Cranberry and Walnut Mooncake

Rather than the usual lotus paste and red bean paste mooncakes, try this new mooncake flavour for this Mid-Autumn festival. The sweetness of the cranberries blended with white lotus paste, roasted melon seeds and walnuts makes a unique and flavourful mooncake that many will enjoy.

Cranberry and Walnut Mooncake

Makes about 12 mooncakes

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Ingredients

  

DOUGH

• 70 g peanut oil
• 200 g golden syrup
• 5 ml lye water
• 150 g Hong Kong flour
• 170 g plain flour

FILLING

• 1.2 kg white lotus paste
• 180 g melon seeds
• 120 g dried cranberries
• 60 g walnut

FOR EGG WASH

• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 egg white
• 3/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• pinch of salt

Instructions

 

DOUGH

• Mix Hong Kong flour and plain flour together in a bowl.
• In another small bowl, add oil, golden syrup and lye water and mix everything well.
• Slowly add the golden syrup mixture to the flour mixture and mix evenly until it forms a dough.
• Cover the dough and set aside to rest for at least 1 hour.
• Lightly toast melon seeds in the oven at 160°C for about 8 minutes. (optional step)

FILLING

• Mix lotus paste and melon seeds evenly together and set aside.
• Roughly chopped dried cranberries and walnuts separately.

ASSEMBLY

• For lotus paste and melon seeds filling, weigh portions of 110 g each.
• Weigh 10 g of chopped dried cranberries and 5 g of chopped walnuts.
• Mix everything together and roll into a ball to make the paste for each mooncake.
• Weigh portions of dough of 50 g each.
• Roll a piece of dough flat and place the paste ball in the centre. Wrap the filling completely by slowly pushing the dough up the sides. Gently roll into a ball and flour it lightly.
• Press the ball into a lightly floured mooncake mould. Press the mould plunger firmly (holding the base) and gently lift it up to release the mooncake.
• For wooden or plastic mould, place the ball into the cavity, level it and press firmly. Gently knock the mould to release the mooncake.
• Spray water all over the mooncakes to prevent the dough from cracking. (Edit: I have tested and found that it is better to leave out this step. You can prevent dough from cracking by lengthening cooling time to 10 to 15 minutes).
• Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. (Edit: better to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes). Brush the mooncakes with egg wash.
• Bake again for another 10 minutes until golden brown.
• Place on a wire rack to cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

Notes

1. Let the mooncakes rest for 2-3 days after baking to get a richer colour, texture and flavour. The skin will turn soft, shiny and moist as the oil from the mooncake is released.
2. When storing, do not place parchment paper under the mooncakes as that will slow down the maturing process.
3. Amount of filling depends on the size of mould.
4. Reduce the amount of melon seeds to 100 g or 120 g, if you do not like so many seeds in the filling.