recipe can convert even the most cynical cake eaters because of it's light, airy and not too sweet combination. 

It is very important to note that with chocolate cake it is VERY IMPORTANT to use really high quality ingredients because the results can be very different in terms of flavor and depth of the chocolate. 

1 - Use Valrhona cocoa powder. If you can find it, use it. Or order it on Amazon because it's worth it. If you're going to consume the calories, might as well make it count. 
2 - Use a VERY GOOD dark roast coffee. This can be cold brew, in which case I like to use Stumptown's Cold Brew. Or, in my cakes, I use Caffee Luxxe coffee which is a local shop in Santa Monica known for the BEST beans and espresso. 
3 - Splurge and get a really good quality black onyx cocoa powder. It's seriously worth it and brings a whole new depth to the chocolate flavor you didn't even know existed. 

This recipe is an oil based cake so is VERY forgiving which is great for new bakers or old! I'm gearing up for more commissions this weekend so lucky for me I was already baking a chocolate cake today. :) Enjoy! 

Dark Chocolate Cake
Makes 2 x 8" round cakes or 2½ 6" round cakes

Ingredients: 

  • 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar 
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 
  • ¾ cup unsweetened Valrhona cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons black onyx cocoa powder 
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
  • ½ cup canola oil 
  • 2 large eggs, room temp
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temp 
  • 1 cup cold brew coffee or dark roast coffee, room temp 
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons organic vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and line 2 x 8” or 3 x 6" round cake pans with parchment paper. Set them aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, place a metal sifter on top and add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, onyx coca powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift into bowl. Take large hand whisk and continue to incorporate dry ingredients until well mixed and all the same color. 

3. In mixer bowl, add eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and mix well. With mixer on low speed, incorporate dry ingredients into the bowl. Then add in coffee last and continue to mix on low until batter is rich and thick. 

4. Pour batter into pans evenly. If using 8" pans, distribute evenly in each pan. If using 6"x 3" pans, I've found the ratio that works for high layers is around 490g in two pans and 300g in the 3rd pan works best.  Tap pans against the table to get rid of air bubbles before placing into the oven in the middle rack. 

5. Bake on center rack of oven for 30-40 minutes or until toothpicks are removed and fully clean. The thicker that batter in each pan the longer it takes. Cakes should feel springy to touch. Make sure to rotate the cakes 75% of the way through baking time.

6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes inside pans. Flip cakes on cooling rack, remove parchment paper lining and allow to cool to room temp. If not using right away, wrap with plastic wrap and place into fridge until ready for decorating.

 
 

Dark Chocolate Coffee Pavlova

Who doesn't LOVE the combination of chocolate and coffee.. and then you add in a kick of Bailey's Irish Cream... these flavors are like a party in your mouth! When we were told to make Pavlovas for Custard & Meringue week, I was SO EXCITED because pavlovas are actually one of my desserts of choice! It's such a wonderful dessert that is not so hard to make AND very impressive for guests to eat. I also feel like pavlovas have some magical way of making you feel lighter after a heavy meal. That means you lose calories by eating more, right? ;) 

My 30th birthday pavlova cake :)&nbsp;

My 30th birthday pavlova cake :) 

I few years back, I was lucky enough to be apart of a group of friends that wanted to attempt a pop-up restaurant concept. For that opportunity, I came up with a recipe for mini-pavlovas using a chocolate base with coffee. Because it was an Irish theme'd menu, I naturally incorporated Bailey's Whipped Cream and then topped with raspberries. 

You can have free range for decorating these little guys however you wish. The simplest is a dusting of chocolate shavings. If you want to be ambitious and have the time, temper dark chocolate and create some beautiful toppers. On the show, I made chocolate rolls and placed them between cut raspberries. 

Dark Chocolate Coffee Pavlova, Bailey’s Whipped Cream, Fresh Raspberries
Makes about 20 x 2 ½" mini pavlovas

Pavlova Ingredients: 

  • 6 large egg whites, room temp
  • 300 grams granulated sugar 
  • 2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon, Valrhona cocoa powder 
  • 1 tablespoon good aged balsamic vinegar 
  • 50 grams good quality chocolate (70%) chopped into small pieces 
  • 2 teaspoons good quality coffee grinds (not instant) 

Topping: 

  • 2 punnet of fresh organic raspberries
  • 500 ml whipping cream 
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 
  • 2 tablespoons Bailey's Original Irish Cream Liquor 
  • pinch of kosher salt 

Dark Chocolate Decorations:

  • 4 ounces of dark chocolate 70%·       

1.  Preheat oven to 355 F / 180 C. On a piece of parchment paper, trace 2.5 inch circles spaced at least 2 inches apart with a pencil. Should be able to fit 9 of them comfortably on each baking sheet. 

