Inspired by the classic nyonya kuih, these Ondeh Ondeh Snow Skin Mooncakes are certainly a unique variation of no bake mooncake to make! Fragrant gula melaka coconut filling, wrapped in a soft and chewy pandan snow skin. Not only for mid autumn festival, these mooncakes make a great dessert for any other day too!
To make the mooncake filling, first cut palm sugar into fine sugar. Also prepare one knotted pandan leaf.
In a pot, add in water, cut palm sugar, salt and knotted pandan leaf. Cook till the palm sugar (gula melaka) has dissolved, stirring occasionally.
Then add in grated coconut. Stir and mix well with the palm sugar mixture. Cook till the coated grated coconut is almost dry. Add in cooking oil and stir fry till the coconut is dry.
Off the heat and remove the pot from stove. Gradually add in the koh fun (cooked glutinous rice flour). Mix filling into a dough and our palm sugar mooncake filling is done.
Using a weighing scale, weigh and divide the mooncake filling into 35g each. Roll into a round ball. Then cover with cling wrap to prevent drying and set aside while we prepare the mooncake skin.
Making Mooncake Skin:
Start by making pandan juice. Cut cleaned pandan leaves into 1 inch or smaller pieces. Put them in blender with 175ml water and blend away. Then using a fine strainer, strain the pandan juice into a cup and set aside.
Prepare a large mixing bowl and sieve koh fun (cooked glutinous rice flour) and icing sugar into the bowl. Mix well together. Then using a spatula, make a well in the middle and gradually add in the pandan juice and mix to form a soft dough. You can use a scraper to easier mix the dough.
Then add shortening and mix well into the dough. Use your hand to knead till a smooth and soft dough is formed.
Cling wrap and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Using a weighing scale, divide the soft dough into 30g each. Cover with cling wrap to prevent drying out. And we are ready to assemble the mooncakes.
Assembling Mooncakes:
Have ready the prepared mooncake skin, mooncake filling and floured mooncake mould.
Sprinkle a portion of mooncake skin with koh fan, roll into a round shape, thicker at the centre. Wrap up the filling with mooncake skin and shape into a ball. Be sure to tightly wrap the filling with the mooncake skin. Sprinkle more koh fun on the wrapped ball to prevent sticking. Then insert the dough into the mooncake mould, press firmly and release the mooncake. Continue to do the same for all the mooncake skin and filling.
Keep in air-tight container and chill in refrigerator before serving.
It is eaten chilled, best with a cup of hot chinese tea. So Enjoy!
This recipe is for 65g Mooncake Mould (Total weight of filling and skin is 65g). If using a different size, adjust accordingly.
As the dough is quite sticky, use a pair of food-grade gloves and plastic wrap on counter top when assembling the Snow Skin Mooncakes. As this is a no bake recipe, gloves are also recommended for hygiene purpose.
Use a precision weighing scale to weigh the skin dough and filling according to the size of the mould. This will ensure all mooncakes are equal and right size for the mould you are using.
The skin for Snow Skin Mooncakes can be a bit thicker, as compared to the traditional mooncakes. Work on the ratio of 4:6 (40% skin and 60% filling); or for thicker skin, a ratio of 1:1 (50% skin and 50% filling).
Just knead skin dough till it is soft and smooth. Do not over knead until elastic, as it will be difficult to wrap the filling.
Always keep mooncake skin covered to prevent dough from drying out.
To avoid difficulty in wrapping, once mooncake skin is ready (after resting dough for 15 minutes), quickly use dough to wrap fillings.
The imprint on the snow skin mooncake may fade over time which is unavoidable for no bake mooncakes. If you need to keep the mooncakes for longer time, you can freeze them to preserve the mooncake pattern.