Spiced Cranberry-Orange Mooncakes
Perfect for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, these Spiced Cranberry-Orange Mooncakes offer a scrumptious twist on traditional Chinese fare. Tart and sweet spiced cranberry filling is baked inside cranberry or orange sugar cookie dough molded into beautiful floral designs, then finished in your choice of orange or cranberry sugar glaze.
Recipe by: Joan Repato
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Yield: 24 Mooncakes
Prep Time: 1 hour
Bake Time: 15-22 minutes
Glazing Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
Cranberry Spiced Filling
235g Dried unsweetened sliced cranberries, no sugar added
45g Light brown sugar
45 ml Water
2g Pumpkin Spice Baking Flavor
120g Pistachios, raw and shelled
120g Belgian 29% White Chocolate
Orange or Cranberry Sugar Cookie
360g Unsalted butter, room temperature
320g Granulated sugar
50g Orange Flavor Paste OR Cranberry Flavor Paste
2 Large eggs
576g All purpose flour
4g Fine sea salt
11g Baking powder
Orange or Cranberry Sugar Glaze
180g Sifted powdered sugar
50-60g Milk, more or less to reach desired consistency
10g Orange Flavor Paste OR Cranberry Flavor Paste
Special Equipment and Assembly
Bench scraper or butter knife to portion out cookie dough
Rubber spatula
Food processor
Small cookie scoop or teaspoon
Cookie rack
Instructions:
Spiced Cranberry Filling
1.) In a saucepan, add cranberries, brown sugar, water, and Pumpkin Spice Baking Flavor; mix well and bring to a simmer.
2.) Continue to mix while on low heat and allow sugar to dissolve.
3.) Remove from heat and allow to cool; stir occasionally, ensuring all cranberries are rehydrated.
4.) While cranberry mixture is cooling, place pistachios in a food processor and finely chop.
5.) Add white chocolate to the food processor and finely chop, along with pistachios.
6.) Add the cooled cranberry mixture and pulse the machine until all ingredients are combined.
7.) Using an extra small cookie scoop or teaspoon, separate the filling into 24 pieces and roll each one into a ball. Each ball should weigh approximately 23 grams.
Orange or Cranberry Sugar Cookie
1.) Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment and cream together for about 3 minutes until smooth.
2.) Beat in Orange or Cranberry Flavor Paste and eggs.
3.) In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk together until well combined.
4.) Add flour mixture a little at a time to the butter-sugar mixture and mix on low to medium speed until all flour mixture has been added.
5.) Turn out the cookie dough onto a clean countertop surface and finish off the kneading of the dough by hand.
6.) Separate the dough ball into 24 equal pieces, each weighing approximately 56 grams and roll each piece into a ball.
7.) Place all balls on a pan and cover with plastic to prevent cookie dough from drying out.
8.) Take one ball of cookie dough and place it between two pieces of plastic wrap; flatten with your palm until it is about 2½" in diameter.
9.) Remove one side of the plastic wrap and place a ball of the spiced cranberry filling in the center of the cookie dough. Bring all sides of the cookie dough up to enclose spiced cranberry filling completely.
10.) Roll the ball in sifted flour, remove excess and place inside of your mooncake mold. Press down on a sheet pan with parchment paper.
11.) Repeat steps 8-10 with all 24 mooncakes and place on a sheet pan.
12.) Place sheet pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. This step will help keep the molded pattern when baked. Preheat the oven to 350°F. *See recipe notes
13.) Bake frozen mooncakes in the oven at 350°F. Bake one sheet at a time in the center of oven for about 15-18 minutes (may take up to 20-22 minutes if baking from completely frozen).
14.) Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool completely before glazing.
Orange or Cranberry Sugar Glaze
1.) In a small bowl, whisk together 180g of powdered sugar, 50g milk and 10g Orange OR Cranberry Flavor Paste. If a thinner consistency for the glaze is desired, add the remaining 10g of milk.
2.) Dip the molded side of the mooncakes into the flavored sugar glaze, remove excess and allow to set on cookie rack on top of a sheet pan to catch excess glaze.
Pictured above: A beautiful autumnal treat; glazed cranberry sugar cookies are stamped with elegant floral designs and reveal a sweet, spiced cranberry filling inside.
Recipe Notes:
*For storage: If you wish to bake your mooncakes later, you can wrap unbaked molded mooncakes and keep them in the freezer until you are ready to bake. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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