2.  Chop dark chocolate into small pieces and set aside. Note: If you are using a piping tip for the meringue, do not use a narrow tip and make sure to chop the chocolate up in small enough pieces to push through it! 

3.  Place egg whites in a stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment. Whisk until soft peaks form. Slowly add caster sugar one tablespoon at a time and continue to beat until the egg whites become stiff and glossy. Don’t over beat the egg whites or they will separate. When you can hold the mixture upside down without it falling out it’s done.

4.  Sift in cocoa powder, add balsamic vinegar, chopped chocolate and coffee. Using a large spoon spatula, mix very slowly and carefully by folding the mixture and egg whites. The mixture will be a light brown shade. Don’t over mix or you will deflate the egg whites.

5.  Using a little pavlova mixture, apply on the corners of the parchment paper (same side you drew on) then flip over parchment paper so it’s pencil side down on a baking sheet.

6.  Add meringue mixture to a piping bag and pipe into the circles and clean it up with an offset spatula. Make sure you are FILLING them completely when swirling.

7.  Place into oven then immediate drop the temperature to 284 F. Cook for 1hr to 1hr 15 minutes. Do not check on the pavlovas until the very end of the bake time. 

8.  The way to tell when pavlovas are done cooking is when it looks crisp at the edges. They also may slightly brown. The tops will be dry but if you press on the underside it’ll give a little since the centers are still soft and squishy. If you tap them lightly they should also sound a little hollow. If they still feel a bit soft then put them back into the oven for another minute or two. 

9.  If the pavlovas are crisp, place them back in the oven and leave the door slightly ajar so the pavlovas can cool completely in the oven. Should take another 35 minutes or so. Do NOT remove the pavlovas from the oven before they have finished cooling or they will crack. 

10.  In the meantime, place whipping cream in a CHILLED stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment. Start to whisk and when some peaks appear, add sugar slowly. Then add in Bailey’s after sugar. Keep whisking till firm but don’t over whip.

11.  Take whipped cream and place into a bowl fitted with plastic wrap and into the fridge until using. Eventually will be piped on each pavlova.

12.  Place whipped cream into piping bag and pipe onto pavlova. Then top with two to three raspberries cut side up to ensure juice doesn’t bleed into cream. Garnish with dark chocolate decorations or shavings. 

 

Pavlovas from The Great American Baking Show 

 

Vanilla Hot Milk Sponge Cake

This is my favorite vanilla cake recipe since it makes full use of whole eggs vs just the whites. I often find because I love making Swiss meringue buttercream that I don't need any other recipes with extra yolks. This is a great vanilla cake that is light but with a denser crumb. It pairs wonderfully with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I love to use it in my layer cakes cause it's also super stable and provides great height after baked. 

scalding milk &amp; butter

scalding milk & butter

whipping eggs & sugar!

This cake recipe was used in my "I LOVE LA" cake commission and paired it with a strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream. Hope you enjoy! The process is a bit tricky when it comes to mixing so make sure to read through the instructions first, then bake. :) 

Vanilla Milk Sponge Cake
Adapted from Gretchen's Bakery, Makes 2 x 8" round cakes

Ingredients: 

  • 2 ¼ cups of all purpose flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ¾ cup caster sugar
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature
  • ½ cup melted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 ¼ cup of whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

1.     Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.     Grease and line 2 x 8 inch round pans with parchment paper and then set them aside.

3.     In a stand mixer bowl, add eggs, sugar and vanilla then set over a double boiler with simmering water.

4.     Stir lightly but consistenty with a hand whisk over the pot of simmering water, heat the egg mixture until the sugar has dissolved slightly and the mixture is approx 115F.  This whole process takes about 3-5 minutes long.

5.     Place the bowl on the stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat mixture on high until it triples in volume and reaches a ribbon stage. Will take about 5-7 minutes. Remove whisk from mixer and pull batter up and see if it can be “ribboned” back into the bowl. If it drips and looks too soupy, keep whisking. Make sure to watch the bowl and check many times since you do not want to overbeat your eggs. Eggs will never be fully firm but you want to get as much volume as possible.

6.     In a separate bowl, add flour and baking soda and whisk to combine together. Sift mixture into the whipped eggs and hand fold with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. Do not over fold or you will deflate your nicely whipped eggs.

7.     In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter until it’s slightly hot but not scalding.

8.     In a separate bowl, remove about 1/3 of the whipped eggs and incorporate all the milk and butter. Whisk together to incorporate. Then take this mixture and add it into the remaining whipped eggs in 3 incorporations. Mix gently.

