What does Mid-Autumn Festival mean to you? To many, this festival is generally associated with mooncake, tea, moon gazing, ‘dragon dance’, poetry and a dazzling array of lanterns.
This festive celebration is gradually adapting to our modernising lifestyles –battery-operated lanterns of varying shapes and sizes, buzzing with familiar melodies, are triumphing over the conventional paper lanterns illuminated with candles, and mooncakes are now available in every possible flavour you can think of, over and above the traditionally baked mooncakes.
For me, this year has to be the most rewarding Mid-Autumn Festival thus far, as I’ve tasted more mooncakes than I’ve had in the span of my 24 years of living –thanks to PR companies and independent establishments who recognise my efforts in manifesting their products the best that I can through my blog.
My preferences sway towards snowskin mooncakes, but I have to say some of the traditionally baked mooncakes that I’ve tasted are undoubtedly delightful.
For those who do not fancy traditional mooncakes, here is one very special ‘mooncake’ that metamorphoses traditional mooncakes into something funky –without losing that festive spirit.
Mooncake Milkshake Recipe
Here’s a drinkable version of mooncake that kids will enjoy!
Ingredients:
- ½ traditional lotus paste mooncake (preferably with yolk)
- A splash of milk (About ¼ cup, or just enough to form a drinkable concoction without getting too watery. You may adjust this according to your preference for thickness.)
- 3 or 4 scoops of ice cream (Depending on your preferred richness)
Tools:
- Tefal Blendforce Glass
- Knife (to cut mooncake, so a plastic knife will suffice, you don’t need a particularly sharp one)
- Serving glasses
Method:
1) Cut mooncake into smaller pieces for faster blending
2) Add a scoop of ice cream into blender, followed by cut-up pieces of mooncake with yolk, followed by a splash of milk (I find that this sequence allows the mooncake to blend quicker and smoother)
3) Pulse a couple of times before blending at high speed
4) When the mixture is smooth, add the remaining ice cream and continue to blend.
5) If the mixture is too thick, add a little more milk. If the consistency is ideal, it is ready to be served.
I never thought I would enjoy mooncakes this much, but my incessant love for milkshakes refutes the initial stance.
While I was wondering when I’m ever going to finish the pile of mooncakes lying around at home, I now worry about how long that amount of mooncakes will last to feed my newfound Mooncake Milkshake craving.
Inspired by the Mooncake Milkshake, the following Non-bake Fusion ‘Mooncake’ takes its form of its native shape, in a newfangled approach.
Non-bake Fusion ‘Mooncake’ Recipe
This recipe uses less liquid (milk) than the milkshake for a slightly thicker blend; thereby it freezes to a smooth texture in absence of unpleasant ice crystals.
Ingredients:
- ½ traditional lotus paste mooncake (preferably with yolk)
- 2-3 tablespoons of milk (or just enough to get the blender to churn out a smooth mixture without getting too watery)
- 3-4 scoops of ice cream
- 5 pieces of digestive biscuits (2 pieces to be blended with the ice cream filling, 3 pieces to be used for crumb base)
- 1 teaspoon of butter (for crumb base)
Tools:
- Tefal Blendforce Glass
- Tefal Chopper (comes in a set with the Blendforce Glass)
- Mooncake mould (I’m using a plastic mould with a detachable base that I bought from Vietnam last year, but it would probably work with the normal wooden mooncake mould too)
Method:
1) Blend the ice cream, mooncake, milk and 2 pieces of digestive biscuits in Tefal Blendforce Glass till smooth.
2) Pour into the mooncake mould and leave about 0.5cm for the crumb base. (If you like a thicker crumb base, leave more space for that.) Note: There will be some remainder, just in case of spills! You can pour that into another mooncake mould if you have extra, if not, just devour it ;)
3) Put the mould in the freezer immediately and wait a few hours for the filling to completely set. This step is crucial, because if the filling doesn’t set, the crumbs that you will be adding will sink into the mixture. Make sure it placed on a level ground, and not tilted.
4) While waiting for the filling to set, you can start on the crumb base. Add 3 pieces of digestive biscuits into the Tefal Chopper and pulse till they turn into fine crumbs. (It just takes a few seconds for Tefal’s chopper to complete the task)
5) Add butter and pulse to form the crumb base.
6) After 2 or 3 hours when the filling is set, take it out of the freezer and fill in that 0.5cm gap with the crumbs, firmly and not loosely packed.
7) Put it back into the freezer to allow everything to set. I went to bed after that and took it out the next morning.
8) Removing the ice cream from mould has got to be the most challenging task –it requires a little bit of knocking (but you have to be careful not to let too much of the crumbs fall off). You can also try dipping the top half of the mould (not the crumb part) in warm (not hot) water (without submerging the entire mould in water).
9) After removing from mould, you can consume it immediately or put it back into the freezer (without the mould) and consume it another day.
I hope the steps aren’t too confusing, but if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try my best to help.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all :)
Click here to view my Strawberry ‘Cheesecake’ Milkshake recipe using Tefal Blendforce Glass: https://melicacy.com/?p=4689
Click here to view my Creamy Vegetable Soup using Tefal Blendforce Glass: https://melicacy.com/?p=4689
For more information on Tefal products, visit: http://www.tefal.com/Homepage.htm