Skang Kee Bakery Moon Cakes
This is the definitive recipe for the Skang Kee Bakery mini mooncakes that I make every year because a box of the basic bitch Sheng Kee assortment now costs $62.99 at HMart. Travesty. For exactly 10 mini mooncakes of 50grams each, use the following recipe.
Ingredients:
- 100g cake flour (or 88g regular flour + 12g cornstarch)
- 70g golden syrup
- 25g vegetable oil
- 2 tsp kansui (alkaline water)
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg yolk + 1 tsp heavy cream for egg wash
- 300g Homemade Lotus Seed Paste
- Extra flour for dusting
- Mooncake molds
Mix the golden syrup, kansui, salt, and oil in a bowl until it emulsifies. Add in the cake flour and fold it gently until the dough forms up into a sticky ball. Scrape into a piece of saran wrap, fold it up and let it rest on the counter for 2 hours.
Weigh out the lotus seed paste into 30g balls. Set them aside in an airtight place so they don't dry out. Cut the dough up into 20 gram chunks and roll those into balls. Keep those covered so they don't dry out while you work.
Preheat the oven to 400.
Roll a 20g chunk between 2 pieces of saran wrap into a flat disc big enough to wrap neatly and evenly around the 30g ball of lotus paste. Wrap the dough around the lotus seed ball - avoid air pockets and smooth out any tears. Roll it all into one nice ball and dust with flour. Use your 50g mini mooncake mold to squish it into a pretty design. Put it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat with all the rest.
Bake the cakes at 400 for 5 minutes, then take the tray out. Lower the oven temp to 350.
Use a tiny paintbrush and anal-retentively brush the egg wash onto just the raised parts of the design on top (don't let it drip in all the cracks).
Put the tray back in the oven and bake for ~12-15 mins, just watch for the egg wash to turn brown.
Take the tray out and cool completely. Once cooled, stick all the little cakes together in an airtight tupperware (single layer), and let them stale for at least 24 hours so the cakes take on the right greasy texture.