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Let’s welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival (on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar) with chewy and soft traditional Cantonese mooncakes. In this mooncake version, it is stuffed with a buttery egg yolk and lotus paste filling. Follow this recipe step-by-step to create about 13 beautiful mooncakes that won‘t collapse or crack.
What Are Mooncakes?
In case you don’t know yet, mooncakes are traditional Chinese pastries typically eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a significant holiday in Chinese culture. These round pastries are filled with various sweet and savory fillings, such as lotus seed paste, red bean paste, or salted egg yolks, and surrounded by a thin crust. 
You can commonly find golden brown mooncakes, but colorful ones are also popular. To create the classic look of mooncakes, a mooncake mold is necessary to form various patterns and shapes. In my Taro Snow Skin Mooncake With Cheese and Snow Skin Mooncakes recipes, its special dough ingredient is glutinous rice flour.
However, you don’t need this special flour for this recipe since I only used plain or all-purpose flour. To make the dough, you will need sugar syrup, lye water, peanut oil, milk powder, and plain flour. This mooncake recipe calls for kneading the dough, stuffing it with the paste filling, shaping it in the mold, and baking.
Preparing mooncakes is a surprisingly straightforward process, much simpler than crafting other delicacies like buns or dumplings. In fact, it’s so manageable that even my 5-year-old daughter can lend a helping hand. Once you’ve completed the mooncake-making process, you might be pleasantly surprised by how effortless it feels.
If you love mooncakes, you will also enjoy these desserts and pastries:
- Pumpkin Sesame Balls
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Matcha Cookies With Cranberries
- Sweet and Tangy Passion Fruit Mochi
- Mung Bean Popsicles
- Watermelon Mochi
- Light & Creamy Swiss Roll (Plain & Black Tea Flavors)
- Sweet Potato Mochi
- Banana Mochi
- Matcha Mochi (Green Tea Cheese Ice Cream Filling)
What To Love About Egg Yolk And Lotus Paste Filling
Salted egg yolk with lotus paste is the winning formula for a creamy, buttery, mildly sweet filling. I don’t recommend replacing salted egg yolk for its distinct taste and texture. It is salty and umami with a buttery, custard-like texture.
On the other hand, lotus seed paste has a mild, sweet taste. To combine the two filling ingredients, the baked salted egg yolk is wrapped in a ball of lotus seed paste. Then, the round filling is wrapped in the dough.
If you want to create more filling varieties for your mooncake, you can also use the following as long as they are soft and paste-like.
Ingredient Tips And Alternatives
Here is an in-depth guide on the ingredients and why each plays an essential role in making mooncakes. I also share some tips and alternatives should you need to replace one of them.
- For the dough, you’ll need sugar syrup, lye water, peanut oil, milk powder, and plain flour.
- Sugar syrup: Any type of sugar syrup will work to sweeten the dough. You can use maple syrup, corn syrup, or golden syrup. Alternatively, you have the option to craft your own Golden Syrup at home using my straightforward recipe comprising just three ingredients. Making your own syrup is simpler than you might imagine.
- Lye water: I highly recommend adding lye water, also known as kansui (梘水), to enhance the brown color. This gives the mooncake a deeper golden brown color and a soft texture. You can buy this in Asian grocery stores or online markets like Amazon. Alternatively, using molasses can also help create a deeper color for the mooncakes. You can also use a mixture of baked baking soda and water using a 1:4 ratio as a replacement to give the mooncake a darker brown color.
- Peanut oil: I like to use peanut oil for its neutral taste to avoid overpowering the other ingredients. Other neutral-tasting oils are soybean and vegetable oil. However, if you want something healthier, go for olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil.
- Milk powder: I liked adding milk powder to give the dough a milky taste and silky texture. You can use regular milk powder, sugar-free milk powder, coconut milk powder, soy milk powder, cashew milk powder, or rice powder.
- Plain Flour: Plain flour, also known as all-purpose flour, is the go-to choice for crafting various types of buns such as Bunny Steamed Buns, Piggy Buns, and Peach Buns due to its versatility and widespread availability. In this recipe, I opted not to use glutinous rice flour since the mooncakes are baked, resulting in a soft and fluffy texture. While plain flour is the primary recommendation, cake flour can also be used, though it may yield a slightly softer texture in the final product.
