This post was supposed to be published last month coinciding with the mid autumn festival theme but I was too worn out to blog it until now. Following the series of moon cake recipes covering from the basics of making moon cake dough to moon cake fillings like Yam/taro, Red bean and Mung Bean, now is time to learn to make another key ingredient – the Golden syrup.
Instead of buying ready-made golden syrup, I opted to make my own with recipe adapted from Agnes Chang’s moon cake series. This completes the recipe for making 100% homemade moon cake. I started making this syrup 2 weeks before mid- autumn festival. However, it is even better if you can start making the syrup a few months ahead as the syrup can easily last a year or more.
This golden syrup is good for use in any baking or cooking that calls for golden syrup in place of the commercial ones.
Initially, I did not have a good start in the syrup making. I was not attentive enough during the cooking stage and got the syrup overcooked. On top of that, I was fooled by the consistency of the syrup when it was still hot. The syrup looked runny but when it cooled down, it became really sticky and as hard as caramel candy!
Nevertheless, after some online research, I cross referred to Christine Golden Syrup recipe to save the failed syrup which I thought was a waste. Following her advice, I added more water and lemon juice and re-boiled the syrup again to eventually get the right fluid consistency for the golden syrup.
The moon cakes that I made using my homemade golden syrup.