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Lotus Paste and Red Bean Mooncakes

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These days there are a million versions of the mooncake, from ice-cream snowskin mooncakes by Godiva to espresso-flavored cakes in the displays at Starbucks.  For me, the best is still the most traditional–fragrant, smooth white lotus paste or classic red bean, ideally with a salted yolk inside.  This recipe doesn’t tackle how to salt and preserve egg yolks, but see Notes below for more thoughts on adding a salted yolk if desired.   Also note that this recipe is designed to be broken up over several days, as it can otherwise be quite time-consuming, and is easiest to do when everything has rested and the filling has chilled.

Ingredients

Scale

for the filling:

  • 1 cup (about 7 ounces) dried lotus seeds or red beans
  • ⅔ to ¾ cup sugar (to taste)
  • pinch of salt (optional)
  • 6 tablespoons coconut oil, or other solid fat of your choice (i.e. lard or shortening)

for the skin:

  • ¼ cup golden syrup (i.e. Lyle’s)
  • ½ teaspoon alkaline water (also known as kansui, or potassium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate solution, like this)
  • 2 tablespoons (30 grams) vegetable oil
  • ½ cup (62 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (57 grams) cake flour (alternatively, omit cake flour and use 1 cup all-purpose)

for baking:

  • 1 egg
  • a splash of milk or water

Instructions

  1. At least 4-5 days ahead:  Soak the lotus seeds or red beans overnight (about 8-12 hours) in a large bowl with plenty of water.
  2. At least 2-3 days ahead, and 3-4 hours before assembly and baking:  If using lotus seeds, split the seeds open once they have soaked, and remove the green germ from the center.  Drain and place in a medium pot with enough water to submerge the beans or seeds by at least an inch.  Simmer on medium-low heat for 1 ½ to 2 hours, adding water as necessary to keep the beans or seeds covered, until the bean mashes easily between your fingers or the seed is fork-tender.
  3. Drain and place in a food processor or blender with the sugar and a slight pinch of salt, if desired. If you don’t have a processor or blender, you can make the red bean paste simply by mashing with a spoon or potato masher, but lotus paste is best made with a processor or blender.  Blend until smooth and about the consistency of hummus or loose mashed potatoes.
  4. Return the paste to a saucepan and combine with the coconut oil over medium heat.  Cook, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, until the paste thickens considerably and turns glossy.  When it resembles very soft cookie dough and sticks to your spoon in one mass, you’re done.  Chill the filling in the refrigerator while you make the mooncake skin, ideally 2-3 hours.  The filling should be firm and cold by the time you assemble the cakes.  (If breaking this up over time, you can also scoop the filling into 30- to 35-gram portions now, and freeze in mini scoops.)
  5. At least 2-3 days ahead, and 2-3 hours before assembly and baking:  To make the skins, sift together the two flours.  In a separate, large bowl, whisk together the golden syrup, alkaline water, and vegetable oil until blended.  The mixture will likely not fully combine, but do the best you can to emulsify it.  Next, add in the two flours and use a wooden spoon to stir until it forms a pebbly dough.   Gather the mixture together and gently knead just until it comes together into one mass, taking care not to knead too vigorously.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 45 minutes to an hour.
  6. At least 2-3 days ahead, to assemble and bake:  For miniature mooncakes made in a 50-gram mold, divide the chilled filling into 12 equal pieces and shape each of them into a ball.  Each filling ball should weigh about 30-35 grams, or be about 2 generous tablespoons in volume.  See Notes below on thoughts for a traditional-sized mooncake, and on inserting a salted yolk if desired.
  7. For each mooncake wrapper, scoop about 20 grams of the dough (a generous tablespoon or so) and roll it out between two pieces of parchment to about 3 to 3 ½ inches in diameter. You may want to flour your hands lightly for this next step, though I didn’t and it was generally fine.  Place a ball of filling in the center and fold up the dough around the ball.  It likely will not cover the whole ball at once.  Gently push, press and squeeze the dough, holding the ball securely in your palm, until the dough gradually covers the ball.  The firmer your filling, the easier this will be.  If you have gaps, simply pinch off another small piece of dough, roll it out, and use it to patch the ball.
  8. Place the mooncake ball into your mold and turn it upright on your surface.  Press the plunger down firmly but gently, until you feel resistance.  Lift the mooncake mold off the table and use the plunger again to push the mooncake out.  Place on a Silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet while you make the rest.  If it’s a hot day, you may want to place these in the fridge to keep their form while you finish folding.
  9. When you’re done forming the mooncakes, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Chill the mooncakes briefly while the oven preheats.  When ready, bake mooncakes for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk an egg with a splash of water until smooth.  Remove the mooncakes from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.  Brush on the egg wash, then bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown on top and fragrant.
  10. Let cool completely and, ideally, store the mooncakes in an airtight container for two days to “release oil” and allow the mooncake skins to become shiny, soft and supple.  It’s at this point that they’re meant to be enjoyed. (But I won’t tell if you sneak one fresh.)  Gift them to friends, or enjoy!

Notes

The recipe here is designed for miniature mooncakes, which are about 50-60 grams in size (or about ¼ cup).  For 100-gram molds, you may need to play around with the sizes of the fillings and the skins to get the right shape.

If you’d like to use salted yolks (which I love), you will need less lotus paste or red bean paste filling for each mooncake.  Depending on the size of your yolks, you may also want to slice them (carefully) in half for each mini-mooncake.  As long as the yolk and paste together weigh around 30-35 grams, you are set.  Wrap the filling around the yolk and then proceed with the mooncake wrapper as written.

Finally, a lot of storebought fillings incorporate lard for a richer mouthfeel, but most homemade recipes I found used regular vegetable oil instead.  As a result, many of them noted problems with overly-soft fillings, so I sought to avoid that by using another fat that, like lard, was solid at room temperature.  I opted for coconut oil, which lent the fillings a nice, nuanced coconut undertone, but feel free to use lard if you can find it in good quality and you’re comfortable.  Otherwise, shortening may be another substitute, or just try regular oil as others have suggested.

Find it online: https://tworedbowls.com/2014/09/02/mooncakes/