Mooncake Recipe with 5 Popular Fillings (Lotus Seed, Red Bean, Green Tea & More)

We love making our traditional mooncake recipe to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with our family. These baked Chinese desserts are sweet with a decadent filling and can be enjoyed with tea.

It's a culturally significant dish, so there are many variations in fillings and ways to make it. Although this isn't an easy recipe, we've simplified our recipe to show you how to easily prepare traditional mooncakes at home. We'll also show you a few substitute ingredients you can use for some ingredients which are harder to find outside of Asia.

For the mooncake fillings, we'll show you our lotus seed paste with salted egg yolk, red bean, green tea, and a five-nut filling recipe. If you're looking for an easier mooncake recipe to try with modern fillings like taro or chocolate ganache, check out our snow skin mooncake recipe instead.

Jump to:

• Mooncake Dough Ingredients
• Mooncake fillings
• Mooncake mould size
• Mooncake Recipe (White Lotus, Red Bean, Green Tea, 5 Nuts)
• Common Problems
• How to Store
• Salted Egg Yolk Filling From Scratch
• Five Nuts (Wu Ren) Filling
• Other Mooncake Flavours
• Mooncakes during the Mid Autumn Festival
• Calories

Mooncake Dough Ingredients

The outer shell of the mooncake is traditionally made of dough using golden syrup (or inverted syrup), lye (alkaline) water, vegetable oil, and plain flour. Extra flour and egg wash are used for dusting and brushing.

For our mooncake recipe, here are the ingredients you'll need.

• all-purpose flour
• golden syrup
• alkaline water
• vegetable oil
• cornstarch for dusting

Golden syrup or inverted sugar syrup is also used while making the dough. It is less sweet than table sugar, and desserts prepared using it do not crystallise and remain hard.

Another important mooncake ingredient that is difficult to find is lye water or Kansui. It's alkali in nature and neutralises the acidity of the golden syrup. It gives the dough its traditional yellow colour without using eggs or cornflour. If you can't find it, we've included a substitute version in our mooncake recipe below.

Mooncake fillings

There is a myriad of fillings usually used in yue bing. Some of the most common ones are white lotus seed paste, green tea and mung bean paste, red bean paste, wu ren (mixed nuts), salted egg yolk, and yam. Other mooncake fillings include ground pork, ice cream, durian, chicken floss, cream cheese, and also seafood.

You can use our recipes below for each mooncake filling.

• White lotus seed paste
• Green tea and mung bean paste
• Red bean paste
• Salted egg yolk
• Five nuts or Wu Ren (mixed nut)
• Black sesame paste

For the salted egg yolk, we prefer to use store-bought for ease. However, you can follow our recipe below to make it from scratch.

If you're using cooked salted duck egg yolks, pat them with paper towels to remove excess moisture or salt. We like to bake them for 7 minutes at 180 degrees in the oven.

If using raw salted duck eggs, you can wash the outside of the eggs. Crack them open to remove the yolks. Wash the yolk to remove the particles of white adhering to them, and dry them with paper towels. Then, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the yolks in an oven (preheated to 180 °C or 355 °F) for 7 minutes.

Traditionally, lotus seed paste is used to wrap the salted egg yolk mooncakes. However, in some regions, red bean paste is also used. You'll need to make sure the filling paste and the salted egg combined weigh 35 g.

When ready, roll the paste into balls and create a cavity in the middle of each one. Place a salted yolk into each ball of paste before sealing it. These paste balls will fill your salted egg yolk mooncake.

Mooncake mould size

The most important and unfamiliar tool for making these sweet treats is, of course, the mould. 

Yue bing has a special shape, texture, and taste that distinguishes it from other treats. The size of the mould will determine the amount of filling and dough (the weight of each).

We are using a relatively small mould that can only hold about 65 g of mooncake. So, we've decided to use 35 g of filling and 30 g of dough.

If you have a bigger mould, then you can increase the amount of filling.

If you're an expert at making mooncakes, you can use a very thin dough wrapper. We've seen recipes that use only 15 g of wrapper for a single mooncake.

Our recommendation for moulds is this multi-patterned mooncake mould.

Other important equipment includes a food processor and a kitchen scale. Typically, each piece of mooncake would have about 40g to 45g of filling. However, since our mould is small, we only make mooncakes with 35 g of filling and 30 g of dough per mooncake. A silicone brush is good to have, but you can use any clean brush instead.

