Homemade Golden Syrup (For Making Mooncakes)

What made this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival special to me was that my homemade traditional mooncakes were loved by many of my friends. All major ingredients I used were homemade, from the salted eggs, and lotus seed paste to this golden syrup. Sharing those mini golden mooncakes (recipe coming soon), loaded with natural sugar fragrance with my friends was really a joy.

Golden syrup, also known as invert syrup, is commonly used in making different desserts that brings in a good flavour. For those who are allergic to honey can use golden syrup instead.

Back to mooncake making, what makes the pastry of traditional mooncakes unique is the magic made by this golden, high-quality syrup, so that’s why the traditional mooncakes smell so fragrant. To cook golden syrup is a bit tricky, two important factors has to be kept in mind: timing and temperature. Otherwise, it’d either be burnt, or too runny, if it’s cooked too long or too short, or cooked on too high heat.

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Lotus Seed Puree (蓮蓉)

Lotus seeds are extensively used in making Chinese desserts or fillings in steamed buns. As the mid-autumn festival is coming around the corner, I’m going to prepare a large batch of lotus seed puree, over 1 kg, and make some traditional mooncakes for my family and friends.

My mother-in-law used to make lotus seed puree in a traditional way many years ago. She had to press hard and mash the cooked lotus seeds into a smooth paste with a wok spatula. It nearly took her half a day to make a small batch every time. Making lotus seed puree at home is quite tedious, yet showing a great love for the family in action.

Here’s a good news for those who have modern kitchen utensils. Armed with a food processor, you could make some with ease and skip the most tedious part. Needless to say, you could use store-bought, canned lotus seed puree. Wait, believe me, there’s nothing better than the homemade. The freshly made puree smells so fragrant, with the right amount of sweetness perfectly suits to my family’s taste. Best of all, all the ingredients used are natural.

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