Black Forest Cherry Cheese Mooncake

Black Forest Cherry Cheese Mooncake

Recipe :  Flavours Magazine

I love making jelly mooncakes. And it goes without saying that I love eating them as well! I treat them more as a jelly i.e. more as a dessert than as a traditional mooncake. Which means I can make them anytime I feel like eating jellies. They are colourful and very refreshing, especially when they are well chilled before being served.

I always serve jelly mooncakes as desserts after a hearty Mid-Autumn dinner which my family celebrates without fail every year.  We need to keep traditions and cultures alive, to pass on to the next generation even though these may be mere jellies. It's the symbolism that counts. A symbolism of sharing mooncakes, Chinese tea and pomelos with friends and family gathering together to admire the full moon and the children's brightly coloured lanterns! 

Just talking about it has already gotten me into the mood  of looking forward and anticipating the Mid-Autumn festivities.
 
   

For cherry cheese filling ( makes 6)

3 1/2 tbsp water
2/3 cup UHT milk
50g sugar
1 tsp agar-agar powder
50g cream cheese, soften
10 pitted cherries ( from canned cherries ), drained on absorbent paper

Equipment : round tart moulds

Instructions

1.  Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil. Add in soften cream cheese and stir continuously with hand whisk. Turn off heat once mixture starts to bubble and pour into round tart moulds.
2.  Add in 2 pitted cherries into each mould and allow to set completely before chilling in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

 

Cherry Syrup Skin ( enough for 3 only because my mooncake mould is big)

2 1/2 tsp agar-agar powder
1 3/4 cups water
70g sugar
4 tbsp cherry syrup
1/4 tsp red colouring

Equipment : round jelly mooncake moulds

Instructions

1.  Bring the first three ingredients to a boil.
2.  Add cherry syrup and colouring and bring to a quick boil again.
3.  Pour in 1/2 cm of this syrup into a jelly mooncake mould and allow to cool until it is almost set.
4.  Place one piece of pre-prepared cheese filling into the centre of the jelly mooncake mould.
5.  Fill up with cheery syrup skin mixture and allow to set completely. It takes about 20 minutes to set. 
6.  Chill in refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

Mooncake : Cappucino Cheese Jelly Mooncake 燕菜咖啡芝士月饼

Mooncake :  Cappuccino Cheese Jelly Mooncake 燕菜咖啡芝士月饼

Recipe source :  Adapted from Flavours Magazine


Cappuccino lovers will like this jelly mooncake. The cream cheese filling taste wonderful! However, for those who do not like cappuccino or coffee, they will find the jelly skin slightly bitter. Hubby and my children do not like it so I polished off all four pieces of this jelly mooncake over two days.  

Mmmm, I find it very tasty. I love the combination of cream cheese with the cappuccino skin. This is just perfect for me !

Ingredients For Cappuccino Cheese Filling

3 1/2 tbsp water
2/3 cup UHT Milk
50g sugar
1 tsp agar-agar-powder
50g cream cheese, beat with hand whisk or electric beater to soften

Instructions

1.  In a pot, bring the first four ingredients to the boil.
2.  Add softened cream cheese and stir continuously with hand whisk to prevent lumps from forming.
3.  Turn off heat.
4.  Pour into small tart moulds or muffin pans.
5.  Leave to cool until set, then chill in refrigerator.

Ingredients For Coffee Jelly Skin

1 3/4 cups water
70g sugar
2 1/2 tsp agar-agar powder
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee ( mixed with 3 1/2 tbsp hot water)

Instructions

1.  Bring the first three ingredients to boil.
2.  Turn off heat and add instant coffee mixture.
3.  Stir continuously to ensure even mixing.

Assembling the Mooncake

For a step-by-step guide on assembling the jelly mooncake, please visit up my previous posts on Cendol Jelly Mooncake and Mango Jelly Mooncake. 

The concept of assembling the jelly mooncake is the same.

 

 

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Books #3 

 

Organized by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours 

 

Mooncake : Honey Dew Melon Jelly Mooncake 燕菜密瓜月饼

Mooncake : Honey Dew Melon Jelly Mooncake 燕菜密瓜月饼

Recipe source :  Flavours magazine


I am encouraged by my few successful attempts at making jelly mooncakes. I am eager  to try more recipes as  I find these jelly mooncakes very pretty. They make great desserts and they are very tasty and refreshing. 

