Today there will be full moon. It is said that our energy is full on a full moon day, and just looking at the round moon makes me feel good.
A few days ago, while taking a walk and looking at the growing moon, I decided to make moon cakes for the first time in a while. I serve it at the local market when the full moon day is approaching, and I make it vegan, without eggs or dairy.
Mooncakes are a sweet treat that I have fond memories of buying with my mother and grandmother in Yokohama's Chinatown in Japan and enjoying them with bitter tea at my grandparents' place.
This time, I made the filling without sugar and it turned out to be nicely and naturally sweet, besides being heavy, so I decided to leave a note on how to make them on the full moon day.
You need a special mold to add the unique pattern on mooncakes, but it is not that expensive, and considering the fun of making mooncakes, I think it is worth the investment.
I think you can make it without a mold but with your hands too.
Here is my recipe. Give it a try 🥮 😉
Ingredients (for 10 pieces)
Filling
100g boiled azuki beans (not sweetened)
40 g nuts and seeds of your choice such as walnut, cashew, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds
60 g sweetened dried fruits such as dates or raisins
20 g black sesame paste
1 pinch of salt (very very little)
Dough
120g flour
30 g molasses + 30 g agave syrup or maple syrup (if you want to color the dough such as with matcha tea powder, use 60 g agave syrup or other light-colored syrup as molasses is too brown)
25 g sesame oil
1 pinch of baking soda (very very little)
15 g water
Syrup
2 tablespoons water
2 tsp agave syrup or Maple syrup
Directions.
Let's start with the filling. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend. Start slowly so that you don't brake your device ... I once did ...
When the filling is ready, refrigerate it for about an hour. You can also prepare it the day before.
Put the ingredients for the dough in a bowl and knead by hand. Be careful not to add too much baking soda otherwise the dough gets too puffy and the pattern on top won't be clear.
Divide the filling into 10 equal portions and roll into a ball.
Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and roll them out.
Roll out a dough ball and wrap the filling. It might be easy for the first time to roll out the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap, remove the wrap on top, place the bean paste on it and wrap it. Shape it in a ball.
Put the ball into the mold and press it. Then press it out from the mold.
Bake the moon cakes in 150°C oven for 10 minutes. Be careful, if the temperature is too high or baked too long, it will be too fluffy and the pattern will not come out beautifully.
Take out the moon cakes from oven and let them rest for 10 minutes. At this time, mix the syrup ingredients and give a brush on top. It will give a nice shine.
Bake again in the oven at 150°C for 12 minutes.
If you have time, let the moon cakes sit for a few hours or half a day.
Now they are ready to be served! Enjoy the full moon while eating 🌝
This time I made it without coloring the dough because it was a small amount, but if you make a lot, it is fun to make colored dough as well. You can color it with raspberry powder or matcha green tea.
My partner travels to attend a meeting today and took 5 pieces to eat with his colleagues. I put them together with a bag of jasmine tea, which really fit well with moon cake. Jasmine tea was one of my grandmother's favorite teas and I always have some in my kitchen.
