Mooncakes – The heart of Mid-Autumn Festival
What was once a much anticipated day for joyous family reunions, paper lanterns and moon gazing, has unfortunately slipped down the pecking order of festivities in Malaysia. Somehow, mooncakes seem to be the only prevalent symbol of the mid-autumn festival that remains widespread today. So today, in an attempt to stay true to customs, let’s make some mooncakes. I must admit, I did “cheat” a little with tradition. Disclaimer, this is not by any means your usual mooncake. However, if you are looking for a unique, lighter version with local taste, this cendol gula melaka jelly mooncake with custard yolk might just be it!
Cendol is a popular South East Asian shaved ice dessert that is immensely popular. The chewy strips of pandan rice flour, fragrance of the santan coupled with the deep caramel sweetness of local palm sugar is to die for. This jelly mooncake imports that signature taste of cendol, making the perfect dessert that is light and refreshing to the palate. To replicate the yolk in the center, I’ve made a custard ball instead.
A versatile jelly mooncake that can be done with any color or flavor.
With jelly as its main body, it is really easy to play around with colors and flavors. For this particular recipe, the main theme would be the coconut-ey and pandan base. To get the right consistency, use canned or packaged coconut milk that is thicker, rather than the drinking coconut milk. I love how it is semi translucent and you can get shades of the green cendol on the inside.
Of course, as both the inner and outer layers are both jellies, you could reverse the layers if you want. That way, with the brown gula melaka jelly on the exterior, it would visually resemble the traditional mooncake even more. It really is up to you.
As I did not have any round ice cube moulds, I decided to improvise and made custard “yolk” balls instead. I was very happy with how it turned out as the custard balls, with its gritty texture, appeared to look so much like the real deal. It adds more richness to contrast the light jelly for a balanced mouthfeel.
Getting the right texture and taste for your cendol jelly mooncake
I used a combination of agar-agar powder AND jelly powder. If you are unable to procure jelly powder, you may substitute it with just agar-agar powder. Using agar-agar powder would give you a chewy, solid texture, while jelly powder yields a softer texture. If you were to use just jelly powder alone, you would get a chewy but jiggly texture which is what we are not after in this recipe.
It is important to ensure that the agar agar and jelly powder dissolves fully during cooking. This will ensure that the jelly will set properly later.
I wouldn’t recommend using brown sugar to substitute gula melaka, as brown sugar does not have the same caramel aroma.
Quick Video Guides
Here’s a quick video guide on how I made the custard yolk and the making of the Cendol Jelly Mooncake below:
Cendol Gula Melaka Jelly Mooncake with Custard “Yolk”
Ingredients
Custard "Yolk"
- 25 g butter
- 15 g castor sugar
- 1 egg
- 20 g milk powder
- 10 g wheat starch or corn starch
Gula Melaka Jelly
- 180 ml water
- 70 g gula melaka/palm sugar
- 1-2 pandan leaves knotted
- 1 tsp agar-agar powder
- ¼ tsp jelly powder
- 100 ml coconut milk
- pinch of salt
Coconut Cendol Jelly
- 100 g cendol drained
- 300 ml coconut milk
- 500 ml water
- 100 g castor sugar
- 3 tsp agar-agar powder
- ¾ tsp jelly powder
- 1-2 pandan leaves knotted
Instructions
To Make Custard "Yolk"
- Fill a double boiler with water, and bring water to a boil while you prepare custard mixture.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and doubled.
- Add egg and mix until well incorporated. The mixture will look like it is splitting but don’t worry, it will be fine after adding in the dry ingredients.
- Add in milk powder and wheat/corn starch, then mix to combine.
- Transfer mixture to a stainless steel bowl, and place onto double-boiler. Reduce to medium heat, and start whisking until mixture is smooth.
- Cook on top of double boiler, stirring constantly with spatula until mixture no longer sticks to the back of the spatula. When the custard filling is cooked – it is solid and firmer in texture. Remove from stove.
- Cover with layer of cling wrap and chill custard in fridge to set.
- Remove custard from fridge and divide into 8 x 15g portions. Shape into round balls. Cover with cling wrap and let rest in fridge whilst you prepare your jelly.
To Make Gula Melaka Jelly
- Chop gula melaka and place with water in a pan and bring to boil. Sieve to remove impurities.
- Add agar-agar powder and jelly powder then stir to dissolve. Add pandan leaves and bring a simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove pandan leaves.
- Stir a pinch of salt into coconut milk, and add into jelly mixture. Stir constantly and bring up to a boil, then remove from heat immediately.
To Assemble Filling
- Pour a thin layer of gula melaka jelly mixture into a smaller round jelly mould (diameter = 4cm).
- Place custard “egg yolk” in the center.
- Fill the mould with gula melaka jelly filling and refrigerate for approximately 20 minutes or until fully set.
To Make Coconut Milk Jelly
- Combine coconut milk, water, sugar, agar-agar powder, jelly powder into a pot and mix well. Place knotted pandan leaves and stir constantly until agar-agar powder has fully dissolved. Bring to a boil then immediately turn off the heat.
To Assemble
- If using fresh cendol in packet, drain cendol then place in a small bowl and cut/chop into smaller pieces.
- Pour ½ cm layer of coconut milk jelly into plastic mooncake mould (diameter = 7.5cm) then spoon in some cendol pieces. Leave to cool until almost set.
- Unmould gula melaka jelly filling onto a plate.
- Place gula melaka filling into the centre of the mould. Pour in more coconut jelly mixture until mould is filled.
- Using a small spoon, carefully spoon in cendol pieces on the sides. Allow to cool completely for approximately 15 minutes, before chilling the jelly mooncakes in the fridge.
To Serve
- When fully set, unmould the jelly mooncakes. You could run a skewer through the sides of the mould or give both sides of the mould a slight squeeze to release. If not serving immediately, store jelly mooncakes in a container and keep chilled.
Have you tried this recipe?
IF YOU MADE THIS RECIPE, I’D LOVE TO SEE HOW IT WENT!
TAG ME ON INSTAGRAM @THEBAKEANISTA SO I CAN HAVE A LOOK AND RE-POST ON MY IG STORIES!
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS RECIPE, YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK OUT MY RECIPE INDEX FOR OTHER DELICIOUS RECIPES.
such a lovely recipe, tried it and was successful. thanks for the step by step explanation.