Thousand-Layer Taro Mooncakes

The mooncake is a staple dessert in Chinese cultures, especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival — a time to celebrate the harvest and look up at the moon.

This recipe combines two types of dough to create a multitude of flaky layers and a beautiful purple swirl on the outside. Meanwhile, a sweet taro filling and salted duck egg yolk, representing the moon, awaits inside. Anyway you roll it, be sure to enjoy this delicacy with friends and family as you gaze up at the moon.

Thousand-Layer Taro Mooncakes were the Technical Bake for Harvest Week in Season 7 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Thousand-Layer Taro Mooncakes

Special Equipment

• Steamer basket

Ingredients

Filling:

• 450 g taro root, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
• 12 salted duck egg yolks
• ½ cup (100 g) sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp taro yam powder

White Water Dough:

• 1½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 7 tbsp plus 2 tsp (107 g) lard
• ⅓ cup water

Purple Oil Dough:

• 1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
• 6 tbsp (84 g) lard
• 6 drops purple liquid gel food colouring

Assembly:

• Pearl lustre dust

Preparation

Heat the oven to 375 F. 

Filling:

Fill a large pot with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Place the diced taro in a steamer basket set over the pot and steam the taro until tender all the way through (it should break down easily when mashed with a fork), about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside. 

Add the salted egg yolks to the basket and steam until they appear lighter in colour. Remove the yolks and set aside to cool.  

Add the sugar and salt to the taro, sprinkle the taro yam powder on top and mash the ingredients with a potato masher until smooth (try to avoid stirring as the taro will become gluey very easily). Scrape the taro paste onto a quarter sheet pan and chill, uncovered, until ready to use.

White Water Dough:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the lard and water to the flour mixture. Break the lard up with fingertips and mix the dough together by hand. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead vigorously until it is pliable and elastic, about 15 minutes. (To test if the dough has been kneaded enough, take a small piece and stretch it out -– you should be able to stretch it thinly enough that you can see light through it without the dough tearing.) Shape the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use. 

Purple Oil Dough:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and lard by hand. Turn the dough out onto a non-stick mat to prevent staining your work surface, add the food colouring, and knead the dough until it is pliable and smooth, about 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use. 

Assembly:

Using a bench scraper, divide each dough disc into six equal pieces. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of purple oil dough into a tight ball, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pieces of white water dough into 4-inch rounds, rolling the edges out thinner than the centres, and cover with plastic wrap. 

Uncover one purple dough ball and one white dough round, and place the ball in the centre of the round. Fold the white dough up around the ball and pinch the edges together on top to seal completely. Roll the dough ball on the work surface to smooth out the seam. Place the dough ball seam-side down on a floured surface and flatten it with your hands.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough ball out into an approximately 8-inch-long oval, around ¼-inch thick. Starting with a short edge, roll the oval up into a tight log. Secure the end with a little bit of water, cover the log with plastic wrap and chill. Repeat the process with the remaining dough balls and rounds.

Filling Assembly:

Divide the taro paste into 12 even balls (if the taro paste sticks to your hands, spray them with a bit of cooking spray). Pat a taro paste ball into a 4-inch round and place a steamed salted egg yolk in the centre. Fold the taro paste around the yolk to surround it completely. Roll the ball in your hands to smooth it out and cover the yolk completely. Chill until ready to use. Repeat with the remaining 12 taro paste balls and egg yolks.

Final Assembly:

Uncover the dough log that has been resting the longest, place it seam side up on a lightly floured work surface and flatten it with your hands. Using a rolling pin, roll it out into a long oval about 1/16-inch thick and flip it over. Fold the oval in half lengthwise and roll it out to 1/16-inch thick. From the short end, roll the dough into a log and cover it with plastic wrap. Repeat this process with the remaining dough logs, working one at a time. 

Uncover a dough log and using a serrated knife, cut it in half crosswise (creating two stubby logs and keeping the spiral intact). Place one half cut-side down on a lightly floured surface, and flatten it with your hands. Using a rolling pin, roll it out into a 4-inch round, rolling the edges out thinner than the centre. Place a ball of filling in the centre of the round, wrap the dough up and around the filling, and pinch the edges of the dough together to seal. Roll the ball in your hands to smooth out the seams. Repeat this process with the other half of the log, and then the rest of the dough logs to create a total of 12 mooncakes. 

Place the mooncakes on a half baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until the mooncakes are baked through, look matte and dry, and are lightly golden brown on the bottom, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Transfer the mooncakes to a wire rack to cool, then brush with lustre dust.

Makes 12 mooncakes