Photo Credit: Mike S Photography
When sweet & salty collide, they explode!
These mooncakes really well represent the heavenly marriage of sweet and salty! and with the essence of beauty in the middle of the mooncakes~ WOW! Do I need to say more?
My family was a fan of Shangri-La Bird Nest Mooncakes. It is sold in box of 8 for $88- hmm not big 8 oh.. very tiny 8 mooncakes but it’s really delicious – Our all time favourite mooncakes. However, it was always not enough for us. So I decided to replicate in my own kitchen 1 fine day and from that day onwards, Shang lost as us a customer for their bird nest mooncakes.
There are 2 methods to make the snowskin and personally, I prefer the steamed version to the non-steamed version as the latter seems to harden after few days. Moreover, the steamed version taste milkier and softer. It just goes so well with the salted egg custard fillings.
You can make the snowskin a day in advance or few hours before you intend to start moulding. Just ensure there is enough time for the skin to cool down.
Mix all the ingredients for the snowskin in a mixing bowl (except the shortening) and use a sieve to filter away any lumps
Add in the shortening into the sieved mixture and place the bowl of mixture into a steamer with boiling water, cover with foil to prevent water droplet from getting into the mixture.
Steam for about 15 minutes until the mixture set and harden.
Remove the bowl of dough from the steamer and allow it to cool. Knead the melted shortening into the dough and allow to fully cool before use. If prepared in advance, store the snowskin dough into an air tight container and store it in the chiller.
As for the Salted Egg Yolk Custard fillings, I believe you will start spooning them into your mouth even before you start moulding the mooncakes hehe. Trust me, it’s just THAT GOOD! This version is already the reduced sugar one – original called for 150g of icing sugars for the custard. If you like it sweeter, do feel free to increase the amount of sugar (taste as you add).
To prepare the salted egg yolk custard, all all the ingredients (except for the salted egg yolk and egg yolk) for the salted egg yolk custard into a saucepan.
Stir until the mixture form a dough
Mashed up the cooked salted egg yolk and egg yolk
and mix them into the custard mixture until well combine.
You can start the moulding of the mooncake when the mixture is cool enough to be handled.
The golden ratio of snowskin to fillings is 3:7 – which means 30% skin and 70% fillings. I made a mini mooncake of 50g each (about 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch in height). As such, the weight of the snowskin per piece is about 20g, egg yolk custard is about 30g plus another 1/2 teaspoon of concentrated bird nest.
Roll the custard into a ball and flatten it. Add 1/2 teaspoon of concentrated & strained bird nest into the middle of the flattened custard.
Seal the bird nest inside the custard and form the custard back into a ball. Roll the snowskin dough to about 3mm in thickness and wrap the snow skin around the fillings and seal properly; remove any excess skin
Ensure the pre-mould mooncakes are well coated with cooked glutinous rice flour (to prevent it sticking to the mould)
before pressing the mooncake into the mooncake mould
Sugar Free option available – Substitute the sugar required for the filling with sugar free sweeteners for your diabetic friends or family. For Sugar-free version, I used Sugarless Sugar from iherb to replace the icing sugar the recipe called for. You can use Splenda or Stevia which both are available in Singapore’s supermarket. I used about 5 tablespoons – just taste as you add until you get the right sweetness you want. It is equally tasty but healthier. As for the skin, I still use the sweetened condensed milk but I left out the 10g of sugar the recipe called for. If you like, you can even make your own sugar free condensed milk.
Happy Mid Autumn!
- 80 gm glutinous rice flour
- 40 gm rice flour
- 16 gm wheat starch
- 24 gm plain flour
- 20 gm caster sugar
- 320 ml milk
- 70 ml condensed milk
- 60 g Shortening
- 3 Tbsp cooked glutinous rice flour (kou fen), for coating & moulding, or more if require
- 30g Custard Powder
- 80g Corn Flour
- 80g Milk Powder
- 60g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 80g icing powder
- 80g unsalted butter
- 100ml evaporated milk
- 6 cooked egg yolks (steamed & mashed)
- 6 cooked salted egg yolks (steamed & mashed)
- 50g concentrated bird nest, sweetened (strain to remove excess liquid)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients (except for shortening) require for the snow skin.
- Use a balloon whisk and whisk until well combined.
- Sieve the mixture to remove any lump.
- Pour the mixture into a steaming plate or bowl that can fit into the steamer, add in the shortening and cover will aluminium foil and steam for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the mixture has set (mochi texture)
- Allow the snow skin to cool down before use.
- Add all the ingredients(except for the cooked egg yolks and salted egg yolks) require for the egg yolk custard into a saucepan
- Using medium heat, stir and combine the ingredient.
- Keep stirring until the mixture start to pull away from the side of the pot and form a lump of yellow looking dough, about 10 minutes
- Turn off the heat and add in the mashed yolks. Mix until well combine
- Allow the custard to cool down before use
- Divide the salted egg yolk custard into 30g each and snowskin into balls of 20g each
- Roll the custard into a ball and flatten it
- Add ½ teaspoon of concentrated & strained bird nest into the middle of the flattened custard
- Seal the bird nest inside the custard and form the custard back into a ball
- Roll out the snowskin into a thickness of about 3mm or to your desired thickness. Sprinkle cooked glutinous rice flour over the dough to prevent stickiness.
- Wrap the snow skin around the fillings and seal properly; remove any excess skin
- Ensure the pre-mould mooncakes are well coated with cooked glutinous rice flour (to prevent it sticking to the mould) before pressing the mooncake into the mooncake mould
- Do ensure that the mooncakes are stored in airtight container. For longer storage, store in freezer and bring it to room temperature before serving.