Spiral Moon Cake Recipe - International Food Challenge ( IFC #1 )

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Spiral Moon Cake Recipe - International Food Challenge ( IFC #1 )

I am really excited about participating in this event, which is also my first event after coming to this blogging world. Yes, this post belongs to InternationalFoodChallenge. I thank and appreciate Saraswathi Tharagaram and Shobana Sekar for their effort in forming this group. I like to explore and learn more international recipes. To learn about foods in other parts of the world is really exciting. This dessert belongs to Cantonese Cuisine, China. This is one of the main cuisine styles in China. We really enjoyed having this yummy spiral moon cake, which is flaky outside and sweet inside. It might look like a lengthy recipe, but it is worth doing it. Do give it a try.

Ingredients:

For the Moon Cake Sweet Potato Filling:

Sweet potatoes - 300 gms
Milk powder - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup(as per ur taste)
Salt - a pinch

For the Moon Cake Dough:

Water Dough:
All purpose flour (Maida) - 1 Cup
Icing sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Butter - 2 nd 1/2 tbsp
Water - as required
Oil Dough:
All purpose flour (Maida) - 3/4 Cup
Salt - a pinch
Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp
Pandan essence- 1/2 tsp

Method:
Preparation of the Sweet Potato Filling:

1. Pressure cook the sweet potatoes for 2 to 3 whistles. Allow it to cool. Then peel and mash the sweet potatoes.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mashed potatoes and mix it to form a paste. Then microwave for 5 to 7 mins till the paste thickens. (Can also cook in stove top, until it thickens). Roll it into lemon sized balls and keep it aside till we prepare the pastry dough. (Keep it covered to avoid the mixture from drying further). I have used a pinch of yellow food color, to make it brighter. you can skip it.

Preparation of the Water and Oil dough:

3. For the water dough, sift flour, sugar and salt. Then cut butter into flour mixture using fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Now add in water and mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough. (If needed add a bit more flour). You don’t have to knead it. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 mins.

4. For the oil dough, sift flour and salt. Then, add in oil and pandan essence and mix to form a soft even colored dough. (Panden essence makes the dough greenish, the essence is derived from pandan leaves). If it is too sticky, add more flour till you form a soft ball. Do not over mix. Cover and set aside for 20 mins.

Now roll both the doughs into balls. Let the balls out of water dough be little larger than the balls out of oil dough

Rolling the Cake:

5. Take one piece of water dough and flatten it. Then wrap one piece of the oil in it. Pinch and seal the edges. With the sealed side facing up, roll it flat.

6. Roll up like a snail to form a cylinder, turn the cylinder 90 degrees, with the end facing up. Roll again into a long thin strip.

7. Roll up again to form a cylinder. Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, cut the cylinder in the middle into two pieces.

8. With the cut side facing down, flatten the dough, making the edges slightly thinner than the center. Wrap the filling and pinch to seal without pulling too hard, otherwise the layers will tear.

9. And you will find that the sealed side looks ugly. So place the sealed side down on a lined baking tray.

10. Preheat the oven @185 degrees for 10 mins and bake for about 30 mins until the top and bottom turns light golden brown.

For the mentioned quantity, you can make 5 spiral moon cakes.Enjoy the yummy and flaky Spiral Moon cake with delicious sweet potat filling.

Points to remember:

Make the filling Sweeter than normal. The outside of the moon cake is flaky and less sweet. So making the filling quite sweet, makes the overall pastry balanced.
While making the oil dough, if you are not able to gather the flour together, then you can use little water.
The dough dry out soon. It may be difficult to work with. So work really fast.

Warm Regards,
Happy's Cook - Divya