Chubby Pocky :)

Everytime I'm back here, I say, it's been a while. Haha.. I'm sorry. I'm still here, but not here us much as I used to be. :( I've been baking/cooking, but I just haven't been blogging about it. I thought it'd be worth me blogging this post though, seeing as I'd probably want to make these again. :)

I thought to myself the other day.. "how hard is it to make my own Pocky?". I actually wanted to make giant pocky (I bought a box of matcha and a box of melon ones from Japan earlier in the year, but I don't have anymore). But seeing as I've never tried making these before, I didn't want to get my hopes up on such a big scale. So I made something in between. I call them chubby pocky. :P

I made two batches: purple sweet potato (using the purple sweet potato powder I found at Bangsan Market in Seoul a few months ago) and matcha (I have lots of matcha. Hehe).

My house has been smelling really nice over the past few days with all the baking. I have heaps of chocolate and caramel chip cookies that I made earlier this week too. I think it's time for me to stop..... until next week. Next week or so I shall start my Christmas baking! :)

Homemade pocky
Makes about 33-34 medium chubby sticks (~15cm)

100g skim condensed milk (1/4 cup)
20g water (2 Tbsp)
200g plain flour (1 1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp baking powder
30g sugar (2 Tbsp)
a pinch of salt
* some cinnamon/nutmeg (for plain biscuit sticks)
* 18g matcha powder (for matcha biscuit sticks)
75g butter, softened.

Mix condensed milk and sugar.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and *cinnamon/nutmeg OR *matcha.
I used my BEM800 stand mixer for this.
Add in butter until you form fine crumbs.
Then add in condensed milk and mix until a dough forms.
Wrap in clingwrap and refrigerate for about 30mins.

Weigh out 14gm of dough.
With your hands, firmly mould out a small sausage like shape. Place onto a smooth stable surface like a pastry board or chopping board that won't move. Using a thinner flexible chopping board, gently roll the sausage shaped dough until it thins out to about 15cm in length.

Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake in a preheated 160C oven for 15-20mins.

Allow to cool.

To make chocolate dipping:

2x250gm white chocolate
4-5 Tbsp purple sweet potato powder
3-4 Tbsp matcha powder

Over a double boiler, heat 250gm of white chocolate with either of the powders until completely combined.
*Only do one flavour at a time.
Allow to cool slightly.
With a spoon, spread chocolate over the biscuit stick. Shake off excess to smooth out the chocolate.
Stand upright (I used a cookie cooking rack) and allow to set at room temperature. Do not refrigerate immediately.

Store in an airtight jar.

Mooncakes galore! :)

Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival!

This year I made my usual snowskin mooncakes with taro lotus, green tea lotus and mung bean fillings, baked red bean mooncakes and matcha and durian ice cream mochi mooncakes!

This ube flavouring gives such a nice smell and colour! Love it! But I seriously am desperate in finding taro flavour or powder still! :( This is the 5th year of making snowskin mooncakes (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), my 2nd year of baking mooncakes and the first time making mochi icecream mooncakes! Hehe. I'm kinda getting sick of my mooncake designs now though.. I really need to look for different ones.

Before baking

Baked then eggwash applied.

And the end result? (I stole this off C's instagram :P)

Anyway, getting back to the mochi icecream mooncakes or daifuku as the Japanese call it. :)
A few weeks back, I made matcha and durian ice creams.

Durian icecream
Makes about 700ml

5 pieces of durian flesh (each seed)
350ml milk (I used Physical No Fat, as I couldn't be bothered going out to buy normal milk)
300ml cream
4 Tbsp sugar
4 egg yolks

Blend durian into a paste.
In a saucepan, heat up milk, cream and sugar until dissolved. Heat till near boiling and stir in durian.
Turn heat down.
Add egg yolks and mix until combined.
Refrigerate.
Use icecream machine as per instructions.
Place into a container, cover with cling wrap and close lid.
Freeze overnight.

