A creamy coconut custard wrapped in a soft and chewy snow skin flavoured with matcha. These matcha coconut custard mooncakes are the perfect treat during the mid-autumn festival.
The Mid-Autumn festival aka moon festival is coming up on the 1st of October so I thought it would be fitting to share a mooncake recipe with you guys. A matcha coconut custard snow skin mooncake!
Traditionally this time was to celebrate the end of the Autumn harvest on the night when the moon was the fullest and brightest, but for me the moon festival has always been about the mooncakes!
What is it?
When it comes to mooncakes there are two different types. The baked mooncake is filled with fillings like lotus seed paste or bean paste and is often filled with salted egg yolks. The exterior is soft and glossy, and the interior is dense and sweet.
The other kind are snow skin mooncakes. These have a soft mochi-like skin and don't need to be baked at all. They can be filled with custards, bean pastes, or even ice-cream. Unlike baked mooncakes which can be stored at room temperature for weeks, snow skin mooncakes are served chilled and usually purchased frozen!
Personally I’m not the biggest fan of the baked mooncakes as they can be overpoweringly sweet and oily, but snow skin mooncakes have so much versatility in terms of flavour, as well as a soft chewy skin. And they are so much easier to make!
How to create the pattern
To make the beautiful pattern on the top of the mooncakes you will need a mooncake mould. They are super easy to get your hands on and don’t cost much at all. I purchased mine off Ebay for a couple of dollars. They come in all different shapes and sizes so have a look around and see what you like.
Can I make mooncakes without a mould?
Of course! Your mooncakes will taste exactly the same without one! If you don’t have a mould I would recommend pressing the mooncake into a cupcake tin or a mini tart tin to create a round or fluted mooncake. Equally as delicious.
Tips to create the perfect mooncake
Keep your fillings and snow skins chilled
It is a lot easier to shape the mooncakes when the skins and fillings are chilled. When they are warm it is easier to deform them as they come out of the mould.
If you find your mooncakes coming out of the moulds misshapen, pop them in the freezer for 15 minutes or so. Then dust your mould and reshape it. Trust me they will come out looking perfect!
Dust your mould liberally
It is important to cover every inch of your mooncake mould with cooked glutinous rice flour otherwise the skins will stick. It's okay if you use too much flour as you can always dust it off with a pastry brush after you have formed the mooncake.
You can even dust the mooncake ball with flour too for extra insurance!
Let's Get Baking!
This flavour combination is a little unique, but super delicious. The coconut flavours pairs so well with the slight bitterness of the matcha, and combined with the smooth custard filling and chewy skin this is one amazing mooncake!
If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went.
Also, don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your desserts. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, and TikTok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!
📖 Recipe
Coconut Matcha Snowskin Mooncakes
Soft and chewy matcha snowskin mooncakes with a creamy coconut custard centre. These marbled green and white mooncakes are perfect for the celebration of the mid-autumn festival, aka moon festival!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 80 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
- Category: Mochi
- Method: Intermediate
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
Snow Skin
- 40 g Glutinous rice flour
- 20g Rice flour
- 10 g Wheat starch/Cornstarch
- 10 g Plain flour
- 35 g Caster sugar
- 160 g Coconut milk
- 35 g Condensed milk
- ½ tsp Matcha powder
- 30 ml Vegetable oil
Coconut Custard
- 10 g Wheatstarch/Cornstarch
- 20 g Custard powder
- 20 g Milk powder
- 60 g Caster sugar
- 30 g Egg yolks, approx 1
- 30 g Condensed milk
- 80 g Coconut cream
- 45 g Unsalted butter, melted
Assembly
- 20 g Glutinous rice flour
Instructions
Snow Skin
- Sieve the glutinous rice flour, rice flour, corn/wheat starch, and flour in a medium sized heat-proof bowl
- Add the sugar and mix to combine
- Pour in the coconut milk and condensed milk, whisk to combine
- Add the vegetable oil and whisk until smooth
- Cover with cling wrap and place the bowl in a steamer
- Steam over medium heat for [cooked-timer minutes=”20″]20 Minutes[/cooked-timer]or until a chopstick can cut through the mixture cleanly, cool
- Divide in half and knead matcha powder into one half
- Divide each half into 5 equal portions, there should be 5 balls of matcha skin and 5 balls of plain skin
Coconut Custard
- Sieve the wheat/ cornstarch, custard powder and milk powder together in a medium sized heat-proof bowl
- Add the sugar and mix to combine
- Whisk in the egg yolk, condensed milk, coconut milk and melted butter
- Cover with cling wrap
- Place the bowl in a steamer and steam over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until the custard is almost fully set
- Place in the fridge to cool completely
- Roll into 5 even balls
Assembly
- Lightly roll together one plain and one matcha portion of snowskin into a ball
- Press into a rough circle with the palm of your hand
- Place a ball of custard filling in the centre and bring the edges together to enclose the custard
- Dust your mooncake mould with the cooked glutinous rice flour
- Press the ball into the floured mould and remove
- Place in the freezer overnight
- Place in the fridge for 2 hours before serving, enjoy!
Keywords: mochi, snowskin, mooncake, chinese, mid-autumn festival
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Annie
Hi! I’m making these now and the directions say to add vegetable oil but it’s not listed in the ingredients! How much do I need to add??
Catherine Zhang
Hi Annie, Sorry about that, It's been all fixed 🙂 Hope they turn out well!
Ruby Hayes
These look amazing! I want to try making them but I'm abit confused by the steaming step. I have steaming baskets but I don't think any would be big enough to fit the bowl. Is there another way to do it or should I try to find a bigger steaming basket? Thank you!
Tiffany
Hello Catherine,
If I cannot find custard powder, is it okay to just leave it out? Or is there any substitute? Thanks!
Foon Lam
You should state that the glutinous rice flour in your recipe is actually cooked glutinous rice flour. It doesn't work if it is not cooked glutinous rice flour.
Catherine
Hi Foon! There shouldn't be any problems with using regular glutinous rice flour in this recipe 🥰
Johanna Clark
Hi it says to use glutenous rice flour and rice flour in the snow skin but it does not list the amount for the rice flour.
Catherine Zhang
Hi Johanna, Sorry about that, not sure what happened there! All fixed up now, hope they go well 🥰
Ben
Hey Catherine!
I am in a country that does not sell custard powder.
Is there anyway I could substitute that ?
Thanks!
Catherine Zhang
Hi Ben, you can replace it with more cornstarch and increase the sugar to 70g!
Kirstie
Thanks Catherine for the fantastic recipe 😄 These tasted delightful!
★★★★★
Catherine Zhang
So glad you liked them Kirstie!
Yawen
Hi I made the custard but it's very runny. I tried putting it in the fridge and doing it the next day and i still couldn't get it to set. What am I doing wrong?
Catherine Zhang
It sounds like the custard wasn't cooked for long enough. It should be very firm and almost at a playdough consistency once you finish cooking it!