Egg Yolk And Lotus Paste Cantonese Mooncakes
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.
- Prep time
- 40 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 140 g sugar syrup
- 5 g lye water
- 50 g peanut oil
- 10 g milk powder
- 200 g plain flour
- 13 salted egg yolks
- White alcohol spray
- Lotus paste
- Flour (for coating)
- Egg yolk wash
- Water (for spraying)
Instructions
- 1
Make the dough
- 2
Mix sugar syrup, lye water, and peanut oil.
- 3
Then, add milk powder and plain flour. Mix and knead until it becomes a smooth pliable dough.
- 4
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside for an hour.
- 5
Make the filling
- 6
Place the egg yolks on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- 7
Lightly spray the egg yolks with white alcohol.
- 8
Bake for 5 minutes until they become slightly oily and cooked.
- 9
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.
- 10
Press the egg yolk into the lotus paste, ensuring that the lotus paste completely wraps around the egg yolk.
- 11
Combine the dough and filling
- 12
Divide the dough into 30g balls.
- 13
Flatten the dough balls into a circular wrapper.
- 14
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
- 15
Shape the mooncake
- 16
Lightly dust the mooncake with flour. Tap off excess flour.
- 17
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.
- 18
Bake the mooncake
- 19
Preheat your oven to 190°C.
- 20
Before placing the mooncakes inside, lightly spray them with water.
- 21
Bake at 190°C (374°F) for 5 minutes.
- 22
Remove and rest for 5 minutes, then brush the top with egg yolk wash.
- 23
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.