Baked Chocolate & Matcha Mooncakes

An advanced Happy Mid Autumn Festival to all!!!  It is a good time to get together with your family on this day, chatting and savouring mooncakes paired with a pot of good chinese tea.  And yup, I fell for it in end. I just had to make these mooncakes when I saw Ann's post on her baked chocolate and matcha mooncakes.  It was easy, real easy to do and were yummy.  I used red bean paste for the fillings as I had some stashed away in my freezer.  I just had to buy the alkaline water, golden syrup and melon seeds and got on the mooncake baking craze.

It was definitely a long wait before I could cut these mini mooncakes up to see the insides and take a bite into them.  3 days' wait! Yeah, this is especially important because   the crust will then soften and then turns slightly chewy, a term which is called 回油 in Chinese.

With this first try at making mooncakes, I am now confident to try making more of them.  It really isn't that tough to do afterall.  Plus mooncaking making is so so fun lor!

Baked Chocolate Mooncakes
Recipe by Anncoo Journal

113g Plain flour
18g Cocoa powder (I used valrhona cocoa powder)
85g Sugar syrup
25g Peanut oil
1/2tsp Alkaline water

360g Coffee lotus paste (store bought) with one handful of melon seeds,  divide into 12 portions, 30 each (I used red bean paste instead)

1. Mix sugar syrup, peanut oil and alkaline water together thoroughly.
2. Sift plain flour and cocoa powder in a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour sugar syrup mixture. Using a rubber spatula to mix and form to a soft dough. Cover with a cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. Divide dough into 12 portions, 20g each and roll into balls. Wrap the dough around the coffee lotus paste.
4. Roll it into ball and dust with some flour. Press firmly into mould, unmould and place on a lined baking tray.
5. Bake at preheated oven 170C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and rest mooncakes to cool for about 15 minutes. Then bake the chocolate mooncakes again for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Leave mooncakes to cool down completely before storing into an airtight container. This mooncake can be eaten immediately with the crispy skin.
Wait for about 3 days for the mooncakes for skin to soften (回油)before serving.

Baked Matcha Mooncakes
Recipe by Anncoo Journal

120g Plain flour
10g Matcha powder
100g Sugar syrup
30g Peanut oil
1/2tsp Alkaline water
 
Filling :  420g Red bean paste (store bought), divide into 14 portions, 30g each
dough skin : 18g
 
1. Mix sugar syrup, peanut oil and alkaline water together thoroughly.
Sift plain flour and matcha powder in a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour sugar syrup mixture. Using a rubber spatula to mix and form to a soft dough. Cover with a cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
2. Divide dough into 14 portions, 18g each and roll into balls. Wrap the dough around the red bean paste.
3. Shape it into ball and dust with some flour. Press firmly into mould, unmould and place on a lined baking tray.
4.  Bake at preheated oven 170C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and rest mooncakes to cool for about 15 minutes. Then bake the chocolate mooncakes again for another 10-15 minutes.
5. Leave mooncakes to cool down completely before storing into an airtight container. This mooncake can be eaten immediately with the crispy skin.
Wait for about 3 days for the mooncakes for skin to soften (回油)before serving.