Snow skin mooncake

Snow skin mooncake,snowy mooncake,ice skin mooncakeorcrystal mooncakeis a Chineseconfectioneaten during theMid-Autumn Festival. It is a coldmooncakewithglutinous riceskin, originating fromHong Kong.Snow skin mooncakes are also found inMacau,mainland China,Taiwan,Singapore,MalaysiaandIndonesia.Although snow skin mooncakes are usually made and sold bybakeries, these mooncakes are not baked inovenslike traditional cakes. Unlike traditional mooncakes which are served at room temperature, snow skin mooncakes are typically eaten cold.
The snow skin mooncake emerged in the 1960s.It was developed by a bakery in Hong Kong, because the traditional Cantonese mooncakes were made withsalted duck egg yolksandlotus seed paste, resulting in very highsugarandoilcontent.Since many customers thought traditional mooncakes were an oily food, the bakery used fruit for filling and less oil to make a mooncake with less fat.Another early pioneer of snow skin mooncakes is Poh Guan Cake House (宝源饼家) inSingapore.
Snow skin mooncakes gradually become popular in the 1970s. At that time the snow skin mooncake was also called a "crystal mooncake" (水晶月饼).The name "Bing Pi Yue Bing" (冰皮月饼) appeared in advertisements in the early 1980s.
The crust of snow skin mooncake is made ofglutinous rice, which is frozen.The snow skin mooncake is similar tomochi ice creamoryukimi daifuku, as both haveglutinous ricecrusts and have to be kept frozen.
Snow skin mooncakes are typically white and are served cold, which is why they are named "snow skin". However, mooncakes may have other colors because of added flavors in their crusts. For example, if chocolate is added, the color of the crust might be brown. Green-colored skin is made with the juice of the aromatic Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) leaf, a popular and uniquely South-East Asian flavor.
While traditionalmooncakesare usually filled with salted duck egg yolks andlotus seedpaste orred bean paste, snow skin mooncakes can be filled with a variety of fillings such asmung beanpaste,fruit,green tea,jam,strawberry,chocolate,coffee,cheese.Other flavored fillings includedurian,sesame,mango pomelo sago, andpurple yam.
The requirements of production, storage and transportation for snow skin mooncakes are more stringent than for baked mooncakes.Because snow skin mooncakes are not baked in an oven, high temperatures cannot be used to killbacteria. Factories have to keep sterile conditions, and many manufacturers are requested to followHACCPsystematic for food safety. The mooncakes are also kept at a low temperature while in storage, shipping and at theretailerto prevent bacteria growing. Snow skin mooncakes were difficult to find in mainland China before the 2000s, because of the need to keep them refrigerated while in transit from the producer to the consumer.
Snow skin mooncakes are usually packaged in plastic bags in pairs or individually. Because they are not baked, snow skin mooncakes must be refrigerated and can be stored in freezer for up to a few weeks. They are typically thawed for a few hours in arefrigeratorbefore serving, to allow them to soften. Thawed mooncakes should be consumed within 2 hours.Refreezing is not advised.