Osmanthus and wolfberry jelly

Off topic from baking, I made some osmanthus and wolfberry (aka goji berry) jelly today. I've gotten the ingredients a while ago but just never had the chance to make it.


I first tried this when I was in HK last year, at Tim Ho Wan for yum cha. I didn't know what it was but it was nice, not too sweet.


I hadn't thought much about it since then until my friend S decided to make some a few months ago after she had watched a TVB drama featuring it. (:P @ S).

So here's my attempt at it.

Osmanthus and wolfberry jelly
Makes about 38 small jellies

240g powdered konnyaku jelly (pre-sweetened)
1200ml water
~20g dried wolfberry/goji berry
~5g dried sweet scented osmanthus flowers

Boil water.
Slowly add konnyaku jelly, stirring gradually.
Allow to completely dissolve in about 3 mins.
Add in wolfberries and osmanthus flowers.
Remove from heat.
Pour/spoon into jelly moulds.

I bought these moulds in KL 1-2 years ago. I got about 6 in pack.

Allow to cool. Refrigerate until set.

Carefully remove from moulds.


There we go! Very simple and easy to make.

I think next time, I will try and find unsweetened konnyaku and add honey instead. The packaging didn't really say anything about it being sweetened, and most of it was written in Indonesian/Malaysian. :(

Mid Autumn/Moon Festival

I never really knew what the tradition was for. All I ever remembered was eating 'moon cakes' around this time of year. I never really liked moon cakes. The traditional ones.. are too rich. Too fatty. (They have a lot of larrrrrd). Not delicious in my eyes, as a child. And I still think that way! But with the new types of moon cakes around, such as the snow skin and the mochi ones.. I've found something that I can settle for.


Last year my sister came home with some mochi mooncakes from BreadTop. (They're about $6 for 2 mini ones). And wow! They were nice! I hadn't been eating moon cakes for a while (We'd have the traditional ones each year but I'd never eat any). Haha. They were delicious, and so adorable! I knew I wanted to make some! Hehe :)

So I searched in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for some moon cake moulds. (There was a slim chance of me finding any in Melbourne. Sigh). But I came back fruitless. I did find some jelly moulds and other kueh moulds, just not proper moon cake ones. :( Luckily for me though... a friend found some in Vietnam for me. Thank you so much A! They were not mini, but they were sufficient enough. Hehe! I'm still on the search for mini moon cake moulds..

This year, we did not buy any moon cakes. It was all up to me.. :/


My first attempt at making snowskin moon cake. I'd like to say it was a success~ :)


Anyone want some for next year? Put in an order, pay me and I'll make you some. :P

(I used the jelly moulds I found in KL to make these mini ones)

Snow skin moon cake
Makes about 21 medium moon cakes

Snow skin
40g wheat starch (tang mien flour)
300g fried glutinous rice flour (koh fun)
245g icing sugar
65g shortening (I used melted copha, a vegetable shortening)
350ml cold water

matcha powder
yam/taro powder
vanilla extract

Custard (fake egg yolk)
100g sugar
25g corn flour
20g low protein flour
20g custard powder
50ml coconut milk
80ml milk
1 egg yolk
10g butter, melted
few drops of yellow colouring

Filling
250g taro paste
250g white lotus paste
250g green tea lotus paste
(I bought the pastes, which came in 500g packets. There was also red bean and mung bean also, but I didn't get them)

Make the custard first. Sift all the dry ingredients.
Add the liquid ingredients apart from the butter.
Add the melted butter when all is mixed.
Steam for 30mins or until cooked.
Leave to cool.

When cool, roll into little balls that resemble egg yolks.

For the snow skin, sift all the dry ingredients together.
I then split into 3 bowls (as I made 3 different flavours).
I add matcha powder to one bowl and yam/taro powder to another bowl.
Then split the water into the 3 bowls equally, as with the shortening.
Add some vanilla extract to the last bowl.

Mix until a dough is formed. If too sticky, add more fried glutinous rice flour until it can be handled.

Now you can start making the moon cakes!

Wrap some of the filling around each 'egg yolk'. Then wrap some of the snow skin around that. (I used the matcha snowskin with green tea paste, the vanilla snowskin with white lotus paste and the yam/taro snowskin with the taro paste)
You should now have a three layered ball (outer snowskin, filling and inner custard 'egg yolk').

