HOW TO MAKE VIETNAMESE JELLO MOONCAKES | ĐÔNG SƯƠNG TRUNG THU
Jello mooncakes are my alternative to the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes. These jello mooncakes use coconut cream as the outer layer and taro and green tea as the inner filling.
Mooncakes are the representative food for Mid-Autumn Festival. This holiday occurs on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month and is probably the second-largest holiday behind Lunar New Year. The moon during Mid-Autumn Festival is the fullest of the year, giving the holiday the nickname Moon Festival. A lot of East Asian families celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival by simply gathering together to enjoy the new autumn harvests, light paper lanterns, and eat mooncakes with tea. In Viet Nam, the holiday is also dubbed “Children’s Day” with festivals happening on the streets, filled with lanterns fairs and lion dance parades.
Whether it is to eat, give away, or present to the Gods, mooncakes play a huge role during Mid-Autumn Festival and can even be regarded as a delicacy. I will not disagree that mooncakes look beautiful. But they can be an acquired taste for some people. For many years, I would make mooncakes to present to the Gods during Mid-Autumn Festival. But afterward, nobody in my family eats them, and my mooncakes always end up becoming gifts to other families.
Then it occurred to me that I should be using the molds for something else—jello! Jello takes the shape of its mold and it is so much easier to make compared to traditional mooncakes. Plus, everyone in the family enjoys jello!
These jello mooncakes use coconut cream as the outer layer. If you’re not a fan of coconut, you can substitute it with condensed milk or another white-colored cream/liquid. I used taro and green tea powder (separately) for the fillings, but you can also substitute them with whatever flavor you prefer. This recipe requires speed—you have to work fast! The agar-agar powder hardens quickly, and if you are not fast enough, the layers will separate.
I purchased the molds from Amazon—you will want to make sure to not get the hand-pressed molds—those will not work for this recipe. You will need two sizes for the molds, one for the outer layer, and the other for the inner filling. Everything should work perfectly if the molds for the fillings are smaller than the molds for the outer layer.
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5 comments
I love these! I love the moon cakes molds that you used. My kids don’t like the flavors of traditional moon cakes and so these agar ones are perfect! Where did you order the square rose mold? I couldn’t find the link or info on that specific one. Thanks!
The square molds were purchased during a trip to Viet Nam. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find duplicates in America 🙁
Omg these are gorgeous! I myself don’t like the taste of traditional mooncakes so these are a great alternative! Thank you for sharing.
How far in advance can these be made?
I will usually make these the day before and let them cool in the fridge overnight. And I would say they’d be good in the fridge for a couple of days, maybe 4-5?