- For the filling, I used egg yolk and lotus seed paste. Before combining them, I first sprayed some white alcohol on the salted egg yolks.
- Salted egg yolk: You can buy it in Asian grocery stores or online stores like Amazon. There are a few choices of salted egg yolk you can choose from:
- Pre-separated egg yolks packed in vacuum plastic packaging
- Whole salted eggs (separate the egg yolk yourself)
- Make your own salted eggs and separate the salted egg yolk
- White alcohol spray: You may also know white alcohol as baijiu (白酒). It is a common ingredient to enhance flavor and aroma. This is coated on the egg yolks before baking them for 5 minutes. If you prefer an alcohol-free recipe, you can simply omit this. If you have extra baijiu, you can use it to make Chinese sausages.
- Lotus seed paste: This is available in Asian grocery stores or online markets like Amazon. If you have time on your hands, you can also make your own paste by following my lotus paste recipe. Lotus seed paste offers a delightful alternative to red bean paste. I recommend making a large batch of lotus seed paste so you can also use it as a filling for buns, sponge cakes, tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), sesame balls, and matcha mochi, to name a few.
- Salted egg yolk: You can buy it in Asian grocery stores or online stores like Amazon. There are a few choices of salted egg yolk you can choose from:
- Egg yolk/egg wash: I recommend brushing the mooncakes with an egg yolk wash to give them an appetizing golden color and glossy finish. To make the egg yolk wash, mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water or milk. Aside from egg yolk, using maple syrup, almond milk, and butter can also give the mooncakes a caramelized look.
Pro Tips To Make Mooncakes
Don’t skip this part if it’s your first time making mooncakes with a filling. Aside from following my instructions carefully, you should also keep in mind a few factors that can affect the texture and outcome of your mooncakes. So, here are some do’s and don’ts that you should do when making mooncakes.
- Weigh the ingredients: Always use a kitchen weighing scale to ensure each mooncake is equal in size. The filling and dough portions should be divided equally. Otherwise, different sizes of mooncakes will not bake evenly in the oven.
- Avoid a sticky dough: If the dough is sticky and difficult to knead, then you should add more flour. This means that there is too much oil or syrup, making it too sticky and impossible to shape. The dough texture may vary depending on the ingredients used, such as the type of syrup, flour, and milk powder. If the texture is not corrected, you will end up with saggy mooncakes after baking. It helps to refrigerate the dough for about an hour to make it easier to work with.
- Prevent the mooncakes from cracking: It’s important that the molded mooncakes are popped in the oven immediately. Don’t let them sit on the counter for too long. Otherwise, they start to lose their shape and absorb too much air, causing them to crack as they bake. Before baking in the oven, you can spray them with water to keep them moist.
- Choose the right mooncake mold: You can buy the mooncake mold in Chinese shops or online stores like Amazon or eBay. Go ahead and choose your favorite designs and shapes. Make sure to get the mold with a screw rod or stamp to push out the mold without a hitch. Mooncake molds typically come in sizes suitable for 50g, 75g, or 100g mooncakes. For this recipe, I’m using a 75g mooncake mold. If you can’t buy a mooncake mold, you can use a regular cookie stamp with a screw rod.
- Dust the mooncakes and mold with flour: To prevent the mooncake from sticking to the plastic mold, make sure to lightly dust the mooncakes with flour. You can also lightly dust the mold with flour. In this way, it won’t stick to the mold and will pop out smoothly from the mold. Otherwise, if the mooncake sticks, it will deform as you push it out from the mold. However, do not over-dust it with too much flour as this can cause cracks or prevent the mooncake from taking the intricate patterns of the mold when pressed.
Ingredients And Kitchenware To Prepare
Here are the recommended kitchenware to prepare and the complete list of ingredients:
Kitchenware:
- Kitchen weighing scale
- Mixing bowl
- Plastic wrap
- Baking tray
- Parchment paper
- Food-safe plastic gloves
- Mooncake mold
- Pastry brush
- Oven
Ingredients:
- For the dough:
- 140g of sugar syrup
- 5g of lye water
- 50g of peanut oil
- 10g of milk powder
- 200g of plain flour
- For the filling:
- 13 salted egg yolks
- White alcohol spray
- Lotus paste
- Flour (for coating)
- Egg yolk wash
- Water (for spraying)
How To Make Egg Yolk And Lotus Paste Cantonese Mooncakes
I divided the instructions into 5 main steps: make the dough, make the filling, combine them, shape the mooncake, and bake. This should give you a mooncake weighing about 75g, with about 45g of filling and 30g of dough skin. Learn how to do each step clearly with my tutorial video on Instagram or TikTok.
