100 g glutinous rice flour
100 g cooked glutinous rice flour
90 g icing sugar
30 g shortening
150 ml cold water
4 pandan leaves
filling of your choice (lotus paste, red bean or matcha) -store-bought)
food coloring or flavor drops like green tea, pandan, rose, ube
Traditionally eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival (中秋節), the snowskin mooncake is a popular no-bake delicacy that originates from Hong Kong and has since expanded to include many different varieties. For snowskin mooncakes, almost anything goes - from durian filling to the traditional lotus paste filling. It’s also relatively simple to recreate at home, less mess and fuss. The snowskin mooncake recipe is straightforward to follow, and just as delicious. Try it at home today!
One of the most well-loved snacks in Chinese culture, the snowskin mooncake - or crystal mooncake - is a non-baked dessert that offers a soft and chewy bite. It is also called the snowy or ice skin mooncake as it is best eaten cold and fresh, paired with a hot cup of Chinese tea. If you ever find yourself in a traditional Chinese home and are served with this joyous sweet treat, you know you are experiencing the culture just right!
The snowskin mooncake became highly popular as a healthier alternative to the sweeter traditional baked mooncakes that are made from salted duck egg yolks and lotus seed paste. Experimenting with fruit for filling, the bakers in Hong Kong also created these icy snowskin mooncakes that could hold less oil and fat and still deliver an exceptional taste for the Chinese palate.
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The core ingredient in the snowskin mooncake recipe is cooked glutinous rice flour - well known for its health benefits owing to its high zinc, fiber and vitamin content. It also plays an important role in promoting the health of the liver, heart and bones.
What also makes the snowskin mooncake popular is its no-bake recipe. This means that more home cooks can enjoy the snowskin mooncake without having to use the oven which is required for traditional versions of the recipe. It is also relatively simple to make at home, with less mess and fuss.
Whether you want to make snowskin mooncakes for the upcoming Mid Autumn festival or just to enjoy them as a family snack, our simple snowskin mooncake recipe will surely get you excited. Easy and straightforward to follow, try out our snowskin mooncake recipe at home!
Since the mooncakes are not baked, minimal heat is used in the cooking process as well as in the ingredients used. As such, the mooncakes can be easily contaminated with bacteria and germs. Moreover, the snowskin mooncakes use less oil, sugar and salt - these are the natural preservatives in foods that play a role in lengthening the shelf life of edible products which snowskin mooncakes lack in. Therefore, you will need to ensure that the mooncakes are stored appropriately so that you can enjoy them over a longer period of time.
It is advised to not leave snowskin mooncakes in room temperature for more than two hours. They should be kept in the freezer for 10 to 20 days and thawed in the refrigerator before eating. Once thawed, they should be consumed within two hours. We would advise against refreezing the mooncakes thereafter.
While the snowskin mooncake uses less oil, sugar and fat, we would still advise those with diabetes to limit their consumption to every 100g of a mooncake, or one-eighth of a piece. You may cut the mooncake into bite-sized portions for more to share instead of having an entire mooncake at one go.
If you want to reduce the sugar content of the snowskin mooncake, you can use fruits or dried fruits as filling. You may add nuts or seeds to boost fiber and nutrient values.
| Use gloves when handling with food dye to prevent hands from staining.
| More flavors are popping up, with brands offering tom yum, durian and even ice cream mooncakes! Feel free to get creative and experiment with different flavors.
Serve cold and slice into smaller pieces to show off your different fillings.