It’s near mooncake festival. Arkensen loves mooncake just like I do. However, I do not have a mooncake mould to make mooncake. So, I look for a recipe which do not need a mooncake mould and I found one in a cook book which my sister gave me when I left Malaysia. The cookbook is titled “At Home with Amy Beh”.
The Shanghai Monncake recipe is more like a pastry recipe. I made this with 3 types of fillings, lotus paste, red bean paste and just a couple of lotus paste with salted egg yolk.
Ingredients
- store bought lotus paste or red bean paste
- salted egg yolk, optional
Sift and combine:
- 300g all-purpose flour
- 20g custard powder
- 25g cornflour
- 1 tablespoon milk powder
- 65g golden syrup
- 90g icing sugar
- 1 small egg
- 60g shortening
- 75g margarine
- 1/4 teaspoon alkaline water (lye water)
- 1 egg, beaten, for glaze
- some melon seeds or almond flakes
Instructions
 Wash salted egg yolk and roll in sesame oil. Steam for 2 minutes. Leave to cool. |
 Divide the store bought lotus paste into portion of about 45 to 50g and roll them into balls. For a one pound package of lotus paste, I divided them into 9 portions.Wrap a salted egg yolk with lotus paste. |
 Combine golden syrup, sugar, egg, shortening, margarine and alkaline water in a mixing bowl. Mix well together. |
 Sift the flour, custard powder, cornflour and milk powder into a another bowl. |
 Combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. |
 Knead into a smooth dough. |
 Divide the dough into 60g each. |
 Flatten the dough with a rolling pin.
Wrap up the lotus paste filling, shaping the top like a dome. |
 Place on a parchment lined line baking sheet. Brush with egg glaze and place melon seeds or almond flakes on the dome.
Bake in a preheated 350F (180C) oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. This recipe yields 11 mooncakes. |
Suanne, thanks for sharing this mooncake recipe without using a mould. I would like to try it but don’t know where to get the alkaline water. Thanks.
Hi Rachel, you can find alkaline water (or lye water) in many Chinese groceries stores.
I was given a box of mooncakes by a friend, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to eat them. I think they are the 4-yolk kind as that is his favorite.
Do you eat them with tea for a dessert? I know they are for the Harvest Moon but I don’t know what that is, really.
Hi etranger, yes, you eat the mooncake like dessert and it goes well with Chinese tea to cut back the sweetness.
Still would like to find a mooncake mold somewhere in Shanghai?
Hi Suanne, thanks for sharing your recipe. Love to try it out, can I replace the shortening & margarine with butter instead?
Hi Jackie, I think you can substitute the shortening with other fat but it might not turn out as flaky.