Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the market is filled with an array of mooncakes, both exquisite and beautiful, though unfortunately pricey. This year, I decided to try making them myself, adding a special significance to the festival. After some consideration, I chose to make snow skin mooncakes, which not only look simple and elegant, but the production process also seems uncomplicated, and with my favorite purple sweet potato filling, they should be even more delicious.
Before starting, I prepared all the ingredients: 45 grams of glutinous rice flour, 35 grams of rice flour, 20 grams of plain flour, and 50 grams of powdered sugar as the main ingredients; additional materials included 185 grams of milk, 20 milliliters of salad oil, a drop of edible purple coloring, as well as an appropriate amount of purple sweet potato filling and cake flour. First, mix the milk, powdered sugar, and salad oil until uniform, then gradually add the various powdered ingredients, stirring patiently until it forms a paste, ensuring there are no remaining particles. To enhance the visual effect, I added a drop of purple coloring, though this step can be omitted according to personal preference, resulting in traditional white snow skin.
Next, steam the prepared dough over high heat for about 15 minutes until fully cooked. While it’s still steaming hot, I quickly stir it vigorously with chopsticks until the dough becomes smooth and delicate, then let it cool, and the snow skin is ready. I planned to use a 50-gram mooncake mold, distributing the skin and filling in a ratio of 2:3, that is, 20 grams of snow skin and 30 grams of purple sweet potato filling, rolling them into small balls for later use.
During the making process, I gently flattened the snow skin, softly wrapped around the purple sweet potato filling, carefully pushing the edges of the skin upward until the filling was completely enclosed, then gently rolled it into a ball. To prevent sticking, I rolled the finished mooncake balls in the cake flour, ensuring a thin layer of flour covered the surface, then gently shook off the excess flour particles.
Finally, using the mold for assistance, I pressed the prepared mooncake dough into shape. Each completed mooncake was carefully placed in a container and sent to the refrigerator to chill overnight, in hopes of tasting the best flavor the next day. To ensure easier demolding, I also sprinkled a layer of cooked flour inside the mold, shaking it a few times for even distribution before placing the mooncake dough inside, pressing gently, and thus a perfect snow skin mooncake was born.
This experience of making mooncakes not only allowed me to enjoy the fun of handmade creation but also gave me a chance to share this unique sweetness and warmth with my family during the festival.
