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Makes 270g of 5 biscuits of 50g each
1. 150g plain flour (1 1/4 cup) consisting of 90g plain wheat flour and 60g Grahams flour, which is 40% of total flour content)
2. 60g golden syrup or honey (1/4 cup)
3. 30g vegetable oil (3 TBS or 45ml) (I use sunflower seeds oil)
4. 3/4 tsp lye water (alkaline water) (3g) You can buy lye water from a Chinese grocery store.
5. 1 egg yolk (approx. 18g)
6. 0.5g salt (optional, equivalent to just a quick dash of salt)
Egg Wash:
1. 1 egg yolk
2. 2 tsp water or fresh milk
Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, add 60g of golden syrup or honey.
2. Add 30g of of sunflower seed oil or other vegetable oil.
3. Add 1 teaspoon (3g) of lye water, which is alkaline water.
4. Add 0.5g of salt and mix well.
5. Add 1 egg yolk and mix well.
6. In a bowl, mix 90g of plain flour and 60g of Gramham flour.
7. Add to the liquid mixture and mix until combined. Don't overmix, otherwise it will become too flexible, lose its strength to hold the filling.
8. Wrap the pastry dough with a kitchen wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
Prepare egg wash:
Mix 1 egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of water together.
Shaping:
1. Weigh 50g of pastry dough and roll into a ball. Repeat this step with the rest of the dough.
2. Place each of the balls into the moon cake mold.
3. Press and make it fit evenly into the mold.
4. Gently lift up the mold and release the moon cakes out of the mold.
5. Place them neatly on a baking tray laid with baking paper.
6. Prepare egg wash with 1 egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of water and mix well.
7. Very lightly apply the first coat of egg wash on the biscuits, otherwise again the pattern will be blurred during baking.
8. Bake for 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius.
9. Remove from the oven and very lightly apply the second coat of egg wash.
10. Bake for 6-8 minutes.
11. Remove the moon cake biscuits from the oven, apply the third coat of egg wash if needed. Otherwise, let it cool down completely.
12. Once the moon cakes have cooled down, store in an airtight container for 2-3 days for the moon cake to rest and set, so that they will become flavorful and beautiful before eating... now is the time to train your patience!!
Additional Information:
Growing up, I used to eat these mooncake biscuits in Singapore. They were usually in the shape of fish or rabbits and I loved eating them as a treat during mid-autumn festival.
The story goes that in those olden days in Singapore, the bakers baked these to test out the dough for adjustment before baking moon cakes. But they became very popular with children who don’t like moon cakes with fillings 😃 In Singapore, they come in shapes of fish and rabbits that appeal to children.
But I heard from my friend that in China Guangzhou, they eat mooncake "doll" biscuits too. So these mooncake biscuits must have been passed down from China to Singapore :-)
References:
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In a mixing bowl, add 60g of golden syrup.
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Add 30g vegetable oil (I use sunflower seed oil) and 1 egg yolk (approx. 18g).
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In a separate bowl, weigh 60g of Graham flour.
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Add 90g of plain wheat flour and mix well.
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Add to the syrup mixture.
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Combine into a dough, but don't knead it too much, just combine is good enough.
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This is how the dough looks like.
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Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
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Roll and weigh into balls of 50g each.
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You get roughly 5 - 6 balls.
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Place each ball into the mooncake mold.
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Press down.
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Lift up and release the mold and your mooncake biscuit is formed :-)
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Close-up :-)
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All 5-6 mooncake biscuits are formed.
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Prepare egg wash with 1 egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of fresh milk or water.
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Very lightly apply the first coat of egg wash on each biscuit.
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Bake for 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius. Any longer than 5 minutes, the pastry will expand and crack.
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Here is how they look like after first baking.
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Very lightly apply the second coat of egg wash on each biscuit.
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Bake for another 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius. Any longer than 5 minutes, the pastry will expand and crack.
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Here is how they look like after first baking.
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Very lightly apply the third coat of egg wash on each biscuit.
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Bake for another 5 minutes at 160 degree Celsius. Any longer than 5 minutes, the pastry will expand and crack.
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They are done :-)
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Once the moon cakes have cooled down, store in an airtight container for 2-3 days for the moon cake to rest and set, so that they will become softer, more flavorful and beautiful before eating... now is the time to train your patience!! They will turn darker,
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These are the mooncake biscuits that have been rested for 1 day :-)