Honey Dew Filling

100g honey dew puree
1/2 cup water
2 tsp agar-agar powder
60g sugar
1 tbsp condensed milk
1/8 tsp green colouring
8 jelly egg yolks   ( My post on Cendol Jelly Mooncake showed how to make jelly egg yolks )

Method

1.  In a pot, bring the first 4 ingredients to the boil. Switch off the fire and add condensed milk and colouring.
2.  Pour into tart moulds or muffin pans. 
3.  Please visit my  post  Cendol Jelly Mooncake for a step-by-step guide on making the filling.

Yellow Jelly Skin

 
3 1/2 cups water
140g sugar
4 pandan (screw-pine) leaves, knotted
5 tsp agar-agar powder
2 tbsp condensed milk
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
1/2 tsp yellow colouring

Method

1.  Bring the first 4 ingredients to the boil.
2.  Add in the next 3 items and once it starts to boil again, switch off the flame.

Assembling the Mooncake

For a step-by-step guide on assembling the jelly mooncake, please visit my previous posts on Cendol Jelly Mooncake and Mango Jelly Mooncake 


The concept of assembling the jelly mooncake is the same.

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Books #3 

 

Organized by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

 

Mooncake : Cendol Jelly Mooncake

Mooncake : Cendol Jelly Mooncake

Recipe source :  Flavours Magazine

I know it is early yet to be making mooncakes, but then these are actually jellies set beautifully into moulds of various shapes and sizes to create a "mooncake" effect.  I really admire the original creator of this recipe for being so talented and creative to put this mooncake together complete with "egg yolks", "filling" and the thin outer layer masquerading as the pastry skin. I find it amazing !  I am very happy that the jellies turned out into such pretty mooncakes, I felt guilty cutting into them! 

 My family enjoys eating them as a dessert. It is so refreshing, especially when it is chilled. Co-incidentally, SK and I love to eat cendol. So it is sort of a double bonus to us!

For jelly egg yolk

1/2 cup water
50g sugar
1 tsp agar-agar powder
2 knotted pandan (screw-pine) leaves
1/3 cup thick coconut milk
1/2 tbsp custard powder
1/8 tsp orange-red colouring

Equipment : Ball ice-cube tray

Method

1.  Bring the first four items to the boil.
2.  Lower heat and then add the next 3 items. Stir with a hand whisk and continue to cook until it thickens.
3.  Once the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat and pour it into an ice-cube tray. 
4.  Fill jelly mixture to the brim of the lower tray and cover with the upper tray; expect the mixture to overflow.
5.  Let it set and refrigerate for a further 30 minutes before removing the jelly egg yolks. 

Ball ice-cube tray

The jelly egg yolks 

For Cendol Filling

100g palm sugar

1/2 cup water

2 pandan (screw-pine) leaves, knotted

1 cup thick coconut milk

2 tsp agar-agar powder

1 tbsp custard powder

10g cendol

1/8 tsp salt

Method

1.  Bring the first 3 items to the boil and strain the mixture into a clean pot.

2.  Add the next 3 items and bring to a quick boil.

3.  Once mixture starts to boil, add cendol and salt. Stir to mix well.

4.  Pour the mixture into a muffin pan.

5.  Place a piece of jelly egg yolk into the centre of each filling immediately, while still hot.

6.  Allow the filling to set.

Green jelly skin

3 1/2 cups water
140g sugar
4 pandan (screw-pine) leaves, knotted
5 tsp agar-agar powder
2 tbsp condensed milk
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
1/2 tsp pandan (screw-pine)  juice ( or use green colouring )

Method

1.  In a pot, bring the first 4 items to the boil. Then add the next three items. Stir to blend well.
2.  Pour 1/2 cm layer of this mixture into each mould. 
3.  Allow to cool until almost set i.e. 3/4 set, then place a piece of cendol filling in the centre of the mould.
4.  Top up with jelly skin mixture and let it set completely before chilling in the refrigerator.

