How to Make Cute Animal-Shaped Mooncakes for Kids Extremely Simple

How to Make Animal-shaped Mooncake

• 1

  Prepare the mung beans

  First, wash 200gr of mung beans with water, remove any damaged or substandard beans, then soak the mung beans in water for about 3 hours to soften them.

  Note: To keep the mooncakes fresh for a long time, do not soak the mung beans overnight!

  After soaking the beans, rinse them thoroughly one more time, then place the beans in a pot with 1 teaspoon of salt and about 1 liter of water.

  Next, you put the pot on the stove and heat it on high until the beans boil and become soft.

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Green bean paste

  After the green beans have been cooked until soft, wait for them to cool down a bit, then put them into a blender with the 100g of sugar prepared. Blend the mixture until smooth, then pour it into a pan.

  Next, place the pan with the beans on the stove and cook over medium heat, using a mixing whisk to stir continuously until the mixture heats up, then reduce to low heat.

  With 70ml of cooking oil, divide it into 3 portions to add to the beans while cooking. Slowly add the oil, stirring well until it is fully incorporated into the beans before adding the next portion of oil.

  After adding all the cooking oil, dissolve 15g of glutinous rice flour in 30ml of water. When the filling starts to thicken, gradually add the glutinous rice flour mixture to the cooking filling.

  Continue to stir well and cook until the bean filling becomes sticky, forming a uniform mass that feels heavy, does not stick to the whisk, and does not droop, then turn off the heat.

  Tip: At this step, if you want to create matcha filling, add green tea powder; for red filling, add red yeast rice powder; for purple filling, add purple sweet potato powder when the filling is nearly done.

  Finally, let the filling cool naturally. Once the filling is completely cool, knead it again to make it smooth and wrap it tightly with food wrap to prevent it from drying out.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Making the cake crust

  You put all the ingredients including 210ml of sugar water, 10ml of cooking oil, 1/2 egg yolk, and 10gr of peanut butter into a bowl and mix well.

  Then, you add 280gr of all-purpose flour from Hoa Ngọc Lan into the bowl and mix quickly and evenly until the mixture forms a smooth dough.

  Note: Mix until the dough is even and then stop, do not knead the dough. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes before wrapping the cake.

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Shaping the cake

  While waiting for the dough to rest, divide the mung bean filling into small balls suitable for the size of the mold. This recipe is for a bento mold, so the filling is 18 grams and the dough is 15 grams.

  After 30 minutes, divide the block of dough into pieces weighing 15 grams to make the cake skin.

  Next, take a portion of the dough you just divided, roll it into a ball, then flatten it into a round shape and place the mung bean filling in the center. After that, pinch the edges of the dough tightly so that the skin completely covers the filling, then rotate the cake 2 – 3 times.

  Continue by placing the shaped cake into the mold. Press the cake twice, the first time press down really hard, the second time press a bit more and then slowly release the cake into a tray lined with parchment paper.

  While shaping the cake, remember to preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes before baking the cake to warm up the oven.

  

  

  

  
• 5

  Baking the cake

  First, prepare a mixture of 1/2 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of honey, then filter the mixture through a sieve.

  Next, proceed to bake the cake:

  First bake: This recipe uses a small 16-liter oven, so bake at a temperature of 190 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes.

  After the first baking time is reached, spread a thin and even layer of the prepared mixture on the surface of the cake.

  Second bake: This time, baking is only to create a nice color for the cake, not to cook it, so bake at a temperature of 170 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.

  After the mooncake is finished baking, let it sit for about 2 days to absorb the oil for better taste!

  
• 6

  Final product

  The mooncake has a beautiful golden-brown crust with a variety of super cute animal shapes, fragrant with the scent of peanut butter, a soft crust that melts in your mouth with sweet and delicious mung bean filling.

  With just a few steps, you have mooncakes ready for your little ones, it’s really simple, isn’t it?