Making of Traditional Mooncake

Attempted on the traditional mooncake after the Mid-Autumn festive. Hesitated abit as i couldn't find alkaline water and golden syrup. Just as i was considering and looking for substitution, i discovered accidentally that the local supermarket do carry Lye's syrup (golden syrup). So i decided to give it a try by making very small portion. I have omitted the alkaline water.

Ingredients
(dough makes 6 portion of 30g)

56 g Golden syrup
20 g Oil
100 g Cake flour - sifted
1/8 tsp salt

1. Combine syrup and oil in a large bowl until evenly blended. Not easy this part as they appeared to be separated, but try to mix in as possible.

2. Gently fold in the flour with a motion of scraping from bottom to top. Do not stir the dough in a circular motion, it will toughen the dough.

3. When the flour is fully combined, shape the dough into a ball. The dough should be soft and a bit sticky but still hold its shape (add more flour if the dough is too sticky to handle). Gently knead the dough a few times with hands. Seal with plastic wrap. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

4. After 30 minutes, repeat kneading the dough a few more times and place it back in the wrap. Let rest for another 20 to 30 minutes (think i forgotten this step, but not sure any difference). Then the dough will be ready to use.

5. For the fillings i used red bean paste (homemake). Using the kitchen scale, weigh each dough to get 30g, and fillings 20g (using a 50g mooncake press mold). Dust both hands with cake flour. Next flatten the dough and put the fillings in the centre and wrap it till no filling is revealed.

6. Place the mooncake into the mold. Place the mold on the parchment paper and press the handle until you cannot move it any further. Pull the handle up and release the mooncake.

To cook the mooncakes :
1.  Preheat oven to 180 d.c.

2. Spray a thin layer of water onto the mooncakes to prevent the dough from cracking.

3. Bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes or when the mooncakes start to turn golden brown.
(i have omitted the yolks to brush the cakes)

Let mooncakes cool completely before removing from the tray. For better results, mooncakes to be served after 3 days (the cakes will produce some grease and it will taste softer).