It’s that time of year again and mooncakes are everywhere in the Asian grocery stores here in San Jose. It makes me a little wistful for Malaysia, as I was making them myself last year when I could easily get my hands on ready-made mooncake fillings. Thankfully, a friend from Singapore visited me just about a week back and brought me some mooncake filling so I will at least get to make some this year.

Last year, besides making traditional baked mooncakes, piggy mooncakes and spiral mooncakes, I decided I was going to give snowskin mooncakes another try to get them more perfect (we weren’t too happy with our first attempt). I also bought a book all about mooncakes called “Mooncake Sonata” by Alan Ooi and the recipes in there really helped me to perfect those snowskin types.

I’m going to share with you one of the snowskin mooncakes that was really popular when I was selling them last year—this pandan custard snowskin mooncake. It is a little bit more complicated to make as there are multiple steps but the cake itself is so pretty and the flavors so yummy that you have to give it a try.

Pandan Custard Snowskin Mooncake

Snowskin Mooncakes, Take 2

The first time I made snowskin mooncakes, the dough was decent but the texture just wasn’t as smooth as what I could find at the stores. I blogged the recipe but I wasn’t fully satisfied with the texture of the mooncake. Last year, after listening to more advice from experts and some trial and error, I found that my snowskin mooncakes turned out better.

The key was to let the dough rest for half an hour after making it and then to re-knead it to get a more pliable and smooth dough and finally to ensure that you have a little bit of cooked rice flour on hand when you are shaping to dust the dough. All of these techniques helped me to develop a much smoother texture and more lovely looking snowskin mooncakes. Also, the recipe that I used had a slightly different ratio of flour to water and icing sugar. I definitely liked this one better.

Note: Cold pandan water can be made ahead and kept in the fridge. To make pandan water, boil 4 cups water with 8 pandan leaves (we cut them up into smaller pieces and wash them well before using) for about 10-15 minutes. Strain the water and place in a jar or bottle and let cool. Refrigerate and use as needed. Leftover pandan water makes a refreshing drink with ice.

Yes, making this pandan custard snowskin mooncake it is a lot of work, but the combination of salty egg yolk, coconut-y custard and rich pandan lotus is very nice. The chewy, yet tender skin is the perfect foil for all of the filling.

Wish me luck as I attempt making snowskin mooncakes this year. I don’t have access to Hong Kong cooked glutinous rice flour but I did find a Vietnamese brand one in the stores. Hopefully, they work just as well.

I also had a hard time finding raw salted eggs so Nate and I set out to make our own this year. We started a little late so we will only get to use them later this month. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to make the ones without the salted egg yolk.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Annie

See expanded pics from this post on our Facebook Fan Page.

Here are some other snowskin mooncake recipes by other bloggers:

Pandan Snow Skin Mooncakes with Coconut Mung Bean Filling by Christine’s Recipes
Mini Snowskin Mooncakes by Happy Home Baking
Snow Skin Lotus Paste Mooncake by Amanda
Basic Mini Snow Skin Mooncake by Anh’s Food Blog
Snow Skin Mooncake by Rasa Malaysia

I am submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up September – Pandan hosted by Joceline @ Butter, Flour & Me, organized by Zoe@ Bake For Happy Kids and Mui Mui @ My Little Favourites DIY.