Mmmmm so fondant good!

Moon Pies or Half Moon Pies to me are the king to appetizers.I mean honestly I find them so divine and compared to the other Mauritian appetizers,so far this one is my favourite! Why my favourite?Simply because of its texture,their taste and also their soft fondant goodness. Do they not look so inviting and also mouth watering? Half Moon Pies are mostly very popular around the island during the holy month of Ramadan.So far this is what I have noticed.Our Muslim brothers and sisters normally make them at home to break their fast with at Iftaar.To me it is mostly a homemade appetizer and also it is not widely available around the island like our Mauritian Chilli Cakes – Gato Piments! Most of the time we make them at home to serve during engagement parties or as tea time snack. Here in Mauritius, these small cakes/appetizers are a must at any family gathering.They are the ultimate love sharing type of food that need to be present every time during a joyous occasion. It is only recently that I have come across them and since then I have been hooked.However to be honest as gorgeous as they look, they are quite tiring to make. Ouf! However the happiest part was to see all of them vanishing off the plate once on the table! Which definitely means they got hooked as well.

Serves 5 – Makes 15 Half Moon Pies

Preparation time : 45 mins

Cooking time : 20 mins

Ingredients for the Dough:

• 3 cups of sifted all purpose Flour
• 1 cup of Milk powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of butter
• Water
• Salt to taste
• Semolina

For the Fillings :

• 2 cups of mashed Potatoes
• 1 cup of grated Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup of sweet Corn Kernel
• Thyme

For the Coating :

• 1 egg
• Breadcrumbs/Biscuits

Method :

• Place about 1/2 a liter of water in a pan.
• Add 1 tsp of salt followed by the milk powder and melted butter.
• Then crack in the eggs and mix everything well.
• Next put the pan to a boil.
• When the mixture starts to heat up,add the flour little by little while constantly stirring it.

• You should come up with a dough practically like this.(As shown in picture below)
• Remove and place on a flat surface and knead for about 10 mins by sprinkling some semolina everytime you are working the dough.I wanted to use semolina instead of flour.You can use flour but then I found that semolina gives the cakes another texture when you fry them.
• Then start by dividing the dough into equal segments.

• Take one part of the dough and form into small ball shape.

• After having rolled all your dough into small round shapes,take one of them and roll it out on a flat surface.
• With the help of a shape cutter,cut the dough into circles.(As shown in picture below)

• Repeat until you have used up all the dough and set the circles aside to be filled later on.
• In a bowl add your mashed potatoes along with the cheese and corns.
• Combine everything together along with the thyme and reserve.

• Now take one cut circle dough at a time and start by filling it until all is done.
• Place around 1 tsp of the mixture in the center and fold.

• When you are done folding every one of them, crack another egg in a plate in order to start the coating.
• Place the Moon Pies in the egg and coat evenly followed by the breadcrumbs later on.
• Repeat until all is done.

• In a pan add some vegetable oil and heat until medium hot.
• Dip your Half Moon Pies one at a time into the pan and stir constantly until golden brown.
• Remove and let them strain paper towel in order to absorb the excess oil.
• Serve with an amazing Green Chilli paste or Coriander chutney.

Look at all the goodness coming out from it! Now you tell me isn’t it mouth watering? I do not know anything more tempting than this right now.Trust me you will get hooked too and one bite won’t be enough. I love Half Moon Pies and you can also vary the fillings.For now I tried the one filling I love the most which is that of Cheese-Sweet Corn filling. You can do any filling of your choice for example minced chicken and dry herbs, or beans sprouts along with some other veggies.It is really up to your liking when it comes to fillings.

Do you have anything similar at yours? I would love to know because sometimes it is so beautiful to see that at the end we all share the same food richness and culture but with a twist.Maybe it is called something else at yours.Or maybe you make it in a different way as well. Anything please do share with me because I would really love to be part of your everyday cooking culture.

Until another yet yummy post,take care my lovely people!