//------------------------------// // Luna's Moon Cakes (Advance Recipe) // Story: My Little Cook Book: Flavor Is Magic! // by Slippin_Sweetie //------------------------------// Although the royal chefs prepare almost every meal for us, I partake in some baking myself. Whenever I have a craving for a sugary treat, I prepare my famous Moon Cakes. My sister may be known for her insatiable appetite for cakes, and she can tell you my Moon Cakes are the 'bee's knees' as some ponies would say. Gather your ingredients and necessary equipment. You will split the recipe into two parts the cake itself and the filling. Some ponies refer to these as 'cookies' to them, I say; that's just a poor excuse to justify seconds or thirds. But who could blame them? It is a dish to die for, not literally, unless one overindulges for many moons. The ingredients for the cake or 'cookie.' -1 cup sugar -¼ cup shortening -1 large egg lightly beaten -1 teaspoon vanilla extract -½ cup buttermilk -2 cups all-purpose plain flour -¼ cup cocoa powder -1 teaspoon baking soda -¼ teaspoon baking powder -½ teaspoon of salt -½ cup of scolding hot or boiling water Ingredients for the cream filling 1 cup whole milk -5 Tablespoons of all-purpose plain flour -¾ cup unsalted butter -2 Tablespoons shortening -¼ teaspoon of salt -1 teaspoon vanilla extract -1 cup powdered sugar The cakes or.... 'cookies.' Preheat your oven to 450F and line several cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set them aside and do not tamper with them, Celestia.... In a large bowl or a stand mixer's bowl, combine sugar and shortening and beat together until well combined. Add egg and vanilla extract and stir until mixture is pale yellow and well-combined. Stir in buttermilk and then set aside. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate, medium-sized bowl. Prepare your boiling water. Do not eat the batter, Celestia.. An alternate method is adding the dry ingredients and hot water to the wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry ingredients and stirring until combined after each addition. I usually add the flour in three parts and the water in two. Though whichever method you pick is purely preference and does not affect the cakes, worry not. Stir until well-combined, and the mixture is smooth. Be sure to use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the ingredients are thoroughly combined. The mixture should be thin, like a cake batter, relatively thick, like cookie dough. (Celestia, if I ever find you eating my batter again, I will banish you from my kitchen for a thousand years.) (Author's note: Princess Luna is not insinuating the possible banishment of Princess Celestia from the Royal Kitchen, nor is there another potential war between the sister's over cookies-Twilight Sparkle.) Drop cookie batter by a heaping Tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies at least 2 inches apart (they will spread in the oven). Bake for 5 minutes in 450F oven, then remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Do not eat the cookies; you will be the fool who had the dry Moon Pie without any cream, or you might be my sister. The cream filling. Moon Pie filling starts with a flour/milk paste that's critical to the texture and consistency of a Canterlot Moon Pie. Pour milk into a medium-sized saucepan over medium/low heat and then sift/whisk flour into milk until smooth. Continue to whisk constantly until the mixture is thickened to a near paste-like consistency that wants to cling together. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely, occasionally stirring to prevent a skin from forming, before proceeding (if it's warm and you move, you'll melt your filling and have a runny mess). If you refrigerate the filling, press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface to prevent skin from forming. To speed up the process, you can pour the mixture into another container, which will take at least 30 minutes. The flour mixture will thicken even more as it cools. Once the flour/milk mixture has cooled, add to a medium-sized mixing bowl along with butter, shortening, salt, and vanilla. Use an electric mixer to beat until creamy and well-combined. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add powdered sugar until thoroughly combined. Pair up your cooled chocolate cake/cookies so that you have evenly-sized pairs. Pipe or spread filling onto the bottom of one cake/cookie, then top with another cake/cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat until all cookies are filled and finished. Now you may enjoy them. These treats go well with a glass of milk or dark coffee. They are rich and filling, many only need to eat ONE to be satisfied, and the batch you made should serve you for over a week if you only eat ONE a day. Unless you are starving or out of any other food that isn't spoiled, no pony should eat more than one a day. That is unless you are my beloved sister, Princess Celestia.