Ingredients: pineapple flesh, sugar, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest · 120 min cook time · 200kcal · $9.20
Ingredients
850g pineapple flesh, 125g sugar, 60g honey, 22g lemon juice, 2tbsp lemon zest, 235g cake flour, 125g inverted syrup or liquid honey, 46g vegetable oil, 3g salt, 13g lye water, 1ea egg yolk, 1tbsp water
Instructions
1. Cut off the top of the pineapple, then peel it. Slice the skin as thin as possible to minimize waste. Then remove the eyes by using a paring knife.
2. Cut off the core. Even though it is very tough, you can still use it. Just cut it into bite-sized pieces, then crush it finely in a blender. The puree doesn't need to be super smooth. Roughly like that is perfect. Transfer all the pineapple puree into a non-stick pot.
3. Use a peeler and slice the lemon skin off. Make sure you don't get the white bitter layer. Finely julienne it, then dice it finely. We need about 2 tablespoons of lemon zest. Squeeze 1 and a half tablespoons of lemon juice. I am putting it into a separate bowl first, so I can get rid of the seeds. If the seeds escaped by accident, just pick them up with a fork. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice to the pineapple puree.
4. Add 125 grams of sugar and 62 grams of honey. Honey is very important. It makes the filling easier to divide, so don't skip it! Next step is to evaporate most of the moisture from the puree. We are making pineapple jam, but much thicker, because we want the filling to be firm enough to work with. This process will take 20-30 minutes. In the beginning, you don't have to babysit the pot because the puree is wet and runny. You can just keep the heat at medium-low and let it simmer on its own. However, you should come back to stir it every 5 minutes to make sure it's not burning at the bottom. When most of the water is gone, turn the heat to low. Now, stir the paste constantly so you don't burn the sugar. This is how I check if the jam is done. Flip it. If you see the bottom shows a slight white color for a second, then fades away, it means most of the moisture has evaporated. You can also check it by weighing the jam with a scale. We used 850 grams of pineapple, plus the sugar and the honey, so you should get 440-460 grams of jam. Less than that, and you probably burned the sugar. If you get more than that, the filling will be too soft to wrap. Okay, cover the filling and chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or until lukewarm.
5. In a big mixing bowl, combine the following ingredients: 125 grams of inverted syrup or liquid honey. Both will work. If you're interested in making your own inverted syrup from scratch, you can check this video. Next, 46 grams of vegetable oil, such as corn oil, soybean oil, or peanut oil. Half a teaspoon of salt. And 13 grams of lye water. It improves the Maillard reaction and gives the mooncake a nice golden color. However, this is optional. If you decide to skip it, you have to use the same amount of water to ensure the dough comes out with the same consistency. Mix this well. You want the syrup and the oil to be well combined. Like that. Then add 235 grams of cake flour. This is what I'm using. If you don't have it, you can use all-purpose flour. Take a rubber spatula and mix this until a smooth dough forms. It will just take a few minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, we're going to portion out the filling, which has been chilled. Even though the jam is thick, it is still very sticky. You will make a mess if you try to divide it with your bare hands. Here is my trick. Get a round measuring spoon. I'm using the half tablespoon. One tablespoon will also work. Put it on the scale, zero it out. Then take a big spoonful. Put it back on the scale to make sure you are getting the right amount. About 25 grams each. Use a small utensil to round it up, and then push it onto a clean plate. There you go. Just keep doing that until you portion out everything. If you have OCD, you can roll each one between your hands and round them up perfectly. Cover them and set them in the fridge for now because you want to keep them cold and firm.
7. Next, let's divide the wrapper dough. Each one should be 25 grams. Roll it between your hands into balls. Now the filling and the dough are all portioned out. Let me show you how to wrap the mooncake. The filling is 25 grams, and the wrapper is also 25 grams. So you will need a 50-gram mooncake press. I'll link this product in the description. You can check it out later. If you don't have one, you can just bake them round like that. The taste is the same. However, as a traditional dessert, a mooncake needs a pretty presentation. Take a ball and dust it with a little bit of cake flour. This will prevent the mooncake from sticking to the mold. Carefully put it into the mooncake press, then gently press it down onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Stay there for a few seconds to set the shape. Then release it. Look at that. Beautiful. It is so satisfying to press mooncakes.
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Spray some water onto the mooncakes. Bake for 8 minutes. While waiting, quickly mix one egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water. Take the mooncakes out and don't be clumsy like me, ruining the mooncakes with the oven mitt. You have no idea how sad I was. Brush the egg yolk on the surface. Don't brush too much at once, because it just needs a thin layer. Make sure you get the sides as well. If you brush too much by accident, the egg will create a film and ruin the pattern on the mooncake. You can dab it with a paper towel carefully. Stick them back into the oven at the same temperature and bake for 8 more minutes. This will be the 3rd and last time baking. Every oven is different. You should stay next to the heat and keep an eye on it. The filling is cooked already, we just want the wrapper to be golden brown. Mine took about 9 minutes. This is how they look.
9. At this point, you are done, but you cannot serve them right away, because they don't taste good yet. The wrapper is very dry, the color is not correct, and the aroma has not developed either. You have to put them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for 3 days. This process is called "huí yóu" and it makes a huge difference in taste and texture. I made this batch 3 days ago, so I can show you a comparison. This one just came out of the oven. You can see the dark brown color on the pattern. That is from brushing the egg. If you let it sit for a few days, the color will be more even. You can compare the sides to see the difference. A freshly baked mooncake is hard and dry. After the "huí yóu" process, it becomes soft and moist. Also, the aroma is stronger and more complex. Mooncakes are a little bit filling, so it is best to enjoy them with tea.