9.     Pour batter into prepared pans till they’re about ¾ full; keep in mind that this cake batter doesn’t raise a ton in the oven. Do not bang these cakes against a rack like you would other cake batters. We want to keep it light and airy.

10.  Bake in the center of the heated oven for 35-40 minutes and rotate the cakes when they are 2/3 of the time done baking, keep in the oven until a toothpick comes out clean.

11.  Cool cakes in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes then turn out of the pan and remove parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 

 
 

Dim Sum Beef Curry Puffs

When we were asked to make 2 different hand pies for The Great American Baking show, I knew instantly that I wanted to showcase the two sides of my culture growing up Chinese-American. The first hand pie was an American Breakfast Pie with eggs, sausage, peppers, onions all in a cheddar cheese pastry crust. You can find that recipe here. The other hand pie was something I ate at Dim Sum throughout my childhood. It's one of my favorites and a serious crowd pleaser! 

The key to this is to make sure the crust stays extra extra cold so you may make a few trips to the freezer during the process of making these. Also, make sure you dock little holes on the top of the puffs after you've shaped, chilled and before you add the egg wash. The same way you take a fork to your pie crust before blind baking it. This will ensure the puffs not getting soggy in the middle since they have little steam escape holes. 

This is a great recipe to make for day-of treats or make them in advance and keep them in the freezer until ready to bake. If you're baking from frozen, make sure to give them a little extra time in the oven.  

Dim Sum Beef Curry Puffs
Signature Savory Hand Pies Challenge on The Great American Baking Show
Makes about 13-14 hand pies  

Pastry Ingredients: 

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter very cold, cut into cubes
  • 3/4 cup ice water (watch as you add it) 

Filling Ingredients: 

  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • 1/4 yellow onion, finely cut
  • 1/2 lb of lean ground beef (90% lean, 10% fat)
  • 3 tablespoons curry powder
  •  4 tablespoons of reduced sodium soy sauce (to taste)
  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt (to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic granules

Other Ingredients: 

  • 3 tablespoons of milk (to seal the dough)
  • 1 tablespoon of roasted white sesame seeds
  • Egg Wash (1 egg, 1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon of milk)
  • Extra flour for dusting/rolling

Make the dough: 

1. Fill a measuring cup with water and drop ice cubs into it and set aside. Cut butter sticks into cubes and place into the freezer for 5 minutes. 

2. Place flour, sugar and salt into food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Remove butter from freezer and add into processor. Pulse to cut the butter until most of them are the size of peas. Adding 1/2 cup of ice-cold water into the mixture a little at a time while pulsing the processor to incorporate. Watch as you add the last 1/4 cup of water to ensure you aren't adding too much of it. Only need enough for the dough to come together.  May need more water for the dough to stick together but only add it 1 tablespoon at a time. 

4. Once you have large clumps and the dough can be pushed together with your hands, turn dough out on a lightly floured surface.  Gather and knead the dough together into one large disc. Divide dough in half, shape them both into a flat disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Place into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hr to overnight.

Make the filling: 

5. In a large frying pan, heat vegetable oil and sauté the onions with 1 tablespoon of curry powder until the onions become translucent.

6. Add the beef, soy sauce and remaining curry powder. Cook until the beef is brown and then add salt to taste. Add MORE salt or soy sauce to ensure mixture is salty enough since some of the flavor will get absorbed into the crust after baked. 

Assemble & then bake the puffs: 

7.  Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured workspace and roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Just like you would any normal pie crust. Using a 3-inch circle cutter, cut out as many circles as possible. Regather scraps then repeat rolling and cutting. Place cut circles on baking sheet and into the freezer to re-chill for 4-5 minutes. 

8. Take cut pastry out of the freezer and make sure you're ready to work quickly! Lightly flour your surface, and using a smaller rolling pin roll out each circle to 1/8 inch thick. Brush the edges lightly with milk then place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the pastry circle. Fold over onto itself so it creates a half circle. Do your best to push the filling into the center so it doesn't get caught as you seal the edges. Use are fork to seal the edge of the puff. 

9. Place filled puff on baking sheet and repeat until you're all out of filling or pastry circles. Before you stick them into the freezer to chill, take a fork and lightly dock the tops of them.  Let the filled puffs chill in the freezer for about 5 minutes. 

10. When ready to bake, brush the tops with egg wash then sprinkle with roasted white sesame seeds.

11. Bake for 15-20 minutes until pastry turns golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Let it cool a few minutes then chow down!!