From the moon to the table, layer within the layer of love
I am back to one of my favorite corner in the house, the petite kitchen!
I indeed love to travel as much as I love to stay at home, but only at home, I feel completely free and creative. yes, although I have not created any new recipe post for a long time, I am not stopping develop new skills, from the beginning of getting my first wok! ahhhh…. boy, there is not a single day I cook without it, and every time I cook with it I ask myself, why the heck I didn’t get it earlier? cooking is, to me, SO MUCH FUN! the other skill I keep getting deeper into is photography; learning how to use artificial light actually can be so cool and cinematic. 2019 so far is a learning year, I can’t believe it’s September already, and Mid-autumn just next week, can you believe it?
Mid-Autumn festival, the main reason why I love fall, hehe. In the Asian tradition, gifting mooncakes to someone you love or have some business relationships is like how American Thanksgiving can be. Even though the legends and original ideas of mooncakes are varied, you can see my old post mooncakes where I talk about it, but today we are going to talk about these sweet desserts which will continue to pass from generation to generation. They are magical, heartfelt, and addictive!
Today I want to share my favorite style of mooncakes- Yolk pastry. This style is the traditional Taiwanese style, less sweet than Cantonese and the majority of mooncakes. In my opinion it is much more suitable for green tea or oolong tea, hmmm. it’s heaven, let me tell you…
One note I would like to mention first: Yolk pastry is slightly more complicated than Cantonese mooncake. if this is your first time, you can opt to the Cantonese style first, here is the recipe I made last year. If you would like to try an advanced level, yolk pastry is definitely the one!
Alright, straight up to the recipe, here you will need for making 24 yolk pastry :
For the filling-
24 duck egg yolks or chicken egg yolk
750g pre-made red bean paste or other flavors you like, mung beans or lotus seed paste.
*these two ingredients are not common in the western market, I bought mine at the Chinese market, but if you can’t find it, you can make it at home. here is my old post mention the egg yolks and red bean paste.
For the crust-
*Note: you can get the simplified crust technique from here
Crust layer one:
250g all-purpose flour
30g granulated Sugar
90g unsalted butter, room temperature
60g lukewarm water
Crust layer two:
240g cake flour
120g unsalted butter, room temperature
For garnish:
2 egg yolk
some sesame can be black or white (optional)
Cooking steps:
- put all the egg yolks on the baking paper, spray it with cooking rice wine or white wine, baking it 150C/300F for 8 mins. then take it out, cool it down.
- Make the crusts start with crust layer one. In a big bowl, add the room temperature butter and sugar, stir it together, then sift the flour into the bowl, add water little by little, mix it well with your hands, blend it nicely about 5-6 mins until it can be formed a big dough with a smooth, shining surface. cover it with plastic wrap about 15 mins.
- Meanwhile, making crust layer two, in a bowl, sift the cake flour and add the room temperature butter, mix and blend it well with hand. it will form a smaller dough than the first one. then divide it into 24 small balls.
- Assemble the two crusts, take the crust layer one dough, divide it into 24 balls. Make it a flat circle with a rolling pin, put the crust layer two small balls on each crust, wrap it nicely, make sure there is no hole.
- Using your rolling pan, roll each ball into a long oval flat shape, then roll it up from the top, make it into a roll. cover them all with plastic wrap for 15 mins. please make sure to cover it well, to prevent the crust getting dry out.
- take the rolls out, but this time, put it vertically, use your rolling pan roll it from top to bottom, make it a flat oval shape, you will find the oval is thinner than the previous one, form it a roll again, much chubby and thick rolls, you are doing it right! cover it well with plastic wrap again for another 15 mins.
- at this time, prepare to form filling, shape the red bean paste in your hand, you may find it a little bit dry to form the shape. if so, you can put a little bit of olive oil into the palm, put the red bean paste about 30g, then put the yolk inside the red bean, form it into a ball.
- take the crust out, use your thumb stamp on the center, then slightly fold the side into the center, then use the rolling pan rolling it into a round flat circle, add the filling in the center, cover it well, make sure there is no hole.
- take a small brush, brush the egg yolk on each top, then add the sesame on top to garnish. Now you are ready to bake it!
- bake the yolk pastry with 190C/375F for 20-25 mins. When the top look golden, the crust is light yellow. every oven is different, some may take longer, please observe it.
And you are ready to enjoy it!
we got so excited when the smell is in the air, it’s buttery and sweet. Boil a cup of tea to go with it is so amazing! my love is, as always the best lover and supporter for my recipe, he tasted it first, then in a blink of time, five yolk pastry was gone… that you can tell how addictive these are. I know the calories are not low at all, but it’s a festival time, let’s enjoy it first! 🙂
I hope you enjoy the recipe, and like the taste as much as I do, yolk pastry brings me so much joy and nostalgia of childhood, yet is refined for adults. I’ve always remembered the time, one of the most memorable afternoon at school as a 6-grade kid, when we went to a pastry factory, making our yolk pastry for the first time in life. I couldn’t stop talking about it, in fact, I think my family got bored of hearing it a hundred times. I had no idea one day I would tell it again, sharing it with you here.
Do you like this recipe? and what’s your favorite flavor of mooncakes? please let me know! thank you for being here with me!
Happy mid-autumn! 中秋節快樂！
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XO,
Gabrielle