Finished making these mooncakes? Which design and filling did you use? Share your mooncake creations with us by posting a photo and tagging me @kitchenmisadventures!
Make the dough
- Mix sugar syrup, lye water, and peanut oil.
- Then, add milk powder and plain flour. Mix and knead until it becomes a smooth pliable dough.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside for an hour.
Make the filling
- Place the egg yolks on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Lightly spray the egg yolks with white alcohol.
- Bake for 5 minutes until they become slightly oily and cooked.
- Divide the lotus paste into small balls. Weigh each piece of lotus paste ball and each egg yolk to ensure a total weight of 45g. Make sure that all the lotus paste and egg yolks are weighed according to this total weight.
- Press the egg yolk into the lotus paste, ensuring that the lotus paste completely wraps around the egg yolk.
Combine the dough and filling
- Divide the dough into 30g balls.
- Flatten the dough balls into a circular wrapper.
- Place the lotus paste and egg yolk filling in the center and wrap it. Seal the edges well and smoothen it. If you need visual guidance, check out my video demonstration for a step-by-step tutorial on how to wrap the mooncake.
Shape the mooncake
- Lightly dust the mooncake with flour. Tap off excess flour.
- Gently press the filled dough balls into an oval shape to prevent damaging the edges when pressing them into the mooncake molds. Then, carefully place the filled dough balls into the mooncake molds and gently press them down. Position the molds on a baking tray. With your left hand, stabilize the molds while firmly pressing down 2-3 times with your right palm to create clear imprints on the top of the mooncakes.
Bake the mooncake
- Preheat your oven to 190°C.
- Before placing the mooncakes inside, lightly spray them with water.
- Bake at 190°C (374°F) for 5 minutes.
- Remove and rest for 5 minutes, then brush the top with egg yolk wash.
- Reduce the temperature to 180°C (356°F) and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Since every oven behaves differently, I recommend adjusting the baking time accordingly.
Egg Yolk And Lotus Paste Cantonese Mooncakes
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 140 g sugar syrup
- 5 g lye water
- 50 g peanut oil
- 10 g milk powder
- 200 g plain flour
For the filling:
- 13 salted egg yolks
- White alcohol spray
- Lotus paste
- Flour for coating
- Egg yolk wash
- Water for spraying
Instructions
Make the dough
- Mix sugar syrup, lye water, and peanut oil.
- Then, add milk powder and plain flour. Mix and knead until it becomes a smooth pliable dough.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside for an hour.
Make the filling
- Place the egg yolks on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Lightly spray the egg yolks with white alcohol.
- Bake for 5 minutes until they become slightly oily and cooked.
- Divide the lotus paste into small balls. Weigh each piece of lotus paste ball and each egg yolk to ensure a total weight of 45g. Make sure that all the lotus paste and egg yolks are weighed according to this total weight.
- Press the egg yolk into the lotus paste, ensuring that the lotus paste completely wraps around the egg yolk.
Combine the dough and filling
- Divide the dough into 30g balls.
- Flatten the dough balls into a circular wrapper.
- Place the lotus paste and egg yolk filling in the center and wrap it. Seal the edges well and smoothen it. If you need visual guidance, check out my video demonstration for a step-by-step tutorial on how to wrap the mooncake
Shape the mooncake
- Lightly dust the mooncake with flour. Tap off excess flour.
- Gently press the filled dough balls into an oval shape to prevent damaging the edges when pressing them into the mooncake molds. Then, carefully place the filled dough balls into the mooncake molds and gently press them down. Position the molds on a baking tray. With your left hand, stabilize the molds while firmly pressing down 2-3 times with your right palm to create clear imprints on the top of the mooncakes.
Bake the mooncake
- Preheat your oven to 190°C.
- Before placing the mooncakes inside, lightly spray them with water.
- Bake at 190°C (374°F) for 5 minutes.
- Remove and rest for 5 minutes, then brush the top with egg yolk wash.
- Reduce the temperature to 180°C (356°F) and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Since every oven behaves differently, I recommend adjusting the baking time accordingly.
