Singapore Flag Snowskin Mooncakes – Whip It UP!

Celebrate Singapore’s National Day with these snowskin mooncakes inspired by the Republic’s flag. Present them as lovely gifts — maybe to your MP — during the mid-autumn mooncake festival.

Total Time: 2½ hours or overnight

Difficulty: 2/5

Cost: S$6.00

Yields: 8 small snowskin mooncakes

A: Red-coloured Dough

30g kou fen (cooked glutinous rice flour)
35g icing sugar
1¼ teaspoons olive oil
2½ tablespoons water
½ teaspoon strawberry emulco/paste
1 drop of red food colouring gel (optional)

¼ cup kou fen for dusting

B: White Dough

30g kou fen
35g icing sugar
1¼ teaspoons olive oil
40ml water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract*
A few drops of white gel food colouring (optional)

C: Crescent and Star Cut-outs

5g kou fen
2½ teaspoons icing sugar
1½ teaspoons water
¼ teaspoon olive oil

2 drops white gel food colouring (optional)

D: Chocolate Filling

185g chocolate lotus paste, divided into 8 balls
2 strips Kinder Bueno, separated into 8 individual pieces


DIRECTIONS:

1.Chocolate paste: If ready-made chocolate paste is not available, make your own. Melt 35g chocolate over a double-boiler, mix it with 150g lotus paste and ½ teaspoon cocoa powder. Set it aside to cool, then roll into balls.

2. For red-coloured dough under A, sift flour and icing sugar into medium mixing bowl. Similarly, mix flour and icing sugar for white dough under B and C.

3. Combine liquid ingredients – water, oil, paste/extract and colouring – in small bowls.

4. Add it to dry ingredients.

Using a spatula, mix until a ball of dough forms.

5. Cover with cling film. Let dough rest for 15 minutes.

6. Using a small knife, shave off sharp corners on Kinder Bueno pieces until they are approximately 2cm each in size. Wrap with chocolate paste. Repeat with remaining Kinder Bueno pieces, then set them aside.

7. Lay one portion of dough onto a piece of A4-size baking sheet. Fold the sheet in half – knead dough until smooth. If the dough feels very sticky, sprinkle a bit of kou fen while kneading.

8. Dust surface of dough with some kou fen, then roll into a log. Using a dough cutter or knife, cut log into 8 equal portions.

9. Similarly, do the same for red-coloured dough.

10. Dough for each mooncake is approximately 28g. 14g each for the red and white dough.

Place one ball of white dough onto a baking sheet. Fold sheet into half. Placing a rolling pin on top of it, roll it until it is slightly wider than scalloped cookie cutter measuring 5cm. Roll until you get a semi-circular shape. Set it aside.

11. Roll out red dough as per above step. Place it onto a piece of white dough, the red slightly overlapping the white.

12. Fold baking sheet over. Placing a rolling pin on top of it, roll until both pieces of dough stick together. Ensure thickness is even.

13. Place a ball of filling — either chocolate or white lotus paste — in the middle. Wrap filling with dough. If dough gets too sticky to handle, simply dust lightly with more flour.

14. Flip dough over — white dough overlapping red dough and red facing upwards.

15. Press assembled mooncake into a round cookie cutter, serrated edges facing down. Using your fingers, gently push it down to get a well-defined shape.

16. Crescent and star cut-outs: Roll out white dough until thin – dust surface with kou fen. Using round cutter for crescent and fondant star cutters for stars, cut out shapes to stick on top of each mooncake.

17. Place assembled confections into an airtight container to prevent them from drying out. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.

TIP: Cover remaining dough with cling film to prevent it from drying out. Dust fingers with some kou fen when handling dough directly.

*White snowskin will have a dull yellowish tinge so omit vanilla


TECHNIQUE: Cut-outs can also be made using a jumbo straw and a small straw from a Yakult drink. Cut out crescent moon. Use a short length of Yakult straw to cut out stars. Use a toothpick to push them out of the straw.

Photos:  Tan Phay Shing


Phay Shing is author of three cookbooks — Creative Baking: Macarons, Creative Baking: Macaron Basics and Creative Baking: Deco Choux Pastries. She shares a blog, LovingCreations4U with Susanne Ng with whom she co-authored a cookbook on chiffon cakes.

http://lovingcreations4u.blogspot.com/

Click on http://www.storm.sg/food for more recipes and reviews of restaurants.

If you have a simple recipe to share, please email it whipitup@storm.sg.

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