Thousand Layers Spiral Mooncake

My last trial of this mooncake was back in 2006. Yes, it took me a good 2 years to get over the 'trauma' and give this another go. Not a mooncake for the fainthearted to attempt. What is tedious is sealing the dough without destroying the spiral pattern. But the end result is very rewarding. The pastry is very very crispy, crunchy and light.

Apparently the secret to getting the mooncake to bloom like a snail shell....'dunking it in very hot oil 3 times'.

The traditional filling for this is yam but there is nothing to stop you from putting your own spin into this by using a lotus or bean paste or whatever takes your fancy. Hence I am not putting a recipe here for the filling. Mr Redneck likes his with a savoury mung bean filling.

Makes 6 mooncakes

Ingredients
Water dough
75g plain flour
20g shortening
10g (fine) sugar
35g water + 2-3 drops white vinegar

Oil Dough
65g plain flour
40g shortening



Method
1. Water dough
. Rub shortening with flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.
. Add in water and sugar and mix together to form a smooth dough. Cover and rest for 30 mins.
. Divide dough into 2 pieces.

2. Oil Dough
. Rub shortening gradually into the flour to form a soft dough. Cover to rest for 30 minutes.
. Divide dough into 2 pieces.

3. Wrap oil dough into water dough and flatten.

4. Roll out into a longish flat thin piece. Roll up like a swiss roll.

5. Turn 90deg and repeat step 4. For photo aid, look here. It is similar to the rolling of pastry for Seremban Siu Pau.

6. Cut each roll into 3 equal pieces with a sharp knife.

7. With the spiral side facing down, flatten and roll. Wrap with filling of choice.


8. Heat a pot of oil on high heat. Dunk the mooncake in 3 times in very hot oil. Reduce to medium heat and deepfry till golden brown or bake at 180C for 10-20 minutes until pastry is cooked.


Note :
These mooncake cannot be kept for long and should be eaten within 2-3 days.

Tip :
1. When rolling into a round, roll the edges of the dough thinner to make it easier to seal.
2. If your shortening is hard, soften it in the microwave before using.