Reflection of Life...: Mixed Nuts Mooncakes

I have to admit that I am not a mixed nuts mooncake fan. All these years, I think the mixed nuts mooncakes that have ever gone into my stomach would not be more than 5 wedges, not inclusive of the one that I made this round. So why did I make this type of mooncake if I do not like it? Hmmm... interesting question. The reason is because both my father and father-in-law love this. I found that most people who are into this type of mooncake are those who are more senior in terms of age. I guess it is because the older you are, the more patient you will be. Mixed nuts mooncakes are best enjoyed in smaller wedges and smaller delicate bites. The younger generation would not have such patience to slowly and delicately savour it and instead will more often than not pop the whole wedges into their mouth. Therefore the flavour and texture will be too intense for anyone to enjoy it. However, I too have come to acquire a taste for this type of nutty mooncake. Perhaps it is because home-baked mixed nuts mooncake is not as sweet as those available in the market.

I was thinking of a healthier and more like a vegetarian-friendly version. So there is no Chinese ham or bacon or meat floss or the like in this version. I took the inspiration from here. I have already prepared the nuts and dried fruits few days earlier and store them into individual containers in the fridge. All the nuts were toasted in the oven and cut into smaller pieces. The dried fruits were also cut. As this is my maiden attempt at making mixed nuts mooncake, my concern would be whether it will be too sweet as there are quite a number of high sugar content dried fruits. Based on this concern, I scrapped off some sugar from the candied melon and tangerine. Luckily I did that as the sweetness is just right.

I have another concern in making the baked version mooncake. I am worried that the imprints would not be clear. As these were meant to be gifts for close relatives, I was also worried that it would be ugly with odd-looking shape as I was not using those plunger-type mould. Since I used those knock-out type of mould, it might be misshapen if I am not gentle enough. I was contemplating to get a plunger type mould for standard-size mooncake for this but decided against it as I already have many moulds at home. So, my only solution to this is to be as gentle as possible. I read somewhere that in order to have clear imprints on the mooncake, it is better to prepare the dough a day earlier and leave it overnight in the fridge. Not only would it be easier to shape, it will also leave a very clear imprint. Dusting the balls of mooncake-to-be with flour before moulding is also a must in order to have clear imprints.

I could say that this attempt is a success as dear hubby who usually don't like this kind of stuff loves it. He can finish the whole standard-sized mooncake by himself in one sitting. He even asked me to make this again next year. My parents-in-laws also gave me thumbs up for this mooncake. However, I feel that it is a little bit dry, maybe due to low oil content in the ingredients although hubby feel that it is just fine.

Mixed Nuts Mooncakes

Mixed Nuts Fillings

Ingredients:

80 g walnut, toasted and cut coarsely

80 g almond, toasted (I used a combination of almond nibs and slices)

60 g melon seeds (toasted)

60 g sunflower seeds (toasted)

60 g white sesame seeds (toasted)

60 g dried cranberry (cut into smaller pcs)

60 g raisins (cut into smaller pcs if using jumbo size)

60 g candied winter melon (cut into smaller pcs)

60 g dried tangerine (cut into smaller pcs)

2 tbsp icing sugar

100 g commercially cooked glutinous rice flour/ kao fen

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp grape jam

3 tbsp corn oil

6 tbsp water

Method:

1. Mixed all the nuts and dreid fruits together.

2. Add icing sugar, kao fen and salt to (1) and mix well.

3. Add in grape jam, corn oil and water into it and mix well.

4. Shape into 11 balls of approximately 80g each and set aside for wrapping with pastry dough.

Mooncake Pastry Dough

Ingredients:

200 g all purpose flour

120 g golden syrup

1 tsp lye water

56 g peanut oil

Method:

1. Mix golden syrup, lye water and peanut oil together, Blend well,

2. Sift in flour. Knead into a dough and cover with a cling film wrap. Rest for 40 minutes or overnight.

3. Roll into 10 balls of roughly 38 g - 40 g each.

Egg Wash

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp egg whites

Method:

1. Whisk and sift through a fine sift.

Assembling:

1. Take a ball of dough and flatten it into a thin disc.

2. Take a ball of fillings and wrap it with the dough disc and seal it. Then dust with some plain flour.

3. Place it into the mooncake mould and flatten it to conform to the shape of mould.

4. Place a clean kitchen towel on a hard surface (table top) and unmould the mooncake by knocking on the hard surface lined with towel several times.

5. Place mooncakes on baking tray lined with parchment paper.

6. Spray with some water before baking to prevent cracks on the mooncakes.

7. Bake in preheated oven at 180ºC for 10 minutes at the centre rack of oven. Rest for 5 minutes. Then brush egg wash on mooncakes with a soft brush and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes at the lower rack of oven till golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and leave to cool. The pastry will become soft and shiny in 2 to 3 days.

Note:

1. The recipe can make 10 pcs of dough and 11 pcs of fillings.

2. I used a dough to filling ratio of 3:7 for my 125 g mould.