Paddle boarding

Women in STEM @ the royal college of surgeons

Today I went up to London to attend the women in STEM conference at the royal college of surgeons.  I attended the annual conference last year too and it is brilliant.  There is nothing like feeling as though you're contributing to change for the better!
The speakers are always inspirational and offer ideas which are useful and can be applied to work.  They also propose changes to policy and to existing bigger issues which are usually not in my remit to fix, but I can pass the information on.

I also got to sit next to Professor Dame Julia Higgins.  Well actually I kinda stole her seat but she let me off as I was still on crutches.

Cards from Abi

Just as I was fed up with the world because of rude people on trains, this arrived and made me less furious.

Paddle Boarding

How to make Mooncake (From Buzzfeed) for the Chinese Mid Autumn festival (27/09/15)

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Here’s everything you need to make the traditional kind:

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

A mooncake mold,* honey, vegetable oil, alkalized or lye water,* red bean paste (lotus seed or black bean paste works too), dried lotus seeds (or red beans), vegetable shortening (lard/coconut oil), sugar, fresh salted duck eggs,* and regular eggs.

*You can also purchase a mold here. I found my wooden paddle while wandering the streets of Chinatown in Manhattan, but thankfully Amazon makes it easier. If you’re lazy and don’t want to buy one of these, you can make them in a muffin tin and they’ll turn out just as yummy.

*The other ingredient that seems difficult to find is alkalized or lye water. Most health stores sell it and Asian grocery stores sell a version that’s called potassium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate solution It’s what gives the mooncakes their golden-brown color. You can also easily make it for cheap using baking soda and lemons.

*Fresh salted duck eggs are optional; they’re sold at most Asian grocery stores but may be hard to find elsewhere.

Note: flour and regular eggs are not pictured.

And here’s a step-by-step guide. The full recipe is at the bottom of this post.

1. Choose whether you want to buy your filling or if you want to make it from scratch.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

It’s typically easier and cheaper to buy the red bean paste in stores (or online here).

If you want to make them with white lotus paste, you’ll probably have to make it yourself using dried lotus seeds, which you can buy here.

2. To make the lotus paste, you need to soak the seeds in water for at least six hours.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Afterward, make sure to take our the green sprouts from the centers before cooking the seeds. Boil them for at least 1–2 hours until they are soft.

3. Pour the cooked seeds into a food processor with sugar and some water.

For 1 cup of dried seeds, you’ll need about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of sugar, sweetened to your liking. Blend until the consistency is smooth like hummus.

4. Transfer the blended mixture into a pan and cook it over medium heat. Then add in the vegetable shortening.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

You’ll need about 2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening, but gradually add and continue to mix until the paste has a slightly glossy look.

Once done, transfer to a container and set aside to chill.

5. To make the dough, mix together the honey, the alkalized water, and the vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Depending on your molds, the amount of dough you’ll need will be different. My mold was about 2.5 inches in diameter, and this recipe yielded four large mooncakes.

6. Pour in the flour and incorporate until a loose, crumbly mixture forms. Then, knead the dough (not too rigorously) into the shape of a ball.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

The ideal dough shouldn’t be crumbly or too oily, so because of the differences in mold, it’s better to start with conservative amounts of oil (you can always add more if the mixture is still too crumbly).

Once done, cover it in plastic wrap and set aside for 1–2 hours.

7. Next prepare your salted duck yolks (if you’re using them): Separate the yolks from the whites and soak them in vegetable oil for about 30 minutes.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

This gets rid of the raw taste.

8. To make the filling, start by scooping a small ball of whichever paste you buy/make into your palm and flatten it out.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Left: store-bought red bean paste
Right: homemade white lotus paste

9. Add an egg yolk to the center of the paste and fold the paste over until the yolk is fully covered and you’ve formed a ball.

For bigger molds (like mine), I used a whole egg yolk. For smaller ones, use half an egg yolk.