And.... I can't remember my quantities for the matcha icecream anymore :( (I seriously feel like I'm getting dementia). There were no eggs involved in the icecream.

Anyway, back to making the mochi ice cream mooncakes. What you need to do is scoop the icecream and set it first. I used 2 scoops of icecream (combined into one ball) per mooncake. Must work quickly to prevent melting and freeze these overnight.

For the mochi skin:
Makes enough skin for about 4-6

100g glutinous rice flour
120g sugar
200ml water
(matcha powder or durian flavouring)

lots of corn/wheat starch (~100-150g)

*I halved the quantity of each ingredient for each flavour.

Cover a baking tray with baking paper and lots of corn/wheat starch.
Mix all other ingredients until combined. Cover lightly with cling wrap.
Microwave for about 2mins. (I did 1.5min each)
The mixture should be cooked. Mix it again.
Cover lightly with cling wrap again.
Microwave for another 30 secs.
Mix again until smooth.

Place onto baking tray. Cover with more corn/wheat starch.
Push the mochi out into a rectangular shape.
Refrigerate for 30mins to an hour.
Cut mochi into about 4 sections (I ruined mine by stretching out a bit too much in some points, so only managed to get 2 usuable pieces per flavour)
Get a pieces of cling wrap.
Dust off excess corn/wheat starch from the mochi piece, place onto cling wrap.
Place ice cream ball on top, and gently wrap. Twist cling wrap tightly and freeze immediately.

Once hardened, carefully push into a mooncake mould.

Wrap into cling wrap and freeze until ready to eat.
Enjoy. Remember to drink lots of yummy tea with your mooncakes! :)

Snowskin mooncakes

My snowskin mooncakes were better this year. I only made 8 taro and 8 green tea [using 2 packets of taro paste and 2 cans of Wu Chung green tea paste because KFL didn't have the green tea lotus paste :(.]. I had quite of bit of snowskin dough left because I rolled it out thinly this year (unlike the rustic ones I made once.. haha).... Well, I'll make them into dumplings, I guess?

I changed the dough recipe a bit and it gave me a softer texture that doesn't harden so quickly, even with refrigeration (in an airtight container). :D

Improved snowskin ingredient proportions:
80g tang mien flour
260g koh fun
245g icing sugar
65g vegetable shortening
350ml warm water

I'm getting a bit tired of my mooncake designs though. I need to hunt for more! Hehe

I'm also quite satisfied with my baked mooncakes, apart from the filling. The filling was a tad dry, but the skin turned out well. If you wrap them in glad wrap once they're cooled completely, the mooncakes will maintain it's moisture and appear glossy too. Refrigeration doesn't hurt them either! Next year, I'll fill them with something else.

Happy Lunar New Year!

It's Lunar New Year tomorrow!

This year, I'm at home and was able to make things! Yey~

I started off making kueh bangkit.. which turned out as a bit of a fail because I ran out of tapioca starch. So instead of my usual little men, this was all I made:


Pineapple tarts again:


Agar goldfish, using the fish mould I got 1.5years ago in Singapore :)


And my attempt at Zumbo's macarons. I didn't realise his recipe was in bulk.. so I made a bit too many. I made pandan macarons with white pandan chocolate ganache/pandan custard! :) I used pandan paste, that's why they're that colour. I don't really like it though. I should've made them more green.. :/


Oh. And I also made some ice creams (not really Lunar New Year related). Yam and green tea. :D


Anywho, this will pretty much be the last amount of baking/cooking I'd be doing for a while.. (apart from M's cupcakes which I'll make tomorrow night). Then I'm off to HK and South Korea! Weee~ Hello Winter #1 of 2012! Glad to escape the burning sun for 3 weeks. :) And can't can't wait to get to Korea! :D

Snowskin mooncakes 2011

I know it's been a while since I've last posted anything. I guess I've been slack since I've started full time work. I've just arrived back home from Tassie yesterday, so I haven't made heaps of mooncakes this year. (Mid Autumn/Moon festival is on Sept 12th 2011).

