Blue Pea Flower and Elderflower Mooncakes with Lemon Blueberry Filling
Indulge your senses with these Blue Pea Flower and Elderflower Mooncakes with Lemon Blueberry Filling! Blue Pea Flower extract and Elderflower Flavor Paste gives these cakes an elegant botanical taste and eye-catching blue hue, accompanied by a zesty lemon-blueberry filling on the inside. A unique spin on the celebratory Chinese dessert!
Recipe by: Joan Repato
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 14 Mooncakes
Prep Time: 1½ - 2 hours
Ingredients:
Blue Pea Flower & Elderflower Fondant
2 Blue Pea Flowers
35g Water
15g Unflavored gelatin powder
25g Light corn syrup
10g Glycerin
350g Sifted powdered sugar
White Chocolate Ganache
75g Heavy cream
227g Belgian 29% White Chocolate
Lemon Filling
185g Yellow or white cake crumbs *See recipe notes
25g White chocolate ganache (recipe below) **See recipe notes
14 Fresh blueberries, whole
Special Equipment and Assembly
50g Sifted powdered sugar, for rolling
Microwave safe glass measuring cup (2 cups)
Non-slip silicone pastry mat
Hand scraper
Fine sieve
Mini cookie scoop, or tablespoon
Fondant rolling pin or marble rolling pin
50g Mooncake Molds
Instructions:
Blue Pea Flower & Elderflower Fondant
1.) Bring 35g of water to a boil in a glass measuring cup in the microwave for 2 minutes. Add 2 dried Blue Pea Flowers to make the tea. Place the tea in the refrigerator to cool off.
2.) Measure and place blue pea flower tea in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin powder over cold tea; mix and allow gelatin to bloom for 5 minutes.
3.) Place Elderflower Flavor Paste, light corn syrup, and glycerin in a microwave safe glass measuring cup.
4.) Add bloomed gelatin to glass measuring cup and heat all wet ingredients in the microwave for 2 minutes.
5.) Mix and check if gelatin has completely melted into the other ingredients. If not, microwave for 20-30 more seconds until gelatin has completely melted and all ingredients are fully combined.
6.) Place sifted powdered sugar in a bowl fitted with a paddle attachment.
7.) Pour all wet ingredients (gelatin mixture) over the powdered sugar. Mix on low speed to avoid splashing the powdered sugar. Once most of the wet ingredients have been absorbed with the powdered sugar, increase speed to medium and mix until completely combined.
8.) Place non-slip silicone pastry mat on your work table and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Lightly spray a hand scraper and your hands to prevent fondant from sticking.
9.) Remove your Blue Pea Flower & Elderflower Fondant from your mixing bowl and place on the silicone pastry mat, using the hand scraper to remove all of the fondant from the bowl.
10.) Bring fondant together with your oiled hands and knead fondant until it forms a smooth ball. If the fondant is sticky, sift a little more powdered sugar and knead it in.
11.) Wrap your smooth fondant ball tightly with plastic wrap while you prepare the mooncake filling.
White Chocolate Ganache
1.) Heat heavy cream in a saucepan until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
2.) Pour boiled cream over your white chocolate and allow it to sit for a minute.
3.) With a hand whisk, whisk cream and white chocolate until fully combined and all white chocolate has melted.
4.) Pour ganache through a fine sieve over a bowl, and push ganache through to achieve a smooth consistency.
Lemon Filling
1.) Place cake crumbs in a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed.
2.) Combine white chocolate ganache and Lemon Noblesse paste. Pour over cake crumbs.
3.) Mix together on low to medium speed until fully combined and forms a dough.
4.) Scoop dough with a mini cookie scoop into 14 even balls, about 15g each.
5.) Push a blueberry into the middle of your lemon ball and reform into a ball. Continue with the rest of the lemon filling, until each ball contains a blueberry.
Mooncake Assembly
1.) Unwrap your Blue Pea Flower & Elderflower Fondant and separate it into 14 equal pieces, about 32g each.
2.) Roll each piece in between the palms of your hands to form a ball and place on your non-slip silicone pastry mat. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the fondant balls and a clean, damp cloth over the plastic wrap. This will prevent your fondant balls from drying out.
3.) Working with one fondant ball at a time, roll your fondant balls to 2½ - 3" in diameter using a fondant or marble rolling pin.
4.) Place one ball of lemon filling in the center of the rolled Blue Pea Flower & Elderflower Fondant and bring the sides of the fondant over the filling to enclose it completely. Roll in sifted powdered sugar. Repeat step 4 until all 14 pieces contain lemon filling.
5.) Remove excess powdered sugar and place your filled fondant balls inside of your mooncake mold. Press down onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Serve immediately and enjoy! ***See recipe notes
Floral mooncakes with a fruity surprise: One bite into the soft, botanical flavored fondant shell reveals a filling of lemon cake and a juicy blueberry.
Recipe Notes:
*Yellow or white cake crumbs: You can use cake trimmings from another project, or simply crumble up some cupcakes.
**White Chocolate Ganache: When ready to make the lemon mooncake filling, make sure the white chocolate ganache is either freshly made, or softened in the microwave. If desired, you can use excess ganache as a drip for the sides of the cakes.
***Storage instructions: If serving later, you can store your mooncakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also store mooncakes in the freezer for up to 3 months. If serving from frozen, allow mooncakes to thaw first.
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