Traditional Mooncakes

- Makes 4 large mooncakes

I used to hate them as a child but now I can’t wait for Mid-autumn festival so I can dig into the soft golden pastry, the sweet dense lotus-seed paste combined with a small savory bite of salted egg yolk. We all know mooncakes are a luxury to buy, but did you know that they are really easy to make at home? My easy peasy recipe here,

Ingredients for Traditional Mooncakes

Dough Ingredients:
100g cake flour
60g Golden syrup
30g peanut or vegetable oil
½ teaspoon Alkaline water (lye water - kansui)

Filling:
460g Lotus seed paste (4 x 115g each)
25g white melon seed, toasted
4 salted eggs (or 8 if you'd like 2 yolks per mooncake)

Egg Wash:
1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon milk (mix together 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon milk, then pass through a sieve into a clean bowl - set aside)

125g large plastic mould, to assemble

Traditional Mooncakes Recipe Video

Recipe

Dough:

Whisk together golden syrup, peanut oil and alkaline water. Sift flour into the bowl. Using a spatula stir well until all ingredients are fully combined into a dough; do not overmix. Cover completely with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 2 hours. Once rested, divide into 4X48g portions and roll into smooth balls.

Filling:

Pre-heat your oven to 175˚C. Using gloves, clean salted eggs by removing the black charcoal from the eggs. Rinse eggs under running water. Crack and separate the yolks, then rinse the yolks gently under running water to remove any egg white stuck to them. Place rinsed yolks on a parchment lined baking tray, and bake at 175˚C for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 160˚C. Roast melon seeds on a tray for 5 minutes, let them cool, then knead them gently into the lotus seed paste. Shape 4 smooth balls.

Assembly:

To assemble mooncakes, take a lotus-paste ball and poke a hole in the middle using your finger. Place baked egg yolk in the hole, seal and shape into a smooth ball.
Place a ball of cake flour dough between cling wrap and roll out evenly into a 1 mm thin disc shape, using a rolling pin. Try making the center thinner than the edges.
Place lotus seed ball onto the flattened dough and enclose filling by gently pressing edges together until the filling is evenly and completely covered with the dough. Try to wrap the filling in a thin, even layer of dough. If you find the dough on some spots is too thick, pull off the dough and smooth the surface. It is doesn’t matter if the dough is so thin that it reveals the color of the filling. Roll into a smooth ball.
Dust a little flour into the mooncake mould and some on the mooncake ball. Dust off excess flour.
Carefully place the mooncake into the mold. If you find it difficult to do without scraping off dough, you can gently roll the mooncake to fit into the mold.
Place the mold on the parchment and press the handle until you cannot move it any further. Pull the handle up and release the mooncake.
Spray mooncakes with some water to avoid crust from cracking during the baking process. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and brush with egg wash. Bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let mooncakes cool for a few minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Place in an airtight container for at least 2-3 days to rest. The resting process will soften the pastry and also result in a darker, glossy exterior (this process is known as hui you). The mooncakes are now ready to serve.