Ugly Piglets
I must be losing the touch. The ‘piglets’ I baked for The Hubby turned out looking really quite horrible. And I am quite upset about it.
The piglets cracked quite excessively. Let’s just say there are just way too many cracks for them to be acceptable. The colour was uneven, and even though the top was quite well done, the bottom of the biscuit was still under-baked.
I’m really not sure where went wrong. I might have rested the dough slightly too long, but Judy only said leaving it too long will result in the dough not having obvious imprints and becoming hard in texture. She didn’t say anything about that resulting in excessive cracks.
Whatever it is, I shouldn’t have gone for a swim while resting the dough. 
I followed the temperature setting and baking instructions as written in the recipe. I think the problem lies in the egg wash. SHUCKS! I forgot what Judy said about it. I hope my sis remembers when I call her tomorrow morning. Otherwise I might have to give Judy a tinkle and check with her myself.
Anyway, The Hubby was brave enough to taste the ugly piglets and he said they actually didn’t taste that bad. And he concurs that the problem lies in the egg wash. So… great! At least I identified the problem. It’s much easier to find the solution when you know where went wrong.
I shall sleep away the moodiness and try again tomorrow evening! No more swimming after mixing the dough!
Hey Cadenze,
Hope you are feeling much better now kay? Guess at some point of time we all will experience some kind of failure hor? Its fortunate your piglets still tasted ok. I still remembered my Tiramisu came out both hideous and yucky tasting! Haha…it was only some weeks later that I managed to regain enough confidence to start baking again.
I look forward to seeing more of your tantalising treats on your blog!
Nice new layout, btw!
=)
Hi Luna Esa,
Sigh… what to do. Life goes on despite a disaster in the kitchen.
Heh. At least I won’t get to see the hideous piglets when I get home tonight. Asked my mum to bring all to work and let the uncles finish it up for me.
I will be back with more.
Thanks! I was contemplating whether to stick to this layout ‘coz the picture at the top doesn’t seem to be in sync with baking.
nah, its not ugly. in fact, its very cute. really!
as for what u told me in yr previous post, ya i think pretty crazy to use up 1kg of the paste filling too, but i think thats the only size phoon huat sells. i don’t recall seeing anything in 500g or something. can i also ask, whats the diff between the wooden molds and the plastic ones? coz i tot of getting the plastic one which is like $5-6 only. and $30 for a wooden mold is totally out of the qn! gosh, its so expensive and i havent decided on whether i’m gonna make it year after year. coz who knows the once the novelty wears off, i gotta “auction” off the molds in ebay LOL.
by the way, snowskin mooncakes no need to bake one izit? if no need, then its quite convenient and less time consuming to make hor?
You are very kind, Evan.
I think PH sells in 500g too. But it’s expensive lah. Difference between wooden and plastic moulds lies in 1) how long it lasts and 2) the pre-treatment process. Old folks were saying plastic moulds will go out of shape over time so not so lasting. But they don’t need to be soaked in oil before using.
Snowskins no need to bake. But hor… gotta lightly bake the melon seeds and glutinous rice flour.
Amount of work to me, is about the same.
that’s why i cant find any piglets at home….. ahhh thought its for me????? y ? y ? y ? u so cruel.. why u took away all my piglets???
Aiyoh… because they look ugly and they don’t taste fantastic lah.
I’ll make another batch for you tonight. Provided you do the dishes in the sink before going out.
hey CY, got some more questions to ask u, hope u don’t mind. hehe. i suppose u sell or give yr mooncakes after baking them rite? what kind of box do u put them in? u know, the boxes phoon huat sell are so fugly. either plain white, or cheena looking type. i wonder where can we find pretty boxes? coz i was thinking if nx time i make cakes for my relatives or friends, i wanna put them in a nice box. so wondering if there’s anywhere that sells nice looking boxes.
another qn is abt containers. u know those plastic containers w/ red screwcaps that ppl normally use to put CNY goodies in? do u know if there are other colors besides red? coz as u know, i don’t like cheena looking stuffs. i think i remember seeing cheryl the baker using those with yellow covers…i think its nicer looking than red lor.
Hi Evan,
Don’t mind at all.
The only other place I’ve been to for my mooncake stock is Kwong Cheong Thye. Their boxes are pretty ‘cheena’ too but they have pretty nice designs and even have those hard cardboard types. Hehe…
Another option you have is to go to KCT and get those plastic ‘moulds’ you put in the boxes to secure the mooncakes, and then go elsewhere and get cake boxes. Phoon Huat doesn’t allow you to buy just the plastic ‘moulds’ without boxes, for some reason or another.
I’m trying to recall if BIY carries cake boxes. I don’t think they do.
I think those containers with yellow caps can be found in Chinatown. Let me go ask my auntie. If she doesn’t know, I’ll email Cheryl and ask her heh.
hi there, i actually think that ur piggie looks very cute and i want to try making it. I cant get those piglet here in new zealand… and i cant find any recipe in mooncake without fillings. just wondering if u could share this recipe with me?
my email is elenawong@ihug.co.nz
thanks! and have a good day!
Hi Elena,
If you have found a mooncake recipe which requireds you to put some lotus paste as filling, making just the skin itself and shaping it into any shape you want (if you don’t have the mould), send it into the oven and you’ll get the piglets!
Thanks for being so kind. I’ll be trying another recipe soon (tonight or tomorrow), and if it’s successful, I’ll put up the recipe and drop you an email?
Cadenze
Thaks a lot Cadenze! “Add Oil!!”
hi darling, thx for your help to help me source around for the containers. i really appreciate it *big hugs*
BIY doesnt sell cakebox. im actually looking for those, u know, where u can bring up the “handles” to carry the box, not sure if u know which i’m referring to. anyway i guess if there’s no luck finding a nice one, mayb hv to try gift shops lor. they sell nice boxes…maybe gotta get a big one to put the cake in hehe. maybe can make my own too, not difficult actually. but to find a big cardboard will hv to cost like, $4-5. haha. yesterday i tried tying a plain white box with two kinds of ribbons together (baby blue & turquoise), actually not bad oso. really spruce up the whole thing =)
haha, i couldn’t stop laughing when i read ht’s post abt the missing piglets! :p
i tried baking them too! in minnie mouse shapes. mine came out all black face! and very hard……. wu wu wu….
the taste is quite good though, but must really bite! will they turn softer? *cross fingers*
think i need to turn down the temp of the oven for my next try.
and btw, the dough for baked version so much easier to work with!
Hahah…. sometimes he can be very funny
Yes Aya, I think they will turn softer after a few days after the oil settles and comes up to the surface.
I agree with you… the dough is much more manageable.