This year, I've only made 11 mooncakes. So if you get your hands on one, consider yourself lucky~ :P


They're green tea snowskin with taro and custard centre. I've made them by estimation and feel as my digital scales have run out of battery unfortunately.. -__-.

It's practically the same recipe as my previous makings in 2010 and 2009. Except I've only used one batch of dough, one packet of taro paste, worked by feel/guestimation and didn't use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.

You could say, they're a little bit rustic this year. :P
Haha. I'm sorry. Next year should be better! This year was a tad rushed..


Happy Mid Autumn/Moon festival everyone! :)

Mission Mooncake 2010

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!


After a busy busy time overseas in Hong Kong and Singapore, a busy week at uni with the oral exam and final ball preparations, I have finally had the chance to make my mooncakes for this year. And boy, did I make a bit too many! :P This year was slightly different to 2009. I made two types of custard and 3 flavours. I've introduced red bean this year.. in which I will never ever make again. The red bean paste that I used was way too slimey to handle. :(


I was eager. I was willing. I was excited! I had been waiting to come back home to make my mooncakes with the moulds I recently purchased. Though, I am a bit disappointed that I didn't get to check out what was on offer in Hong Kong. Sigh. I will go there the next time I hit HK! HEHE~

I especially LOVE my rabbit mooncake mould. With my whole heart. Lame much? :P

Snowskin mooncakes
Makes 1 gigantic, 34 large, 23 slightly smaller than large (~58!)

Mr giant mooncake is not like the rest. He's got no taro/red bean/green tea lotus paste. His core is made of egg yolk custard, surrounded by egg white custard (just like a whole egg! :P). He's special because he's made with what was left over. ;)

PACMANNN :D

Custard 'yolk' - egg yolk version
Makes about 38

200g sugar
50g corn flour
40g low protein flour
260ml coconut milk
6 egg yolks

Mix all ingredients and steam for 45mins or until cooked. Set aside to cool before rolling into small balls. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Custard 'yolk' - egg white version
Makes about 31

200g sugar
50g corn flour
40g low protein flour
160ml coconut milk
6 egg whites

Mix all ingredients and steam for 45mins or until cooked. Set aside to cool before rolling into small balls. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Snowskin dough (The matcha snowskin dough was the best texture of them all)

Yam snowskin
Makes 1022g

40g wheat starch (tang mien flour)
300g fried glutinous rice flour (koh fun)
245g icing sugar
65g vegetable shortening (I used melted copha)
350ml warm water
50g yam powder

Combine dry ingredients.
Add wet ingredients and form a dough.
Wrap with plastic wrap when not in use to prevent it from drying out.

Matcha snowskin
Makes 988g

40g wheat starch (tang mien flour)
300g fried glutinous rice flour (koh fun)
245g icing sugar
65g vegetable shortening (I used melted copha)
350ml warm water
5g matcha powder
few drops of green food colouring

Combine dry ingredients.
Add wet ingredients and form a dough.
Wrap with plastic wrap when not in use to prevent it from drying out.

Vanilla snowskin
Makes 955g

40g wheat starch (tang mien flour)
300g fried glutinous rice flour (koh fun)
245g icing sugar
65g vegetable shortening (I used melted copha)
350ml warm water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
few drops of red food colouring

Combine dry ingredients.
Add wet ingredients and form a dough.
Wrap with plastic wrap when not in use to prevent it from drying out.

Making the mooncakes:

All ingredients made above +
1kg taro paste
1kg green tea lotus paste
1kg red bean paste
extra koh fun for dusting


Lightly dust the working surface with some koh fun.
Wrap some taro, red bean or green tea paste around the custard yolks. Set aside.
Roll out a piece of snowskin dough. Carefully wrap around the filling.
Press into a koh fun dusted mooncake mould. (Make sure not to put too much or it will be very floury and ugly looking :(..)

Store in an airtight container.

Serve with a hot cup of jasmine (or your favourite tea), surrounded by loved ones. :)


I have different plans for next year. Next year, things will be completely different..;)