Step-by-step pictures :

 Fill the mould with 1/2 cm of jelly mixture and leave to cool until almost set

Then add cendol filling onto the green jelly mixture which has partially set

Fill up the mould with the green  jelly mixture

 A cross section showing the egg yolk, cendol filling and the green jelly skin
 

Teochew Mooncake Shop In Setapak

Teochew Mooncake Shop In Setapak

The most important ingredient in making Teochew mooncake is lard. This is because without lard the mooncake will not have that special oomph to it. Teochew mooncakes look more like biscuits than the conventional mooncakes. Below are four samples of mooncakes and two types of 'kueh' or 'lar kor' in Teochew

Teochew preserved vegetable mooncake  潮州梅菜月饼

Teochew pure mung bean paste mooncake  潮州白豆沙月饼

Teochew pastry yam mooncake with egg yolk 潮州芋头蛋黄月饼

Teochew pastry yam mooncake 潮州芋头月饼

Teochew black sesame glutinous 'kueh' with mung bean paste

Teochew glutinous rice 'kueh' with mung bean paste

Mooncake: Durian Paste Mooncake 榴莲月饼

Mooncake: Durian Paste Mooncake  榴莲月饼

 The result of my effort

 Recipe Source :  Flavours Magazine

I have been very busy of late, trying out all the mooncake recipes which I had collected over the years. Now is a good time to try out my recipes collection on mooncake making as the Mid-Autumn Festival is drawing near. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 30th of September 2012 and it is on a Sunday, which means many people working or studying outstation can go back home to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival for the year 2012.

Wishing everyone a Very Happy Mid-Autumn Festival !

Ingredients For The Crust

( makes 10 pieces )

500g Hong Kong flour
200ml syrup
80 ml cooking oil
1/2 tbsp lye water ( Kan sui )

Durian Filling

50g lotus seed paste or lin yoong in Cantonese
300g durian flesh

Note : You can refer to my post on how to make lotus seed paste, read here

Egg Wash

1 egg yolk beaten with 1/2 egg white

Method

1.  Pour oil and syrup into a mixing bowl followed by lye water. Stir thoroughly to mix with a spatula, blending well until the oil is well distributed
2.  Sift the Hong Kong flour and add to the mixing bowl in stages, stirring as you go along until you get a soft, pliable dough
3.  Knead the dough on a surface already dusted with Hong Kong flour. Use only light movements and do not overwork the dough. Stop when the dough is smooth.
4.  Cover with a piece of cling film and leave to rest for half an hour
5.  Mash the durian flesh and cook in a non-stick pan for 10 minutes over a medium fire. Allow to cool completely. Then mix well with the lotus seed paste. Divide the mixture into 10 equal portions.
6.  Back to the dough, divide the dough into 10 balls of equal portions
7.  Press each ball down using the palm of one hand on a floured surface to get a palm-sized disk
8.  Place a portion of the durian filling on each disk of dough and pressing gently stretch and spread it evenly to cover the entire paste filling
9.  Dust  mooncake mould with Hong Kong flour. Shape the dough into the mooncake mould and press down evenly, then knock out the moon cake. The mooncake should fall out easily
10. Place the mooncakes on a greased baking tray and bake the mooncakes in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.
11. Take them out from the oven and brush with egg wash
12. Bake again for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown
13. The mooncakes should be kept for 2 days for the flavour to develop and the oil in the lotus seed paste to enrich the pastry before they are eaten
 

The durian paste filling is very fragrant and combines well with the pastry

Mooncake: Mango Jelly Mooncakes 芒果燕菜月饼

Mooncake: Mango Jelly Mooncakes 芒果燕菜月饼

 

 The mango jelly mooncakes turned out beautifully

Recipe Source : Flavours Magazine

I was encouraged  to try out more recipes on making jelly mooncakes especially since my first attempt to make Kiwi Cheese Jelly Mooncake   turned out successfully. This batch of mango jelly mooncake looks great too ! 

Ingredients

 The brand of agar-agar powder that I used to make these mango jelly mooncakes

 Agar-agar powder

Ingredients For mango Filling

 

1 cup water

60g sugar

2 tsp agar-agar powder

1 tbsp condensed milk

60 g mango flesh  ( blend with 2/3 cup of water to make mango puree )

40g mango flesh ( cut into cubes of 1/2 cm )

Instructions To Make the Mango Filling

 

1.  In a pot, bring water, sugar and agar-agar powder to a boil

2.  Once the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat

3.  Add in the condensed milk, mango puree and mango cubes

4.  Mix evenly

5.  Pour into round tart moulds and leave to set completely

6.  Once the jelly has set, remove from the tart moulds and set aside for later use

Note : The tart moulds used to make the jelly for the filling should be smaller in diameter and height than the mooncake mould

