Last year when I went back to Singapore to visit, I bought a few mooncake moulds and now it is the time of the year to make it! As I don’t have the main ingredients to make mooncake, I decided to make piglets instead. For my previous mooncake bakes, do check out my swiss roll snow skin mooncake and colourful snow skin mooncake.
Piglet or 豬仔餅 has always been my favourite snack to eat during the mooncake festival. But my mum always refused to buy them for me as they are not particularly healthy and they are made from leftover pastry for the mooncake. Now I can totally understand what she meant!
This recipe is also used to make the skin of the traditional mooncake. Anyway, to make this pastry, it only needs four ingredients. It is not easy to find alkaline water in the UK. I bought mine from Singapore. I asked my uncle why they use alkaline water and he told me it is to neutralise the acidity levels of the dough and make the dough soft. Personally I have not researched in details so I can’t provide any further explanation.
My aunty bought this mini piglet mould at one of the baking shops in Singapore for me. Before she hand it to me, she soaked it with oil. This is to keep the wooden mould from breaking. Then she wrapped it up in kitchen paper and sealed it in a zip lock bag. That was over a year ago and taking it out now, the mould is still intact and ready to use. I did moisten it with oil to maintain the finish!
To make these piglet mooncake (around 24 – using quite a small mould), you need the following:
- 300g plain flour
- 210g of golden syrup
- 75g peanut oil
- 6ml of alkaline water
It is preferable to use peanut oil as it gives a nice aroma. I didn’t have any to hand so I used sunflower oil instead.
Method:
- Mix the golden syrup, oil and alkaline water until it blends well.
- Then add the flour. Knead it into a smooth dough.
- Rest it for a few hours. I rested it for 2 hours before I baked, but my friend said you can rest it for up to 8 hours.
- Divide the dough according to your mould shape.
- Bake for 12 minutes (adjust according to the size of your mould) in 160°C fan assisted oven with a sprinkle of water. I used a small tray of water instead.
I did use egg yolk wash for the first batch and the piglets look so dark and unappealing. So I decided to leave the next batch without it and they turned up golden brown which I prefer. So depending on your preference, you can use egg yolk wash or leave it without – it doesn’t make any significant difference to the flavour.
This was the first time I involved my son in making piglets and he enjoyed it too.
