Pandan Custard Snowskin Mooncake

It’s that time of year again and mooncakes are everywhere in the Asian grocery stores here in San Jose. It makes me a little wistful for Malaysia, as I was making them myself last year when I could easily get my hands on ready-made mooncake fillings. Thankfully, a friend from Singapore visited me just about a week back and brought me some mooncake filling so I will at least get to make some this year.

Last year, besides making traditional baked mooncakes, piggy mooncakes and spiral mooncakes, I decided I was going to give snowskin mooncakes another try to get them more perfect (we weren’t too happy with our first attempt). I also bought a book all about mooncakes called “Mooncake Sonata” by Alan Ooi and the recipes in there really helped me to perfect those snowskin types.

I’m going to share with you one of the snowskin mooncakes that was really popular when I was selling them last year—this pandan custard snowskin mooncake. It is a little bit more complicated to make as there are multiple steps but the cake itself is so pretty and the flavors so yummy that you have to give it a try.

Pandan Custard Snowskin Mooncake

Pandan snowskin mooncake with pandan lotus, coconut custard and salted egg yolk

Snowskin Mooncakes, Take 2

The first time I made snowskin mooncakes, the dough was decent but the texture just wasn’t as smooth as what I could find at the stores. I blogged the recipe but I wasn’t fully satisfied with the texture of the mooncake. Last year, after listening to more advice from experts and some trial and error, I found that my snowskin mooncakes turned out better.

The key was to let the dough rest for half an hour after making it and then to re-knead it to get a more pliable and smooth dough and finally to ensure that you have a little bit of cooked rice flour on hand when you are shaping to dust the dough. All of these techniques helped me to develop a much smoother texture and more lovely looking snowskin mooncakes. Also, the recipe that I used had a slightly different ratio of flour to water and icing sugar. I definitely liked this one better.

Pandan Custard Snowskin Mooncake Recipe

adapted from Mooncake Sonata by Alan Ooi
Prep Time: 1 hour, Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 8 mooncakes

Ingredients:
For the skin:
A
130g cooked glutinous rice flour (koh fun)
180g icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)

B
35g shortening (I prefer Crisco brand)

C
130ml cold pandan water (see note)
1/4 tsp pandan essence

For the Custard Filling:
1 egg yolk
100g caster sugar
15g super fine flour
20g corn flour
20g tapioca flour
50g thick coconut milk
75g fresh milk
15g butter
some yellow food coloring

500g pandan lotus seed paste
8 salted egg yolks

Method:
1. For the snowskin: Sift ingredients A, then add ingredient B and mix till well combined. Add ingredients C and mix into dough. Knead well to get a smoother dough. (At this point, you can wrap it and let it rest in the fridge.) Divide into 60g each. Roll into balls.

Making Pandan Snow Skin Dough

2. Make custard filling: Mix all the ingredients (egg yolk, sugar, flour, corn flour, tapioca flour, coconut milk, milk, butter and coloring) till well combined. Pour the combined ingredients into a steaming tray and steam on medium high heat for 30 minutes. Remove and mix well. Take mixture out and knead until it comes together in a ball. Then roll into a log and cut into 35g portions each. Roll into balls.

Making Custard Dough

3. Prepare the salted egg yolks. Using uncooked salted eggs, separate the whites from the egg yolks. Set aside the whites for another use. Place egg yolks apart on a plate and steam the salted egg yolks for 10 minutes on medium high heat until cooked. Leave to cool.

Steaming Salted Egg Yolks

Steaming salted egg yolks for Traditional Mooncakes

4. Divide the pandan lotus seed paste into 50g portions. Roll into balls and then flatten.

5. Assemble mooncake: Flatten a piece of custard filling and place one egg yolk in the center. Wrap custard around egg yolk. Roll into a ball. Work slowly and carefully so you do not get any air pockets between the egg yolk and the custard. Repeat with the rest of the egg yolks.

