[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (2024)

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (1)

Assorted Homemade Mooncakes

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) is just another two weeks from now. This year due to a mooncake project I made some variety of homemade mooncakes ranging from those traditional ones with lotus paste that are wrapped with melon seeds and salted egg to refreshing Jelly Mooncakes that are made using agar agar powder with flavour such as rose and lychee.

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (2)

Assorted Homemade Mooncakes

No matter which type of mooncakes you prefer, in this post we are featuring two different type of mooncakes from baked to non-baked (snow skin) in

4 related recipes

with Chinese translation too. Hope these recipe ideas will be still in time for you to make some homemade mooncakes for your family and friends.

INGREDIENTS AND TOOLS FOR MAKING MOONCAKES

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (3)

[Homemade Mooncakes] Ingredients and Tools

Before getting your hands to on those mooncake making, you would have to get hold of a few necessary ingredients and tools like Mooncake Moulds (traditional wooden or plastic removable mould), mooncake fillings, snow skin premix, kao fen (cooked glutinous flour), lye water (alkaline water), melon seeds and etc which can be found in most baking stores (Bake King, Kwong Cheong Thye, Phoon Huat and etc). Between if you are looking into different flavour mooncake fillings, Kwong Cheong Thye (廣祥泰) do offers them in minimum of 500g too.

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (4)

Homemade Mooncakes] Plastic Mooncake Mould

Above are samples of the mooncake mould used in all the recipes in this post. The two small round ones (purple and pink) in the middle which I used for making snow skin mooncake cost

SG$4.80

(diameter: 2"; depth: 3/4") whereas the big round one with wording cost SG$8.50 (diameter: 3"; Depth: 1") all available from Bake King.

TRADITIONAL BAKED MOONCAKE

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (5)

[Homemade Mooncakes] Traditional Baked Mooncake

For me I prefer traditional baked mooncake especially those with lot of melon seeds and salted egg yolk wrapped in white lotus paste as compared to those with exotic fillings like Durian, Truffle, Champagne, Berries and etc. Although this might not be my first encounter in making mooncake but it is definitely an enjoyably one together with my kid where he gets make these traditional pastry and at the same time learn the history behind them.

[Homemade Mooncakes] Ingredients for traditional baked mooncake

Yield: 4 (50g dough and 95g fillings (lotus paste + salted egg yolk) each)
Preparation: 10 minutes | Baking Time: 25 minutes
160g Plain Flour
115g Golden Syrup
35g Peanut / Soybean Oil
1/2 Teaspoon of Lye (alkaline) Water
Filling:
20g Melon Seeds, lightly toasted
300g White Lotus Paste
4 Salted Egg Yolks, optional
Egg Wash:
1 Egg Yolk
1 Tablespoon of Cold Milk
[Homemade Mooncakes] Preparing the mooncake fillings
Method:
1. To Prepare the Lotus Paste Fillings: Mix the ready bought lotus paste with lightly toasted melon seeds (or nuts of your choice) in a bowl till combined. Divide the paste equally into 80g round balls, flatten the paste slightly and wrap it with one cooked salted egg yolk if using. Set aside.
To Prepare the Salted Egg Yolk:
- Remove the yolk from the egg shell. Rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel then seasoning it with some cooking wine.
- Place egg yolk on baking tray lined with parchment paper then bake in preheated 160°C (Degree Celsius) oven for
8 minutes. Remove, set aside to cool before using.

