2020 Mid Autumn Festival 中秋快樂

2020--What an unprecedented and unforgettable year! I believe everything happens for a reason. What have you learned new about life? 

Life is helpless? brief? 
Or resilient? Full of hope?

2020--是充滿挑戰及前所未有的一年，我相信事情發生不是偶然。

你今年對生命有些什麼新的體會呢？

人生是無奈？短暫？
還是生生不息？充滿盼望？

Snowy Mooncake Class 冰皮月餅班

2018 Mooncake Classes 月餅班

How to Make Salted Egg (Yolk Only) 淨咸蛋黃做法

Beginning this project, I was doubtful if it would work the way I saw in the pictures, if the salted egg yolks would turn out to be round, solid, yet slightly oozy. But after doing it myself, I am convinced. It is indeed an ingenious way to make salted egg yolks, without the egg whites or using the whole egg method. I have been making my own salty egg for a long time since the import is prohibited by the FDA (only cooked salty eggs can be imported to the US). But most of the time, only the egg yolks are used, like in mooncakes or other bakery products.

There is not really a recipe for it, meaning the quantity of the ingredients is arbitrary, not like in baking. It is the "how" which matters. The salt can be reused.

Custard Mooncake Class 奶黃月餅班

Custard mooncake class is back by popular demand. 

Date: 9/23, 2:30-4:30pm in Diamond bar, California. 

Fee $50, include all the ingredients, one set of mold and a box of six cakes to take home.

Email to :phoebechow@morethanbread.net if you are interested. Class limited to 6 people.

徇眾要求，奶黃月餅班加開

日期：9月23, 2:30-4:30pm. 

地點：Diamond bar, California.

費用$50, 包所有材料，一套月餅模，一盒六個月餅。如有興趣，請盡快給我電郵：

phoebechow@morethanbread.net。只收六個學生。

Debut of a New Program

I am happy to announce the launching of my new library program: custard mooncake. Please join me this Saturday at 11am in Hacienda Heights Library . If you miss this one, no problem. There will be another one in Rosemead Library on January 23, 2pm.

Recipe and free samples will be served. See you there!

More Library Cooking Programs 更多免費圖書館烹飪示範

Below is the line up of open-to-the-public Los Angeles county library cooking programs for the rest of 2015 and 2016:

Mooncake Fever 中秋節快樂

cute cartoon characters

Mooncake Mold On Sale! 月餅模大特賣

$15/set, free shipping within US. $12 for local (Diamond Bar, CA) pick up. 15% off for 3 sets or more. Size: 63g . Four designs to choose from with limited quantity. Email me if you are interested: phoebechow@morethanbread.net

Godiva's Chocolate Mooncake 朱古力月餅

The Mid Autumn Festival or August Moon Festival is the second most celebrated holiday in Chinese culture. If you live in an area highly populated with Chinese people, there will be some sort of celebration around this time of the year. This holiday, to the Chinese, is like Thanksgiving to Americans; the first thing that pops up in your head when it is mentioned is, most likely, food.

Custard Moon Cake 奶黃月餅

These exquisite moon cakes are created by innovative bakers from Hong Kong. A box of eight reportedly fetches almost HK$500 (~USD$65-70)!! The cake is filled with moist and rich custard with a nice coconut flavor. The recipe is straight forward but it takes some tricks and a lot of practice to create a nice and distinctive look.

I tried different recipes and finally came up with this one with modifications.

這款近年風靡香港的奶黃月餅，身價越來越貴，據報一盒八個要港幣近五百大元 !!
不過又真是很好食，奶黃餡香滑，加上一杯熱茶，真是一絕。

New Classes 又有新班啦

Custard Moon Cake 酥皮奶皇月餅

Date: 8/23/14

Time: 1pm~3pm

Place: Diamond Ba

In this hands-on class, you will learn how to make this popular and exquisite moon cake at home. No experience required. Moon cake molds and special gift packaging boxes are available for purchase.

Snowy Moon Cake 冰皮月餅

Date: 8/16/14

Time: 1pm~3pm

Place: Diamond Bar

This popular class is back by demand. Learn how to make this simple, easy-to-make and healthy moon cake. Moon cake molds and gift packaging boxes are available for purchase.

Each class is limited to 8 students. Questions and registration: phoebechow@morethanbread.net

Lychee and Mango Snowy Moon Cake 茘枝及香芒冰皮月餅

These little moon cakes are like jewels. I am so tempted to keep them only as ornaments, but they are also so delicious...

This year I have successfully developed two new fruity flavors--lychee and mango. They are made with real fruit puree, without artificial flavoring or preservatives.

這些冰皮月餅尤如珠寶一般,十分精緻,但它們又如此美味,豈可只供觀賞呢!

今年我成功地研製了兩款新口味--茘枝與芒果,它們都是真材實料,沒有人造香料或添加劑。完全附合健康標準。

Happy Mid Autumn Festival ! 中秋節快樂 !

I am happy to share with you some of the pictures of the classes that were held during the past two weekends. I was overwhelmed by the responses after I made the announcement to have the mooncake classes. Because of the size of my kitchen and the limited supply of the mooncake mold, I felt sorry to turn down some who wanted to come. Anyway, thank you for all your interest and support.

Snowy Moon Cake Class 冰皮月餅班

It has been a while since I conduct cooking classes. I have been busy doing baking demonstration in various libraries. But Mid August Festival is coming up on September 30 and many friends have shown interests in making this lovely moon cake, so I decide to open three classes:

Taiwanese Moon Cake 綠豆椪

綠豆椪

我住在加州羅省雖然超過廿年,但因為身邊的朋友大部份是廣東人,所以我還未有機會嘗試過台式月餅,直至最近有朋友送來一些 (thank you, Michelle)。我咬上一口後便十分喜歡,鬆軟的酥皮內包着軟滑香甜的綠豆茸,綠豆茸內又有些咸的肉鬆,甜中帶些少咸,口中有着不同的感覺,實在妙極 !

More Snowy Moon Cakes 冰皮月餅(二)

Yes, the moon cakes are so popular that there are suggestions to make different flavors and fillings. This time I tried out different colors of the skin to match the filling inside. Also, I tried to be innovative by putting chocolate ganache in the center of the filling--"a filling inside a filling"--just like the traditional moon cake with a yolk inside the lotus seed paste filling.

Snowy Moon Cake 冰皮月餅

Snowy moon cake or icy skin moon cake both refer to a relatively new moon cake invented by a Hong Kong bakery called Tai Pan in recent years. The traditional Cantonese moon cake is ususally filled with lotus seed paste with a salted duck egg yolk and baked in a thin crust. Ususally it is loaded with lard and sugar and can be kept for a long time. But in this health conscious time, a healthier version made with vegetable oil and less sugar is welcome by many.