Ingredients For The White Jelly Skin

 

3 cups water
140g sugar
2 pandan leaves a.k.a. screw pine leaves
5 tsp agar-agar powder

2 tbsp condensed milk
1/2 cup thick coconut milk or santan

Instructions To Make The White Jelly Skin

 

1.  Bring the first four ingredients to a boil
2.  Lower the heat and add in the condensed milk and coconut milk
3.  Stir continuously until the mixture starts to bubble again
4.  Turn off the heat immediately

Instructions To Assemble The Mango Jelly Mooncake :

1.  Pour 1/2 cm of the white jelly skin mixture into a mooncake mould

2.  Leave to cool until it is almost set. That is    3/4 hardened

1.  Place a piece of the mango filling which has already hardened, on top of the white jelly skin which is only 3/4 hardened

2.  Place the mango filling into the centre of the mooncake mould

1.  Next, fill the mooncake mould with more of the white jelly skin mixture until it is full 

2.  Leave it to cool and to set completely

3.  Once it has cooled down and set, place the mould and the jelly mooncakes into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes

4. Remove the  mango jelly mooncakes and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Looks great and tastes great as well

Mooncake : Kiwi Cheese Jelly Mooncake 燕菜月饼

Mooncake : Kiwi Cheese Jelly Mooncake 燕菜月饼

 Auspicious looking mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn celebration

 Great tasting jelly mooncakes

Recipe source : Flavours Magazine


This is the first time I am making jelly mooncake. I am happy with the results. I like the lovely combination of using kiwi puree for the outer skin layer and smooth creamy cheese as the filling. It's a very great dessert to serve after a sumptuous Mid-Autumn celebratory reunion dinner for the whole family, especially so when this dessert is fashioned into the shape of a moon with auspicious connotations. This year the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 30th of September 2012. You may want to try this out for your family.

Ingredients

 

The brand of agar-agar a.k.a. jelly powder that I used for making this jelly mooncake

Top left : thick santan or coconut milk. Top middle : agar-agar powder. Top right : sugar

Bottom : Kiwi fruit for blending into kiwi puree 

 Pandan leaves a.k.a. screw-pine leaves

Ingredients For Cheese Filling

 

4 tbsp water
2/3 cup UHT milk
55g sugar
1 tsp agar-agar
50g cream cheese

Instructions To Make The Filling

1.  Soften the cream cheese by beating with a hand whisk or an electric beater before adding it to the mixture.
2.  Bring the first four ingredients to a boil.
3.  Reduce the flame to low 
4.  Add in the softened cream cheese 
5.  Stir continuously with a hand whisk to avoid lumps
6.  Remove from heat and pour mixture into 4 round tart mould and leave to set completely before use.
7.  Once the jelly has set, remove from the tart moulds and set aside for later use

Note : The tart moulds used to make the jelly for the filling should be smaller in diameter and height than the mooncake mould

Ingredients For the Kiwi Skin

 

1 cup water
75g sugar
2 1/2 tsp agar-agar powder
2 pandan leaves a.k.a. screw-pine leaves ( optional )

80g kiwi fruit to be blended with 3/4 cup of water to make kiwi puree
1 tbsp condensed milk
4 tbsp thick santan ( coconut milk )
1/2 tsp green colouring (optional )

Instructions to Make the Kiwi Skin

 

1.  Boil the first 4 ingredients together
2.  Once it boils, lower the heat and add in the next four ingredients listed above
3.  Stir thoroughly
4.  When it starts to boil again, switch off the flame and remove from the heat immediately

Instructions To Assemble The Mooncake

 

1.  Place the plastic mooncake mould on a table.
2.  Fill each mould with 1/2 a cm of kiwi skin mixture
3.  Let it cool to 3/4  hardened (It must not be totally hardened)
4.  Take a piece of the cream cheese filling ( which has already set ) and place it in the centre of  the mooncake mould
5.  Fill more kiwi skin mixture into the plastic mooncake mould until the whole piece of filling is totally covered
6.  Repeat the same for the 3 other mooncake moulds
7.  Leave them to cool and set completely
8.  Then place the moulds into the refrigerator for 30 minutes
9.  Knock the mould gently to remove the mooncakes
10. Refrigerate the moon cakes until ready to serve

The black dots on the mooncakes are kiwi fruit seeds