[Homemade Mooncakes] Step-by-step in making the traditional mooncakes
2. To Prepare the Mooncake Skin: In a small bowl mix together golden syrup, oil and lye water till combined.
3. Place plain flour in a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre then pour in the syrup mixture and stir using a spatula till it form a soft smooth dough.
4. Cover the mixing bowl with the dough in it using cling wrap then set it aside in the fridge for at least
an hour or overnight before using.
[Homemade Mooncakes] Traditional Mooncake with Red Bean Paste and Pandan Lotus Paste
5. Before making the mooncake, dust work surface with some flour. Divide the skin dough into 50g each, flatten slightly and wrap it around the prepared filling to form a ball.
6. Lightly dust the wrapped dough and place it into the floured mooncake mould. Using your fingertips lightly press the dough to imprint the shape then either press/knock (depending on the types of mooncake mould you are using) it out.
7. Place mooncake on baking tray lined with parchment paper then bake in preheated 180°C (Degree Celsius) oven for
10 minutes, remove from oven and cool it down for at least 15 minutes (this will pretend the surface of the mooncakes to crack due to high baking temperature).
8. Lightly brush the surface and sides of the mooncakes with egg wash (lightly whisk egg yolk and milk together), return to the oven and continue to bake using the same temperature (180°C) for another
See Also
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10 - 15 minutes (check after 12 minutes to make sure the mooncakes are not over baked nor too browned) or until golden brown.
A short video clip on how to make the Traditional Baked Mooncakes.
[Homemade Mooncakes] Traditional Baked Mooncake with Melon Seeds And Salt Egg Yolk
9. Store completely cool mooncakes in air-tight container and let them rest for at least 2 days before serving in order for the pastry skin to soften as well as flavour to develop.

传统月饼
材料： (做４个月饼,每个约140克重)
160克面粉
115克糖浆
35克花生或玉米油
1/2 茶匙枧水
馅料： （每份加咸蛋黄约100克）
300克低糖白莲蓉
20克瓜子, 稍微烤过
４颗咸蛋黄
涂面： (搅拌均匀后过滤）
1个蛋黄
1汤匙鲜奶
做法:
1. 首先将咸蛋黄擦干然后洒上些绍兴酒再放入预热
160度的烤箱烤大约８分钟，取出备用。
2. 白莲蓉和瓜子混合均匀，平均分割成每份
80克，稍微压扁后包入烤好的咸蛋黄搓圆备用。
3. 将糖浆，油和枧水一起倒入小碗中，搅拌均匀。
4. 把面粉倒进容器，然后拌入混合好的糖浆液体搅拌均匀成深色的面团。
5. 用保鲜纸把容器盖上，放近冰箱休息至少
1小时后才使用。
6. 过后把面团平均分割成每份
50克，搓圆稍微压扁然后包入准备好的莲蓉馅料再放入月饼模型里印出形状即可。
7. 将做好的月饼放进预热180度的烤箱烤
10分钟后取出待凉了（最少15分钟）才涂上蛋液然后再送入烤箱继续烘烤10－15分钟或呈现金黄色。
8. 等月饼完全冷却后才放进盒子,这时至少要两天以上等回油及饼皮湿润才能享用。

BAKED BAMBOO CHARCOAL MOONCAKE

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (12)

[Homemade Mooncakes] Baked Bamboo Charcoal Mooncake

These days Bamboo Charcoal is one of the common flavour found in bread and pastry and it is also one of my favourite ingredients (related recipes using bamboo charcoal in this website) too. For this recipe, I use about 4g of bamboo charcoal powder and sieved it together with plain flour to form the mooncake pastry dough that used for wrapping the pandan flavour lotus paste.

