Mooncakes (Yuebing)
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 days (requires aging before eating)
Servings: 8 small mooncakes (using a 50g mold)
Country of Origin
China (Guangdong Style)
Description
The iconic crown jewel of the Mid-Autumn Festival. A rich, thin pastry crust carrying detailed relief patterns wrapped tightly around a dense, sweet filling of lotus seed paste. It hits the perfect contrast of sweet and savory when embedded with a golden, salted egg yolk.
Presentation & How It's Eaten
Served at room temperature, cut into tiny, delicate triangular wedges. It is incredibly rich, so it's enjoyed slowly alongside sips of hot Pu-erh or Oolong tea.
Ingredients
The Pastry Skin:
100g all-purpose flour
70g golden syrup (or invert sugar syrup)
25ml peanut oil or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp lye water (Kansui)
The Filling & Glaze:
240g sweet lotus seed paste
4 salted duck egg yolks (steamed for 5 mins and halved)
1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tbsp water (for egg wash)
Step-by-Step Directions
Rest the Crust: Whisk the golden syrup, lye water, and oil together in a bowl until unified. Sift in the flour and fold gently with a spatula until a sticky dough forms. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Portion Ingredients: Using a 50g mooncake mold, your skin-to-filling ratio should be 1:2. Weigh out 8 portions of skin dough (15g each) and 8 portions of filling (35g total of lotus paste + half a salted yolk combined).
Wrap the Yolk: Take a portion of lotus seed paste, flatten it, place the half-yolk in the center, and roll it back into a smooth ball.
Enclose the Mooncake: Flatten a piece of skin dough into a very thin circular sheet. Place the filling ball in the center. Carefully push and slide the skin dough upward using your thumbs and forefingers until it wraps completely around the filling ball. Pinch the top shut and roll until smooth.
Mold: Dust the dough ball lightly with flour. Insert it into your mooncake mold press. Place the mold flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, press down firmly for 5 seconds, then cleanly eject the patterned mooncake.
Bake & Glaze: Spray the mooncakes lightly with a fine mist of water to prevent cracking. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 5 minutes. Pull them out, let them cool down for 5 minutes, then brush a micro-thin layer of egg wash across the top relief pattern. Return to the oven at 325°F (160°C) for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.
Cooking Tips
The "Return of Oil" (Hui You): Do not eat mooncakes fresh out of the oven! The crust will be dry, chalky, and hard. Store them in an airtight container for 24 to 48 hours. The oils from the interior filling will migrate outward into the pastry skin, transforming it into a glossy, incredibly tender, and melting texture.
Nutrition Facts
(Estimated per 50g mooncake)
Calories: ~220 kcal
Total Fat: 9g
Saturated Fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 55mg
Sodium: 120mg
Total Carbohydrates: 31g
Protein: 4g
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