Moon Cake

How to Make Moon Cake (中秋月饼) - Step by Step
By May Huang









Ingredients:

1. 2 lb Cake flour.
2. 1 1/4 C sugar syrup
3. 1 C canola oil
4. 1 t backing soda
5. 1 T water
6. 4 lb read bean paste

See picture below for the main ingredients and moon cake models:





Directions:

1. Mix 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl.

2. Place cake flour, sugar syrup, oil, and baking soda mixture in a container. Mix everything very well. The dough should be very soft. Cover the container, and sit the dough aside about 4 hours.

3. Get red bean paste to a container, and add some backed flour if the red bean paste is not dry enough. Place the red bean paste in the refrigerator for few hours (to make red bean paste solider), take the red bean paste out from refrigerator, divide the red bean paste to about 20-25 (100 gram moon cake model), and make each of them to a ball as filling, and place all balls in a plate, and put the plate back in a refrigerator if not using immediate.



4. Divide the dough to 20-25 pieces, and make each piece to a smooth ball, and roll each of ball to a round wrap, place a red bean paste filling in the center of the wrap, and wrap it to a ball again, place the ball to a moon cake model to make a pretty moon cake, see the detailed direction in picture below:




5. Preheat oven with 375 F.

6. Beat 2 egg yolk with 2 tablespoon of water while waiting for oven is preheating.

7. Place the moon cakes to oven for 7 - 8 minutes (you will need two cooking sheets), take the moon cake out, brush the moon cake with egg yuk. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 F

8. Place the moon cakes back to oven for another 5 minutes, take the moon cake out, brush the moon cake with egg yuk again.

9. Place the moon cake back for another 4-5 minutes, all moon cakes should be golden brown. Take the moon cake out, cover them when them are at room temperature .

10. Sit them for 3-4 days, then the moon cakes are ready for eating.

May Has Moved to NC State

Dear All,

I have not been updating by blog for a while. Since last summer, we started to prepare moving. And our family just moved to RTP area in NC state a couple of months ago. We are not completed settle yet. I'll update my blog with new recipes and gardening as soon we are settle.

Take care!

May

Chinese Traditional New Year Sweet - Yuan Xiao (Sweet Rice Ball )

Chinese Traditional New Year Sweet - Yuan Xiao (Sweet Rice Ball )
By May Huang



Filling with mixed nuts; purple color from beets:
Made this year:

Made few years ago:


Filling with Red Bean Paste; yellow color from butter cup:
Made this year:

Made few years ago:


Filling with black sesame paste:
Made this year:

Vegetables in May's Garden - 2010 - Part Three

Some of following vegetables are from a shared garden (with my friend)

Opa - Climbing on trees:










Baby Bao Choy:





Reddish :









Tong Hao:




Garlic:



Chinese Cabbage:

Vegetables in May's Garden - 2010 - Part Two

Following vegetables are from a shared garden (with my friend)

Cherry Tomato:



Opa:




Green Bean:



Another Bean:




Chinese Squish:

It is time for late vegetables

The advantages to do late summer vegetable are:

1) Much less bugs in late summer comparing with late spring or earlier summer.
2) The weather is not that hot/dry in late summer and fall, will need much less water.

That means the late summer vegetables are much easier to take care.

It is good time to start late summer vegetables now. You can do the following late summer vegetables:

1) Radish: you should start now
2) Baby Bao Choy: you can start seeds now, and transfer the plants in 2-3 weeks when the plants are ready.
3) Garlic: you can start in the middle or later of August.

Above are my experience, and I have been doing that for several years. By the way I live in Zone 5.

Vegetables in May's Garden - 2010 - Part One

Following vegetables are from a shared garden (with my friend)

Zucchini:









Water Spanish:



Patato:





Boiled Potato (Recipe: just with salt a little bit green onion, and supper healthy!)



Snow Pea:







Corn: