Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, there were 10 suns in the sky and people were living under scorching hot weather. The famous archer Hou Yi decided to impress his wife Chang Yi and used his bow and arrow to shoot down 9 of the suns. Hou Yi received an elixir of immortality for his heroic-ness, however it was enough for just one person. One night, when a thief decided to steal this elixir and Chang Yi decided to drink the elixir to prevent the thief from stealing it. Becoming immortal, she flew to the moon and became the moon goddess, leaving Hou Yi on earth. Hou Yi would make mooncakes as an offering to her and other followed behind to celebrate the moon goddess.
And that’s how we came about to celebrate this holiday we share every year with our families and friends. Mid-autumn festival or Moon cake festival is celebrated by many Chinese people dating back to the past 3000 years. Every year on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar there is a full moon - and it is said to bring good luck.
Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important holiday in China after the Chinese New Year. This fun day is celebrated by most East Asian countries with delicious Moon Cakes, a golden rich pastry filled with egg yolk, red bean paste, or a nut paste. Usually, families reunite during this holiday which is resembled by the round shape of a Moon Cake. This recipe is a little tricky, but definitely worth it when you take a bite into this pastry!
RECIPE: Moon Cake with nut filling recipe
Filling #1
Ingredients:
3 tbsp Cashews
3 tbsp Sliced Almond
3 tbsp White sesame seeds
3 tbsp Black sesame seeds
0.5 cup Walnuts
3 tbsp Peanuts
Directions:
Mix all the nuts above, put them on a baking tray then roast at 325 °F for 8-10 minutes.
Add 3 tbsp of any kind of dried fruits (dried cherry, mango, cranberry, blueberries) into the roasted nuts
Add: 2 tbsp of sugar to the mixture of roasted nuts and dried fruit
Lightly cook 1 cup of any flour in medium-low heat pan for about 5 minutes until the color turns to light brown. Mix well into above mixture.
Filling #2
Ingredients:
Mooncake Skin
Ingredients:
1 cup honey or Maltose
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp water
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup flour
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients, knead to form a soft dough, then cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 20 minutes.
Weigh about 30 grams of dough for each cake skin, shaping it into a ball. Make 15 balls.
Roll each small dough ball into a sheet. Place a filling ball in the center of the sheet and shape into a mooncake ball.
Shape it: Dust the mooncake ball with plain flour, press it into a mooncake mold to shape it to a moon cake.
Spray and bake: spray some water onto the mooncake (to prevent cracking) and bake at 360°F for 10 minutes.
Brush and bake: Remove the mooncake from the oven and let it cool for about 10 - 15 minutes. Brush the top of the cake with egg yolk, then put back to the oven baking about 10 minutes until golden brown.
Store it in an air-tight container 3 days to make the mooncake softer.
