We are counting down for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Have you ready to celebrate the special day with your family? At least, we should have our mooncakes prepared for our tummies. In the past weeks, I have given the snow skin mooncakes and the traditional Cantonese mooncake to my lovely families as a festival gifts. Today I will make a different festival dessert to blow your mind; the rainbow layer salted egg pastry. The ingredients and the method are similar to the red bean pastry that you can find through my previous post. However, this rainbow layer salted egg pastry is filled with the sweet potato paste and salted egg yolk. And each layer of flaky pastry should virtually melt on the tongue, but not greasy in your hands. You will enjoy this dessert not only from the fancy-looking, but the delicious taste.
How to make the perfect crust?
- We need to prepare two different crusts for this rainbow layer salted egg pastry, as also known as the shortcrust pastry and the water-oiled crust pastry. It is essential to make a successful water-oiled crust pastry to get the beautiful rainbow flaky pastry layers. My experience is to keep the water-oiled crust pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes after kneading, so it turns out more stretchable and smooth.
How to make the colorful layer crust?
- The rainbow shortcrust is the point of this dessert which is the mixture of all-purpose flour and unsalted butter with food coloring added. If you are concerned about food coloring, you can choose the organic food coloring powder as I do. The organic food coloring powder is made from real food or natural flowers, which is 100% safe and kids friendly.
Let's prepare for the filling first. I am going to use purple sweet potato for this pastry mooncake.
Pick three similar size purple sweet potato, wash and peel off the skin. Cut the sweet potato into slices and place them in a bowl. Steam it for 15 minutes over high heat.
Once it's done, mash the potato by a fork. Add sugar and butter into the mashed potato and mix well. Set it on the side with plastic wrap covered.
Place twelve salted egg yolks on a baking pan. Preheat oven to 320F, and bake for 8 minutes.
Prepare the fillings by combining the mashed sweet potato with salted egg yolks. Divide the mashed sweet potato into 12 pieces and roll them into balls. Flatten the sweet potato balls and place one baked egg yolk in the middle. Roll it into a ball.
Now, let's make the water-oiled crust pastry.
Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and knead it into a dough. Keep kneading the dough until it becomes smooth and thin enough when you stretch it, which takes about 30 minutes by hand kneading. Wrap it with plastic film and keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes before use.
For the pastry dough, we need to mix the all-purpose flour and unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl.
Knead the dough and divide it evenly into four pieces. And add food coloring to each of them.
I mixed pink, yellow, blue, and purple organic food coloring powder into the pastry dough.
Divide each colored dough into six pieces and roll them into balls. Set them on the side with plastic film covered.
Bring the water-oiled crust from the fridge. And divide it into six pieces and roll into balls.
Take one of the water-oiled crust, flatten and roll into to rectangle shape by a roller. Bring one of each colored pastry dough and place them on the water-oiled crust. Fold the water-oiled crust covered with four pastry doughs. Then flatten it by a roller again. Roll up the flatten water-oiled crust, then flatten it again by the roller. And roll up the second time.
Cut it in the middle, and you will get two swirl pattern doughs.
(repeat the directions with the rest water-oiled crust and colored pastry doughs)
Flatten the swirl doughs and shape it round by a roller.
Place the nice swirl pattern outside, and put the filling in the middle. Fold the dough to cover the filling inside, gently close up the dough on the bottom.
Place the finished egg yolk pastry on a non-stick baking pan.
Place the finished egg yolk pastry on a non-stick baking pan.
Preheat oven to 330F, bake for 30 minutes.
Transfer the egg yolk pastry on the rack to cool down.
Ingredients
Directions
Let's prepare for the filling first. I am going to use purple sweet potato for this pastry mooncake.
Pick three similar size purple sweet potato, wash and peel off the skin. Cut the sweet potato into slices and place them in a bowl. Steam it for 15 minutes over high heat.
Once it's done, mash the potato by a fork. Add sugar and butter into the mashed potato and mix well. Set it on the side with plastic wrap covered.
Place twelve salted egg yolks on a baking pan. Preheat oven to 320F, and bake for 8 minutes.
Prepare the fillings by combining the mashed sweet potato with salted egg yolks. Divide the mashed sweet potato into 12 pieces and roll them into balls. Flatten the sweet potato balls and place one baked egg yolk in the middle. Roll it into a ball.
Now, let's make the water-oiled crust pastry.
Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and knead it into a dough. Keep kneading the dough until it becomes smooth and thin enough when you stretch it, which takes about 30 minutes by hand kneading. Wrap it with plastic film and keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes before use.
For the pastry dough, we need to mix the all-purpose flour and unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl.
Knead the dough and divide it evenly into four pieces. And add food coloring to each of them.
I mixed pink, yellow, blue, and purple organic food coloring powder into the pastry dough.
Divide each colored dough into six pieces and roll them into balls. Set them on the side with plastic film covered.
Bring the water-oiled crust from the fridge. And divide it into six pieces and roll into balls.
Take one of the water-oiled crust, flatten and roll into to rectangle shape by a roller. Bring one of each colored pastry dough and place them on the water-oiled crust. Fold the water-oiled crust covered with four pastry doughs. Then flatten it by a roller again. Roll up the flatten water-oiled crust, then flatten it again by the roller. And roll up the second time.
Cut it in the middle, and you will get two swirl pattern doughs.
(repeat the directions with the rest water-oiled crust and colored pastry doughs)
Flatten the swirl doughs and shape it round by a roller.
Place the nice swirl pattern outside, and put the filling in the middle. Fold the dough to cover the filling inside, gently close up the dough on the bottom.
Place the finished egg yolk pastry on a non-stick baking pan.
Place the finished egg yolk pastry on a non-stick baking pan.
Preheat oven to 330F, bake for 30 minutes.
Transfer the egg yolk pastry on the rack to cool down.