There Mid-Autumn Festival Zhōngqiūjié 中秋节, is the second most important festival in China, after the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. It is a very ancient custom, which has its origins in the Western Zhou period (1045 – 770 BCE), when the sovereign, Son of Heaven tiānzǐ 天子 began to practice moon worship. This ritual was very popular in peasant civilizations such as China, they came offered gifts to the moon and we met between dances and music to hope for a good harvest.

Legend has it that …

At that time, the sky was covered by 10 suns that risked destroying the earth, its products and humanity, until the archer Hòuyì 后羿, with his magic bow, hurled nine arrows forever destroying nine suns and leaving only one to shine in the sky. To pay homage to the marvelous work, the Queen Mother of the West decided to give him an elixir of long life, but the man with a pure soul was not interested in living an immortal life if he could not stay with his beloved wife Cháng'é 嫦娥.
One day when Houyi was not at home, his perfidious student Péngmēng 蒙, broke in to steal his elixir and found poor Chang'e in front of him, who, startled by the unexpected presence, took the bottle and drank it in one gulp . At that moment the girl flew to the moon and there she was forced to remain for eternity, her husband destroyed by the incident, to keep vivid the memory of his wife began to practice the cult of the moon, in which he seemed to be able to see the woman's face.

How we celebrate today and what we eat

If we went to China at this time we would find no more banquets with offerings to the moon, in fact the Mid-Autumn Festival has become the occasion for to meet in the family and to embrace relatives and friends, who return to their hometown to celebrate with their loved ones this holiday, on feast days hanging colored lanterns is contemplating the moon while eating the typical moon cakes, which in China are called yuèbing 月饼.

Moon cakes are today the symbol par excellence of the party, for the typical round shape that recalls the image of the full moon. If once they were prepared at home, customizing them with the family seal, or with well-wishing characters, today this tradition is slowly disappearing, leaving room for the inspiration of pastry chefs and bakers who delight in creating sweets with refined and extravagant tastes, you can buy for a few yuan. However, we want to convey to you the spirit of the party by offering you one of the most classic recipes for moon cakes.

Moon cakes with salted yolk

Lotus seed paste (the inner part)
1/2 tablespoon of salt – 120 g of sugar – 80 g of vegetable oil – 150 g of dried lotus seeds

First, soak the dried lotus seeds for about 6-8 hours, until they soften and will open easily in half, always check that there is not the bitter part inside and eliminate it if necessary. Then put them in the pot and cover them again with water, bring the water to a boil, lower the heat to a minimum, cover with the lid and cook for 2 hours, until the water becomes milky and the lotus seeds are easily undone.
In case you are not sure taste them, they must be very tender as if they were melting in your mouth. At this point transfer all the contents of the pot into the mixer, both water and seeds and blend well until a smooth and velvety consistency is obtained. Take a non-stick pan and put the mixture in it, heat all over medium heat and add 1/3 of the vegetable oil, stir constantly so that the lotus seed mixture absorbs the oil well, when the mixture has absorbed everything add another 1/3 of the oil and repeat the operation until the end of the oil. At this point you can add salt and sugar, immediately put all the above quantity and mix until it becomes full-bodied and compacted into a single mixture, remove it from the pan and let it cool.

Cake dough
180 g flour – 125 g of honey – 55 g of peanut oil

Take a bowl and pour in the honey and peanut oil, mix well with a whisk until they are blended, add the flour and mix with a spatula until it forms a homogeneous mixture, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 1 – 2 hours before starting to make cupcakes.

Salted yolk
20 eggs with Chinese salted yolk

Break the salted egg and separate the yolk from the albumen, place the yolk in a bowl of water to remove all the egg white residues, then place the egg yolks on a kitchen cloth and dry them from excess water. If you find it difficult to find this particular food, typical of Chinese cuisine, you can prepare hard-boiled eggs and use only the yolk, even if it won't be the same thing.

Cupcakes assembly
First of all you need to prepare the right portions for each cake so you need a kitchen scale, weigh the yolk and if it turns out to be 15 g, weigh 20 g of lotus seed paste, the two together must always weigh 35 g. Take a portion of lotus seed paste, form a ball and then mash it on the palm of your hand so that you have a base on which to place the yolk, take the salted egg yolk, place it in the center and wrap it in the lotus seed paste to form a new ball. For each 35 g ball you will need 10 g of external dough, then weigh 20 balls of 10 g. At this point take a ball of dough and crush it on the palm, place the ball in the center with egg yolk and lotus seed paste and make sure to cover it well to form the final ball, do this for all 20 balls and meanwhile heat the oven to 180 ° C.

To finish the dessert you need a special stamp, choose the one with the design you prefer, you can easily find it online or in some Chinese store. Take a ball and roll it up so that it becomes elongated, put it back in the stamp and apply light pressure to keep the pattern imprinted on the cake. Turn the mold upside down and let the cake come out with the help of the plunger, place it on baking paper or on a silicone baking sheet. Bake the cakes for 5 minutes at 180 ° C, meanwhile beat with a fork an egg and after 5 minutes remove the cakes and brush them with the egg, done this step put them back in the oven for 15 minutes always at 180 ° C. Once cooked, transfer them to a grill to cool faster, when they are completely cold put them in a container and wait 1 or 2 days before eating them to make the crust look shiny and the cake will be as soft as the inside.

To see the recipe video follow the link