Purple Sweet Potato Snowskin Mooncakes

Ever thought of using purple sweet potato to make some snowskin mooncakes for Mid-Autumn festival celebration? Both the texture and taste are wonderfully good.

After the first attempt of making mooncakes used my own branded mould, I was itching to make another batch with a different filling.

A purple sweet potato (purple yam) has been sitting in the basket on my kitchen benchtop for quite a while. Guess that it’s perfect for my second attempt. The purple sweet potato grown in Australia is quite dry itself, with less water content compared with other kinds of sweet potatoes.

I don’t need to stir fry the filling very long and was quick to get a very satisfied result. By blending it with some coconut cream, the filling was infused with a pleasant coconut fragrance. This batch of snowskin mooncakes turned out great that I happily wrapped up my cooking for this year’s Mid-Autumn festival.

Purple Sweet Potato Snowskin Mooncakes Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Dessert, festive, snack
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 80 mins
Yield: 8 mooncakes (each 65 grams)

Ingredients of snowskin:

• 40 gm glutinous rice flour
• 20 gm rice flour
• 8 gm wheat starch（澄麵粉, available at Asian grocers）
• 12 gm plain flour
• 35 gm caster sugar
• 160 ml milk
• 35 ml condensed milk
• 30 ml vegetable oil (such as sunflower oil or canola oil)
• 3 Tbsp cooked glutinous rice flour, for coating

Ingredients of filling:

• 200 gm purple sweet potato (yam), peeled
• 30 gm sugar
• 40 ml vegetable oil
• 40 ml coconut cream
• 25 gm wheat starch
• 20 ml water

Method:

1. To prepare the filling: Cut the peeled sweet potato in slices or cubes. Cook in a microwave oven or steam until softened. Press through a fine sieve. Add sugar. Mix wheat starch with water, then pour into the mashed sweet potato. Stir in coconut cream and oil. Transfer to a non-stick pan and cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally until most of the moist is dried up and the wheat starch is cooked through. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for later use.

2. To prepare the snowskin: Sieve all flours in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, milk and condensed milk well. Stir in vegetable oil. Drain through a fine sieve into a large and shallow pan. Cover with foil and steam for 15 to 20 minutes over medium high heat. Let it cool down.

3. Divide the filling into 8 portions, each in 32 grams. Roll each into a ball.
4. Scrape out the snowskin dough. Knead until just combined. Divide into 8 portions, each in 33 grams. Roll each out into a disc.

5. To ensemble mooncakes: Wrap the filling with the snowskin dough tightly and seal the edges. Coat with cooked glutinous rice flour. Shake away the excess. Press in a floured mooncake mould. Tap and remove it. Store in an air-tight container covered with a kitchen paper. Chill in freezer overnight. Transfer the mooncakes into fridge for 2 hours before serving.

Notes：

• Mashing the sweet potato through a fine sieve is quite a tedious part. Yet, by doing this, you’ll get the finest and smoothest filling.
• I used a microwave oven to cook the sweet potato so that the water content was minimized as a result the cooking time in the pan was shortened.
• Remember to cover with a foil while steaming the snowskin. Otherwise the dough will turn sticky.
• Try to dry up the filling as much as you can to avoid icy texture after chilling. Oil is the essential ingredient combining the filling together and making it feel smooth and soft.
• Pressing the cooked purple sweet potato through a sieve is quite tedious. A potato ricer or masher can save much of your effort and time.