Dust it with some fried glutinous rice flour. Dust the mooncake mould as well. Press gently into the mould and carefully remove.

And there you go! All you need to do is refrigerate overnight and it is now ready to serve.
They will harden as the days go by. I suggest you consume them within a week.


Slice into 4/6/8 pieces and serve with a nice cup of jasmine tea. ;)


Looks so much like an egg yolk. The texture was quite similar too! Hehe~ :)

Still steaming away..

I.. tried making 'pak thong koh'. It's a yeast risen steamed rice flour cake that tastes.. like wine/alcohol. Mmm. I love that taste! (And no, I'm not an alcoholic!).


Except, it didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to. I made a mistake of not refilling the water in the steamer and so it kinda dried out midway (I smelt something burning.. yeah, it was the pan -__-). So when I removed the tray, it sunk. Ahhhhh!! I know it had risen earlier because I saw it doing so! Sigh.

Oh well. The taste is the same. It just.. isn't so soft and doesn't have the honeycomb texture. :(

It's simple to make, but the fermentation takes a while.. so I actually ended up steaming this at about 10:30pm because I forgot to prepare earlier. Haha.

Pak thong koh
Makes a lot of servings..

400gm rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
400ml water

2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp lukewarm water
pinch of sugar

400ml water
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp pandan essence

Combine rice and tapioca flours with water until a paste is formed.
Boil 400ml water with the sugar and pandan essence until all sugar is dissolved.
Pour into flour paste and mix.
Allow to cool slightly until just warm.

Prepare the yeast with 1 tbsp lukewarm water and pinch of sugar.
Add to final mixture.
Cover with a cloth and allow to rest for about 7 hours.

Pour into a lined tray/pan and steam on high for about 30-45mins or until cooked.

Allow to cool before slicing and serving.


There was some honeycomb texture.. but only around the edges because the middle sunk before it got completely cooked at the high temperature. :(

Charsiu pau

The best pau that I've eaten so far was in Singapore back in 2008. The dough was so soft and fluffy and basically melts in your mouth. Mmm.. And I'm pretty sure it was the same taste when I ate them this year as well. :P


I'd been looking everywhere for 'Hong Kong pau flour'. I finally found it earlier in the year at Laguna in QV. So I bought a packet (500gm) for $2.45. I didn't know what made the flour so special, but now that I think of it.. I think it's just because it's low in gluten/protein (unlike bread flour which is high in gluten/protein); thus making it soft and light. Therefore.. you just need to buy low protein/gluten flour which you can find at most Asian grocers for about $1.65 per 500gm packet. -__-

Charsiu pau
Makes about 27 small-med pau

Filling:
500gm charsiu pork, diced
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp light soya sauce
2 1/2 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
2/3 cup corn kernels
2/3 cup peas
pinch of salt

cooked quail eggs

Pau skin/dough:
500gm Hong Kong Pau flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp water
1 tsp sugar
200ml water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
60gm vegetable shortening

Prepare the filling the night before.
Combine all of the ingredients together (except the quail eggs as they are very delicate) and stirfry on low for a few minutes.
Allow to cool.
Cover and refrigerate over night.

For the pau skin, sift baking powder, sugar, salt and flour in a bowl.

In a small bowl, prepare the yeast by adding the 1 tbsp water and 1 tsp sugar. Leave to rest for about 15 minutes or until frothy like in appearance.

Create a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Add water and yeast mixture.
Mix until a dough is formed.
Add shortening.
Knead dough until soft.
Cover and leave to rest for about an 1hr or until about double in size.

Punch dough once and knead. Roll out dough and cut into equal pieces.
Roll each piece out and apply filling (including a quail egg) before closing up.
Place on top of a small piece of baking paper.

Steam on high for about 25 minutes or until cooked.

Serve immediately, or reheat when required. (The pau will harden otherwise, but should soften upon reheating).


They weren't as soft and fluffy, but still soft. My dough didn't rise as much as I had wanted.. so perhaps I needed more yeast? Or the yeast wasn't working quite well.. sigh. Oh, and I really need practice is wrapping up the pau. Haha.. the first few were quite.. hideous. :/