Yield: 4 (60g dough and 100g fillings (lotus paste + salted egg yolk) each)
Preparation: 10 minutes | Baking Time: 25 minutes
160g Plain Flour
4g Bamboo Charcoal Powder
115g Golden Syrup
35g Peanut / Soybean Oil
1/2 Teaspoon of Lye (alkaline) Water
Filling:
20g Melon Seeds, lightly toasted
300g Pandan Lotus Paste
4 Salted Egg Yolks, optional
Egg Wash:
1 Egg Yolk
1 Tablespoon of Cold Milk
See Also
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Method:
1. To Prepare the Lotus Paste Fillings: Mix ready bought lotus paste with lightly toasted melon seeds (or nuts of your choice) in a bowl till combined. Divide the paste equally into 80g (prepare 100g if not using salted egg yolk) round balls, flatten the paste slightly and wrap it with one cooked salted egg yolk if using. Set aside.
2. To Prepare the Mooncake Skin: In a small bowl mix together golden syrup, oil and lye water till combined.
3. Place sieved plain flour and bamboo charcoal powder in a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre then pour in the syrup mixture and stir using a spatula till it form a soft smooth dough.
4. Cover the mixing bowl with the dough in it using cling wrap then set it aside in the fridge for at least
an hour or overnight before using.
5. Before making the mooncake, dust work surface with some flour. Divide the dough skin into
60g each, flatten slightly and wrap it around the prepared filling to form a ball.
6. Lightly dust the wrapped dough and place it into the floured square mooncake mould. Using your fingertips lightly press the dough to imprint the shape then either press/knock (depending on the type of mooncake mould you are using) the moocake out.
7. Place mooncake on baking tray lined with parchment paper then bake in preheated 180°C (Degree Celsius) oven for 10 minutes, remove from oven and cool it down for at least 15 minutes (this will pretend the surface of the mooncakes to crack due to high baking temperature).
8. Lightly brush the surface and sides of the mooncakes with egg wash (lightly whisk egg yolk and milk together), return to the oven and continue to bake using the same temperature (180°C) for another
10 - 15 minutes (check after 12 minutes to make sure the mooncakes are not over baked nor too browned) or till golden brown.
9. Store completely cool mooncakes in air-tight container and let them rest for at least 2 days before serving in order for the pastry skin to soften as well as flavour to develop.

OSMANTHUS SNOW SKIN MOONCAKE
(with white lotus paste and cranberries)

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (16)

[Homemade Mooncakes] Osmanthus Snow Skin Mooncakes

Osmanthus flower has a fragrance that resembles peach or apricots which is light and refreshing so by using it as one of the ingredients for snow skin mooncake it actually contrast well with the lotus paste. Furthermore the dried cranberries which soaked in orange liquor also helps to lighten the sweetness of the lotus paste making it a great after meal dessert.

The outer skin of the mooncake has a light pale yellow colour so if you prefer darker yellow you can add a few drops of yellow colouring or increase the amount of Osmanthus flower from 1/2 tablespoon to 1 instead.

[Homemade Mooncakes] Ingredients for Osmanthus Snow Skin Mooncake

Yield: 6 (20g dough and 30g fillings (lotus paste + cranberries) each)
Preparation: 10 minutes | Chilling Time: 30 minutes
60g Premix Snowskin Flour
12g Kao Fen (cooked glutinous flour)
12g Icing Sugar (sieved)
10g Shortening
100g Water
1/2 Tablespoon Dry Osmanthus Flower (桂花)
Extra Kao Fen for dusting
Filling: (make 6, 30g each)
160g White Lotus Paste (less sweet)
20g Dried Cranberry, roughly chopped
1/2 Tablespoon of Grand Marnier/Cointreau
Method:
1. Soak dry cranberries with grand marnier for about 10 minutes to soften then drained and mix it together with the lotus paste.
2. Divide the louts paste into
30g each and roll it to form round balls. Set aside.
3. In a small saucepan bring about 100ml of water to boil, add in osmanthus flower and let it simmer for 10 seconds. Turn off the heat, let the mixture soaked for 1 minute. Drain then set aside
80ml of the osmanthus water (you can also retained some soaked osmanthus flower in the water for extra flavour).
[Homemade Mooncakes] Steps on making the Osmanthus snow skin dough
4. In a mixing bowl combine kao fen and premix snow skin flour together with icing sugar and stir well.
5. Dissolve shortening in the hot osmanthus water then pour it into the flour mixture and stir using a spatula to form a soft dough. Set dough aside to cool slightly before using (about 5 minutes).
[Homemade Mooncakes] Step-by-step on making the Osmanthus Snow Skin Mooncake
6. Divide the dough into 20g each (make about 6), flatten slightly and wrap it with the prepared lotus paste filling (or any of your favourite mooncake filling).
[Homemade Mooncakes] Assorted Snow Skin Mooncakes
7. Roll it into a ball, dust with some extra kao fen then press it firmly into the mooncake mould to imprint the shape. Un-mould the mooncake and store it in container and chill for at least an hour or more before serving.

