Traditional Baked Mooncakes (月饼)

Mooncake 月餅 is the indispensable Chinese dessert served during the mid-autumn festival which falls on the 15th of August of the Chinese lunar calendar. This is the perfect time for me to share with you the mooncake recipe that I have just made.😉

Leave the mooncake to cool completely and store in air tight containers. Wait for a day or two days for the mooncakes' skin to soften before serving.😉

This time I made Mini baked mooncakes without salted egg yolk.

又到中秋佳节了，自家做的月饼当然不能少啦！今年，就做迷你型月饼，过两三天就可以吃啦！😘

For the dough：Makes 12-13 mini mooncakes (50 grams mould)
100g of plain flour
4ml of alkaline water
70g of golden syrup
25ml of vegetable oil
¼ tsp of vanilla extract

For filling：
430g lotus paste or any paste that you like
(I'm using Pandan lotus and red bean)

Egg wash：
1 egg and 1 tbsp water
Instructions

Method：

1. In a bowl, add golden syrup, alkaline water, and vanilla extract, stir to well combine. Add in oil, mix well.
2. Add in plain flour, mix with a spatula to form a soft dough. Gently knead the dough using a spatula till smooth, about 30 seconds.
3. Wrap with cling wrap and leave to rest for at least 3 hours.
4. Preheat your oven to 180C/160CFan-forced.
5. Dust the dough with some flour. Give the dough a few light kneading to smooth it.
6. Divide dough into 15g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball.
7. Divide the filling paste into 35g pieces. Shape each dough into a ball.
8. Roll each dough over some flour. Dust hand with flour and flatten each dough into a small disc. Wrap it around the filling and shape it into a ball. Dust hand with some flour to avoid the dough from sticking.
9. Lightly dust the wrapped dough with some flour. Place it in the mooncake mould and press the mooncake out. Place mooncake on a lined baking tray.
10. Spray some water on the mooncakes. This will help to prevent the mooncakes from cracking during baking.
11. Bake it for 10mins. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 25 minutes. This is to prevent the filling to expand so that the crust will not crack.
12. Brush the top with some egg wash. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 12 - 15mins until golden brown.
13. Leave the mooncake to cool completely and store in air tight containers. Wait for a day for the mooncakes' skin to soften before serving.

Note:

1. If you want to add salted egg yolks in it, you need to  steam the yolks for 5 minutes and set aside.
2. Weigh both of the paste and yolk up to 35 grams. (For mini mooncake, I suggest you to use half salted yolk for each mooncake).

Recipe source: Za Ta Ya Yummy

Enjoy Baking!