Common Problems

As the traditional mooncakes are difficult to make at home. There are several problems we always see people run into.

What flour to use? How much lye water to use?

We use all-purpose flour. However, you can also use cake flour, as its level of gluten will form a consistency that is not too hard and not too soft for the pastry. We recommend mixing ⅓ teaspoons of lye water with every 250g of cake flour.

How to make a lye water substitute?

If you do not have lye water to make mooncake dough, you can make an alkaline water substitute at home.

You want to mix 1 part baking soda (that's been cooked in the oven) with 4 parts water.

• Measure and spread 10g of baking soda onto parchment paper on a baking tray.
• Bake it for 5 mins in the oven preheated to 150°C (300°F).
• Then, remove it from the oven and mix it with 40 g of water. Use this as a substitute for lye water.

Why use inverted sugar syrup?

Yue bing recipes use invert syrup, which prevents the baked treat from becoming too hard and adds to the snack's delicate texture. 

Invert syrup is a form of sugar that contains a higher ratio of fructose and glucose to sucrose. Therefore, this keeps the syrup in a liquid state rather than forming crystal sugars.

Golden syrup is a type of inverted sugar syrup and is also suitable for making mooncakes. Instead of golden syrup, you can use honey as a substitute in our simple mooncake recipe. However, you need to be careful, as honey makes the dough tear more easily.

How to avoid pastry cracking in mould 

One of the most common problems encountered by home bakers is the yue bing dough sticking to the mould and tearing the pastry's surface.

Make sure you're not rolling out the dough too thin while wrapping the filling.

In addition, we also dusted the outside surface of the mooncake dough and the inner surface of the mould before pressing on it. This will help prevent the dough from sticking to the mould.

You just need a little bit of cornstarch to prevent sticking. Avoid putting too much, as it may cause the pattern to not come out as nicely.

How do you get clear and sharp mould pattern lines?

Another issue is the sharp lines of the mooncake moulding being obscured after baking. The solution to this problem is to remove excess egg wash from the gaps between the lines after baking.

Eggwash is important for producing the desirable golden shine on your baked pastries. However, too much of it will make the mould patterns become less visible.

Make sure to only lightly brush the pastry and don't drench it in egg wash.

To make the egg wash:

1. Crack open one egg
2. Separate the egg yolk from the white
3. Strain the egg yolk through a fine mesh sieve.
4. Add ½ tablespoon of water to the egg yolk and mix thoroughly.

You will get a runny egg wash that will produce a golden shine to the pastries.

Additionally, try not to press or smudge the mould lines at all.

How to get a shiny exterior

Cantonese mooncakes are often advertised to have shiny surfaces. The shiny exterior makes the snack look more presentable and perfect for a festive setting. 

After baking, the yue bing usually looks dull and hard. After resting in an airtight container for 1 to 2 days, the surface becomes softer and shiny and resembles the commercial ones you might be familiar with. This process is called Hui you (回油), which means 'returning of oil' in Mandarin.

If ingredients cannot be found, substitutes and instructions to make them from scratch are available. The most important thing is to have fun while making these festive foods. Include your family and make it an event.

How to Store

Mooncakes can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for up to two weeks after cooking.

As mentioned above, we recommend resting the cakes in the fridge for at least a few days before eating them. This process helps to soften the pastry and make the surface shine golden.

Salted Egg Yolk Filling From Scratch

Salted egg yolk is typically an egg cured in the shell to impart a delicious, rich umami flavour. As it is a popular flavour during Mid-Autumn festivals, more expensive and luxurious duck eggs are usually used. 

To make them from scratch, You'll need to brine them for 30 to 60 days. So, it's best to start preparing the filling early if you are planning to make it the traditional way from scratch. 

If you cannot purchase duck eggs, chicken eggs can be used instead, but the flavour is not the same. We prefer sticking to duck eggs for our mooncake recipe.

Salted Egg Yolk Ingredients

The ingredients below are for making 4 portions.