桂花蔓越莓冰皮月饼
材料：（做6个月饼,每个约50克重）
60克冰皮月饼粉
12克糕粉
12克糖粉
10克白油
100克水
1/2 汤匙桂花
少许额外的糕粉
馅料：（每份30克搓圆）
160克低糖白莲蓉
20克蔓越莓干，切碎
1/2 汤匙橙酒
做法:
1.先将蔓越莓干和橙酒拌均匀，等
10分钟后才和白莲蓉一起混合然后平均分割成每份30克搓圆。
2.100克的水煮沸，加入桂花用小火煮
１０秒之后熄火。等大约１分钟后才过滤出80毫升的桂花水。
3. 冰皮月饼粉，糕粉和糖粉一起混合均匀然后倒入微热的桂花水和白油搅拌均匀成面团。
4. 等面团休息约5分钟后，把它平均分割成每份
20克之后搓圆就可包入预备好的莲蓉馅料。
5. 接着沾些糕粉再放入月饼模型里印出形状即可脱模。
6. 最后把做好的冰皮月饼放进封密的盒子里，然后放入冰箱约一小时以上或隔就可享用。（冰皮月饼最好能尽快吃完不要收藏太多天以免外皮和口味变质）

MATCHA SNOW SKIN MOONCAKE
(with red bean paste, melon seeds and salted egg yolk)

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (23)

[Homemade Mooncakes] Matcha Snow Skin Mooncakes

Beside the Osmanthus flavour we also made another batch of snow skin mooncake using Matcha powder that is wrapped in red bean paste together with melon seeds and salted egg yolk. The outer layer has a hint of matcha flavour which is not too overpowering and yet it goes well with the red bean paste. Love this combination too because it has all my favourite ingredients in one bite.

Yield: 6 (20g dough, 30g fillings (red bean paste + salted egg yolk) each)
Preparation: 10 minutes | Chilling Time: 30 minutes
60g Premix Snowskin Flour
12g Kao Fen (cooked glutinous flour)
12g Icing Sugar (sieved)
10g Shortening
80g Hot Water
1/2 Teaspoon of Matcha Powder
Extra Kao Fen for dusting
Filling: (make 6, 30g each)
160g Red Bean Paste
8g Melon Seeds (lightly toasted)
3 Cooked Salted Egg Yolk (halved), optional
Method:
1. Mix melon seeds together with red bean paste till combined. Divide the dough into 23g each and wrap it with half of the prepared salted egg yolk to form a 30g round ball. Set aside.
- Between if you are not using salted egg yolk, divide the red bean paste mixture (170g red bean paste + 10g melon seeds) into 30g each instead.

2. In a mixing bowl combine kao fen and premix snow skin flour together with icing sugar and stir well.
3. Dissolve matcha powder into hot water till combined then add in shortening and continue to stir till dissolve. Next pour the water mixture into the flour mixture and stir using a spatula to form a soft dough. Set dough aside to cool slightly before using.
4. Divide the dough into
20g each (make about 6), flatten slightly and wrap it with the prepared red bean paste filling (or any of your desire mooncake filling).
5. Roll it into a ball, dust with some extra kao fen then press it firmly into the mooncake mould to imprint the shape. Un-mould the mooncake and store it in container and chill for at least an hour or more before serving.

A short video clip on how to make snow skin mooncake.

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (26)

[Homemade Mooncakes] Assorted Snow Skin Mooncakes

Making mooncakes at home can be a great bonding activity for both parents and kids as it requires weighing, mixing and shaping which is a good hands-on session for everyone in the family to get involve. And if you are looking easy recipe without using mixer or oven, perhaps snow skin or jelly mooncake (will update on the next post) might be something which you can consider. Furthermore you can even make snowskin mooncake using plastic jelly mould or bento tool which you can easily find them in baking stores or Daiso too.

[recipes] Homemade Mooncake Part I - Traditional Mooncake vs Snow Skin Mooncakes (27)

[Homemade Mooncakes] Assorted Jelly Mooncake

[Sneak Preview] Apart from the traditional and snow skin mooncakes above, we will also be sharing recipes on Jelly Mooncakes too. So do stay tune for the next post on how to make these "low carb" jelly mooncakes instead of the traditional ones. Till then have a great week ahead.