Mooncake season is here, which means I’ve been making my way back into the kitchen to make one of my favourite treats.

I’ve started and loove making mooncakes at home because there’s something really satisfying about the whole process. You make the dough, prepare the filling, wrap everything up, press it into the mold and then wait for them to come out of the oven looking like actual mooncakes. It takes a little patience, especially the first few times, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty fun.

Mooncakes are traditionally enjoyed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when families gather, eat together and, of course, admire the full moon. The round shape of the mooncake is often associated with family reunion and togetherness, which is one of the reasons they’ve become such an important part of the celebration.

A Little History Behind Mooncakes

There are a few different stories surrounding the history of mooncakes. One of the better-known stories connects them to the Yuan Dynasty, when they were supposedly used to secretly pass messages during a rebellion against Mongol rule. Whether every detail of that story is historically accurate or not, mooncakes have been part of the Mid-Autumn Festival for generations. Today, they come in so many different flavours and styles that it’s hard to say there’s one standard mooncake. Traditional fillings include lotus seed paste, red bean paste and black sesame, while salted egg yolks are often added to savoury-sweet versions. These days you’ll also find all kinds of modern fillings, from matcha to nuts and different fruit flavours.

Making the Dough

For this batch, I made the dough using my Thermomix.

I’ll admit, the dough did stick to the bottom of the bowl a little. Luckily, taking the Thermomix bowl apart makes it pretty easy to get everything out and clean it afterward, so it wasn’t a big deal.

For the dough, you’ll need:

• 220 g all-purpose flour
• 140 g golden syrup
• 4 g lye water (alkaline water)
• 50 g vegetable oil

Start by mixing the golden syrup, lye water and vegetable oil together. Gradually add the flour and mix until the dough starts coming together.

Once it has formed a dough, knead it until it’s smooth and pliable. If you’re doing this by hand, it can take around 10–15 minutes.

Wrap the dough and let it rest at room temperature for about 2–4 hours, or overnight. This resting time helps the dough become easier to work with.

A Couple of Ingredients Worth Knowing

Two ingredients in mooncake dough that you might not normally have sitting in your pantry are lye water and golden syrup.

Lye water is what gives traditional mooncake dough some of its characteristic texture and colour. It also helps the crust brown nicely in the oven.

Golden syrup adds sweetness and helps give the dough the consistency you need for shaping. It also contributes to that lovely golden colour once the mooncakes are baked.

Choosing Your Filling

Traditional mooncakes are often filled with lotus seed paste, red bean paste or black sesame paste.

I’ve made fillings from scratch before, and if you have the time, it’s definitely worth trying. You can cook the beans or lotus seeds, blend them until smooth and then cook them down with the other ingredients until you get the right consistency. If you don’t feel like making the filling yourself, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying it. You can find pre-made fillings at most Asian grocery stores, and honestly, sometimes it’s nice to take a shortcut. For the salted egg yolks, I used store-bought ones. They’re easy to find and save quite a bit of time.

Getting the Dough and Filling Together

Once the dough has rested, divide it into portions depending on the size of your mooncakes. For smaller traditional mooncakes, around 25–30 g of dough per piece works well.

Flatten one piece of dough into a small disk, place the filling in the middle and gently work the dough around it until the filling is completely covered. This part can take a little practice. You want enough dough to cover the filling without ending up with a huge layer of dough around it.

Once everything is wrapped, place the filled dough into your mooncake mold and press down firmly. Then turn it out onto a parchment-lined baking tray. I have quite a few different molds, so this is also the fun part for me. You can find all kinds of designs and shapes, from very traditional patterns to simpler modern ones.

What If the Dough Is Too Sticky?

If your dough feels too sticky to handle, don’t immediately dump a bunch of flour into it. Add a small amount at a time and work it in gradually. You can also chill the dough for about 30 minutes, which can make it easier to handle. If you find that the dough is consistently too sticky when you make it, take a look at your measurements the next time around. Small differences in the amount of syrup or lye water can affect the texture.

What If It’s Too Dry?

If the dough feels crumbly or is cracking when you try to shape it, it may need a little more moisture. Add a very small amount of liquid and knead it in before deciding whether it needs more. You don’t want to overdo it because it’s much easier to add a little than to fix dough that has become too wet. Sometimes the dough also just needs more time to rest. Give it a little time before making too many adjustments.

Baking the Mooncakes

Preheat your oven to 325°F.

Place the shaped mooncakes onto a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes.

Take them out and, if you’re using an egg wash, lightly brush the tops. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F, then return the mooncakes to the oven for another 10–15 minutes.

Keep an eye on them because ovens can vary quite a bit. You’re looking for that beautiful golden-brown colour, but you don’t want them to overbake.

Once they’re done, let them cool completely on a wire rack.

One thing to know about homemade mooncakes is that they actually get better after sitting for a day or two. The crust softens and the texture changes as everything settles together, so don’t worry if they seem a little different right out of the oven.

Making Them Your Own

This is probably my favourite part of making mooncakes at home. You can stick with the traditional fillings or play around with different flavours depending on what you like.

You can also have fun with the molds. I have several different designs, and it’s surprising how different the finished mooncakes can look just by changing the mold. They definitely take a little more effort than picking up a box from the store, but I enjoy that part. There’s something nice about making them yourself, especially when you’re making them for your family.

Mooncakes are one of those foods where the recipe is only part of the story. The rest is the people you make them with, the traditions you grew up with and the memories that come back when you make them again.