Now, wrap the custard filling with the pandan lotus seed paste ensuring even covering and no air pockets again. This takes practice but once you get it, you will be able to work faster. Roll into ball. Set aside. Repeat with the other fillings.

Assembling Custard and Pandan Paste Balls

6. Flatten the snowskin dough and wrap the fillings with the snowskin, trying to get an even coverage. Dust with extra cooked rice flour on the outside part of the skin to get a more smooth texture. Once covered, lightly dust with more flour then press into your mooncake mould (we use the plastic spring-loaded mooncake moulds). De-mould and repeat with the rest of the fillings.

Wrapping and Pressing Pandan Snow Skin Mooncake

7. Refrigerate the mooncakes overnight before eating. This will help firm up the mooncake and give the snowskin a nice chew. Mooncakes will last about a week in the fridge but is freshest the first three days.

Pandan Custard Snowskin Mooncake

Pandan snowskin mooncake with pandan lotus, coconut custard and salted egg yolk

Note: Cold pandan water can be made ahead and kept in the fridge. To make pandan water, boil 4 cups water with 8 pandan leaves (we cut them up into smaller pieces and wash them well before using) for about 10-15 minutes. Strain the water and place in a jar or bottle and let cool. Refrigerate and use as needed. Leftover pandan water makes a refreshing drink with ice.

Making Pandan Water

Yes, making this pandan custard snowskin mooncake it is a lot of work, but the combination of salty egg yolk, coconut-y custard and rich pandan lotus is very nice. The chewy, yet tender skin is the perfect foil for all of the filling.

Wish me luck as I attempt making snowskin mooncakes this year. I don’t have access to Hong Kong cooked glutinous rice flour but I did find a Vietnamese brand one in the stores. Hopefully, they work just as well.

I also had a hard time finding raw salted eggs so Nate and I set out to make our own this year. We started a little late so we will only get to use them later this month. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to make the ones without the salted egg yolk.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Annie

See expanded pics from this post on our Facebook Fan Page.

Here are some other snowskin mooncake recipes by other bloggers:

Pandan Snow Skin Mooncakes with Coconut Mung Bean Filling by Christine’s Recipes
Mini Snowskin Mooncakes by Happy Home Baking
Snow Skin Lotus Paste Mooncake by Amanda
Basic Mini Snow Skin Mooncake by Anh’s Food Blog
Snow Skin Mooncake by Rasa Malaysia

I am submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up September – Pandan hosted by Joceline @ Butter, Flour & Me, organized by Zoe@ Bake For Happy Kids and Mui Mui @ My Little Favourites DIY.

12 thoughts on “Pandan Custard Snowskin Mooncake”

  1. Dear Annie,

    Sometimes (like today!) you really make my day with your detailed narratives and pictorials. That was absolutely fascinating. I would enjoy tackling that project one day when I had the appropriate appreciative audience.

    Thank you so much for sharing your talents and enthusiasm with the rest of us!

    Danni

  2. Hi Annie,

    Your snowskin mooncakes look very pretty and impressive all these distinctive layers.

    Nice to know you via blogging and thanks for linking with LTU!

    Zoe

  3. Beautiful mochi skin mooncake. We have a pandan plant growing here in Kane’ohe and getting ready to divide out the daughter plant (never delivered a pandan baby; would appreciate any advice!); might have to try this recipe.

    Speaking of babies, my family had a beautiful mooncake mold custom made with our last name when my daughter was born. The japanese mooncake mold with the sliding door or the cookie cutter spring loaded molds may be easier to work with though since mochi can get sticky!

    Mahalo for the recipe and inspiration!

  4. The mould that you used is the mould for how many gram ? Because i’m confused buy the mould. thank you 🙂

    1. Christina,

      thanks for your question.

      I believe we used a 150g mold. If you add up the snowskin, the custard, and the paste it comes to 145g. Add the egg yolk and that should be 150g.

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