10. Taking the dough that you’ve set aside, flatten out a portion that’s about 1/2 inch thick and that’s big enough to wrap around half of the paste-yolk ball.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Wrap the dough around one side of the filling. Once you’ve done that, flatten out a smaller portion of the dough that can cover the rest of the filling.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Shape the outside until it’s nice and spherical and no filling is exposed.

11. Now you’re ready to make mooncake magic with the mold!

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Flour the mold and press the ball into the mold.

You might need to clean up the bottom edges of your mooncake a few times before taking it out.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

12. Once your mooncakes are formed, brush the sides with water to prevent them from cracking in the oven.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Preheat the oven to 355 degrees and then pop the mooncakes in for 5–8 minutes.

13. During this time, make an egg wash: an egg and a splash of water whisked together.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

14. After 5–8 minutes, take the mooncakes out and brush them with the egg wash, carefully.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

This accentuates the beautiful designs on top of the mooncakes. If you don’t have a brush, you can use your finger — but just be extra careful you don’t distort the design.

15. Bake them for another 12–15 minutes until golden-brown.

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

Lauren Zaser / Buzzfeed

After they cool down, wrap them in plastic wrap and store them in an air-tight container. It’s traditional to let them rest for one or two days before eating, but they are also extremely delicious right out of the oven.

Hurrah!! You made some insanely delicious treats. Now go share these with your friends at a supermoon-lunar-eclipse partay.

Jessica Probus / Buzzfeed

Jessica Probus / Buzzfeed

The Recipe: Traditional Mooncakes

Makes about 4 mooncakes

Recipe adapted from Food52 and Chinese Sichuan Food

INGREDIENTS:

1 (2-inch-diameter) mooncake mold

For the filling:
Store-bought: 1 (16-18 ounce) can red bean paste (lotus seed or black bean paste works too)
Homemade: 1 cup dried lotus seeds (or red beans)
1/2–2/3 cup sugar, according to your taste
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (or lard or coconut oil)

For the dough:
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon alkalized or lye water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour

Optional: 1 package fresh salted duck eggs
For the egg wash:
1 regular egg beaten with a splash of water

PREPARATION:

Filling preparation:
If you’re using store-bought paste, skip to prepping the dough.
1. Soak the lotus seeds for 6–8 hours.
2. Rinse, remove the green sprouts, and boil for about 2 hours until soft.
3. Blend in a food processor with the sugar and a few spoonfuls water until it has the consistency of hummus.
4. Put the lotus paste in a skillet over medium heat and stir in the shortening; cook until it’s glossy, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Dough preparation:
1. Mix together the honey, alkalized water, and vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the flour and mix with your hands until a crumbly dough forms.
3. Knead lightly into a ball (but don’t overwork the dough). Wrap in plastic wrap, and set aside for 2 hours at room temperature.

Mooncake assembly:
1. Flatten a small portion of lotus or red bean paste onto the palm of your hand.
2. If you’re using the salted duck egg yolks, add a salted egg yolk to the center.
3. Fold the filling around the yolk to cover it entirely and form a ball.
4. Pinch off a handful of the dough. Flatten it into a circle* that’s about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches in diameter.
5. Put the ball of filling in the center of the dough circle and fold the edges of the dough up around the filling.
6. Pinch off a small piece of dough and flatten it into a piece that is big enough to cover the remaining exposed filling. Put the smaller piece of dough over the exposed filling and mold until the dough completely covers the filling and you have an even sphere.
7. Flour the mold and press the ball into the mold firmly. Clean up the bottom edges if necessary.
8. Pop the mooncake out and put it on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining filling and dough to make about 3 more mooncakes.
9. Just before baking, brush the mooncakes’ edges with a little water.

Baking:
1. Preheat the oven to 355 degrees and bake the mooncakes for 5-8 minutes.
2. Take them out, and brush the tops and sides lightly with the egg wash using a pastry brush if you have one.
3. Bake for another 12-15 minutes.
4. Let the mooncakes cool then wrap them in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container for 1-2 days before serving.

*Remember to make the dough circle according to your mold. A good way to estimate is to make the flattened dough circle slightly bigger than the size of the mold.