• White lotus filling (see above)
• 4 salted duck egg yolks OR 4 raw salted duck eggs OR 4 raw duck eggs
• 1 cup Chinese baijiu OR whiskey
• Salt
• Water

How to make Salted Duck Eggs from Scratch

1. To make salted duck eggs from scratch, wash the outside of the eggs before arranging them in the brining vessel. Cover them completely in water before pouring this water out into a pot. Set the eggs outside in the sun (during the early morning, not the late morning or afternoon) and let them sunbathe for 2-4 hours.
2. Using the ratio of ⅓ cup salt to every 1 kg of water, add salt to the water previously set aside and boil it. Once boiled, let it cool to room temperature. Let the brining vessel dry out completely. 
3. Add the liquor to a bowl and submerge the eggs for 1 hour. Then, add the eggs to the dry brining vessel along with the liquor and the cooled salt water. Seal the vessel and let it rest for 30 days or more.
4. After they have brined for a month, boil one egg in salt water. Cut them in half to check the yolk. If it is cured and hard, boil 3 other eggs and remove their yolks.
5. Once cooked, they are now ready to be used to make Cantonese mooncakes.

Five Nuts (Wu Ren) Filling

Wu Ren is an old favourite mooncake flavour. It is made of mixed nuts and ham, and it originates from the Guangdong region of Canton in China. Unlike the other cakes, Wu Ren is perfect if you love a savoury treat.

Five different types of nuts are used in this filling. These are walnuts, bitter almonds, normal almonds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds. Ham and lard are also added for some savoury kick. Dried fruit is also added.

This filling is customisable and as such, you do not need to adhere so strictly to our ingredients below. For example, some people will even mix it with black sesame paste.

Wu Ren Ingredients 

The filling ingredients are to make filling enough for 4 mooncake servings.

• 15 g walnuts
• 15 g bitter almonds OR normal almonds
• 12 g pumpkin seeds
• 15 g normal almonds OR cashews
• 13 g sesame seeds
• 22 g Chinese hard ham
• ½ teaspoon five-spice powder
• 11 g dried/candied ginger
• 16 g peanut oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 31 g granulated sugar
• 27 g water
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine

Method

1. Steam the hard ham for 15 minutes. Save the liquid in the steaming vessel for later. Finely dice the ham.
2. Toast the nuts and seeds by spreading them on a baking sheet and baking for 8 minutes at 160 C (325 F). If using pre-toasted nuts and seeds, skip this step.
3. Toast the rice flour in a dry pan over medium-low heat for around 20 minutes until it is light brown. Stir constantly. Heat the oil for ten minutes in a separate pan and then turn off the heat to let it cool.
4. Chop the nuts and seeds. In a large bowl, mix them with the ham, sugar, salt, dried or candied fruit, and spices. Mix well.
5. Add the steamed ham juice, 27 g water, the liquor, and the oil. Stir well until combined.
6. Finally, add sweet rice flour and mix until dry and crumbly in texture. Add extra oil if necessary. Set aside for use in mooncakes.

If using bitter almonds, use normal almonds with them. If substituting normal almonds for bitter almonds, use cashews. Try not to use bitter almonds and cashews or normal almonds both times.

Other Mooncake Flavours

Some of the other mooncake flavours include chicken floss, ground pork, ice cream, cream cheese, fish, and taro paste. These are less common, and therefore, we've decided not to include them in our mooncake recipe.

Mooncakes during the Mid Autumn Festival

Mooncake (or yue bing) are a type of Chinese cake with a sweet or savoury filling. It is typically eaten in small wedges with tea. They are usually eaten slowly while gazing at the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. 

However, yue bing (as we call it in Mandarin) has also become a fairly common food throughout Asia. During September (when the festival takes place), yue bing is sold everywhere, from street vendors to Starbucks. For this reason, mooncakes are well-known throughout Asia.

Due to their surging popularity and the practice of buying them as gifts for friends, colleagues, and family members, their prices have skyrocketed recently. 

It's not uncommon to eat them as a snack in the days following the festival. This is because there are typically so many of them which are shared around by well-wishers as gifts.

Making mooncakes at home might be more cost-effective and is a healthier option. This is because you'll have control over which artificial colourings or preservatives are being added to your mooncake.

Calories

A single mooncake typically sold in stores has around 700 calories (if not more, depending on the filling). Aside from tradition, the calorie count is also why we typically only eat a small wedge at a time. 

However, the bottom line is that they are special festival treats. Hence, it is fine to celebrate and let yourself party for the occasion. So, please enjoy them guilt-free.

Although making yue bing at home is rare in China, it is slowly becoming more popular as a family bonding activity. Is there anything more special than giving family and friends the dessert you made yourself? 

We hope you enjoyed learning about (and eating) this little slice of mid-autumn.

Did you try making your own mooncakes at home? Share a photo of them on Instagram and tag us @honestfoodtalks. Or, leave us a comment below to let us know how yours turned out.