Traditional Black Sesame Walnut Baked Mooncake (No Golden Syrup)

Traditional Chinese baked mooncake filled with sweet and nutty black sesame walnut filling. The mooncake crust is made without using any golden syrup.

After successfully baking quite a few batches of traditional Chinese baked mooncakes and mooncake biscuits without using golden syrup, I couldn’t stop baking them LOL! So, here I am squeezing in another one with black sesame and walnut filling. The filling is different from the black sesame snow skin mooncake I made.

How to make traditional black sesame walnut baked mooncake without golden syrup

1. Mix honey, alkaline water, and oil until combined

2. Sift in flour and salt and mix until combined

3. Cover and rest the dough for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours

4. Combine all the ingredients for the filling and stir to combine. If you press the mixture with your palm and it stays in cluster, you are good to go. If it falls apart, you may want to add a bit of water, teaspoon by teaspoon until the mixture can come into a cluster when you press it together without falling apart

5. I’m using 4:6 dough to filling ratio. So, I will do 20 gram of dough to 30 grams of filling. Portion into 30 grams of mixed nuts balls. Cover and set aside

6. Take one dough and divide it into two. Flatten them with your palm

7. Put the filling on top of one and then cover with another flattened dough (refer to the video for visual). Gently close the gap between the two doughs around the filling and roll into a round smooth ball. Continue with the rest of the dough and filling

8. Dust the mooncake mould with a thin layer of cake flour and shake off any excess. I also dusted the mooncake dough with thin layer of flour and shake off any excess

9. Put the dough inside the cavity of the mould and then face it down on a flat surface and gently push down the piston down to imprint the pattern on the dough. Gently push the mooncake out and voila, you have just shaped the dough into a mooncake with imprint on top. Repeat with the rest and dusting with some flour on the mould and the dough each time. Place the shaped dough on a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper

10. Mist the top of the mooncake with some water from about 4-inch distance. You don’t want to make the mooncake super wet, just mist it lightly to prevent it from cracking during baking

11. Put the baking sheet, in the middle of the oven, 3rd rack from the top for my oven. Bake for 9 minutes. The mooncakes will still be pale at this point

12. Let them cool down for 15 minutes. Please don’t skip this step no matter how tempted you are

13. Very gently and thinly brush this egg wash on top of the mooncake (don’t brush the side, only the surface of the mooncake). If you accidentally brush on too much egg wash, very gently blob it with a paper towel or use a brush to get the extra egg wash off

14. Place the baking sheet back into the oven, the same position, and bake for another 5-8 minutes or until you have a nice golden brown. Check at 5 minutes to see. Keep in mind that the mooncakes will darken further after baking as you age them for few days

15. Remove from the oven and let them cool down on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Don’t attempt to move them to cooling rack yet as they are very soft and you will break them trying to lift them up when they are fresh out from the oven like this. After 5 minutes, very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely

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Traditional Black Sesame Walnut Baked Mooncake (No Golden Syrup)

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 32 minutes mins

Rest the dough: 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 52 minutes mins

Servings 9 (50-gram mooncakes)

4.3 from 4 reviews

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Ingredients

  

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For the dough:

• 100 gr cake flour plus more for dusting
• 60 gr honey
• 25 gr cooking oil
• 2 gr alkaline water
• ⅛ tsp salt

Black sesame filling:

• 50 gr glutinous rice flour
• 50 gr walnuts
• 80 gr black sesame powder
• 10 gr white black sesame seeds
• 30 gr sugar or more as needed
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 50 ml water or more as needed

Egg wash:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tbsp water
• Small pinch of salt

Instructions

 

Prepare the dough:

• Mix honey, alkaline water, and oil until combined. Sift in flour and salt and mix until combined. Cover and rest the dough for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours

Prepare the filling:

• Place 50 gr of glutinous rice flour on a dry non-stick pan over medium heat. Stir fry for about 15 minutes or until the flour started to smell slightly nutty/toasted. Let it cool down completely
• Toast the walnuts and sesame seeds on a dry pan for 10-15 minutes or until nutty. Then finely chop the walnuts
• Combine all the ingredients for the filling and stir to combine. If you press the mixture with your palm and it stays in cluster, you are good to go. If it falls apart, you may want to add a bit of water, teaspoon by teaspoon until the mixture can come into a cluster when you press it together without falling apart
• I'm using 4:6 dough to filling ratio. So, I will do 20 gram of dough to 30 grams of filling. Portion into 30 grams of mixed nuts balls. Cover and set aside

Fill and shape:

• Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Divide the dough into 20-gram dough ball. Keep them covered
• This is my favorite way of wrapping. I can get thin skin without much difficulty. Take one dough and divide it into two. Flatten them with your palm. Put the filling on top of one and then cover with another flattened dough (refer to the video for visual). Gently close the gap between the two doughs around the filling and roll into a round smooth ball. Continue with the rest of the dough and filling
• Dust the mooncake mould with a thin layer of cake flour and shake off any excess. I also dusted the mooncake dough with thin layer of flour and shake off any excess. Put the dough inside the cavity of the mould and then face it down on a flat surface and gently push down the piston down to imprint the pattern on the dough. Gently push the mooncake out and voila, you have just shaped the dough into a mooncake with imprint on top. Repeat with the rest and dusting with some flour on the mould and the dough each time. Place the shaped dough on a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper

Baking:

• Mist the top of the mooncake with some water from about 4-inch distance. You don't want to make the mooncake super wet, just mist it lightly to prevent it from cracking during baking
• Put the baking sheet, in the middle of the oven, 3rd rack from the top for my oven. Bake for 9 minutes. The mooncakes will still be pale at this point. Let them cool down for 15 minutes. Please don't skip this step no matter how tempted you are
• Beat the egg yolk with a small pinch of salt and water. Use a brush with soft bristles. This is very important as we don't want a thick layer of egg wash that will blur the imprint later after baking
• Very gently and thinly brush this egg wash on top of the mooncake (don't brush the side, only the surface of the mooncake). If you accidentally brush on too much egg wash, very gently blob it with a paper towel or use a brush to get the extra egg wash off
• Place the baking sheet back into the oven, the same position, and bake for another 5-8 minutes or until you have a nice golden brown. Check at 5 minutes to see. Keep in mind that the mooncakes will darken further after baking as you age them for few days
• Please note that if you use honey, the mooncakes will have lighter golden color compared to using golden syrup

Cooling down:

• Remove from the oven and let them cool down on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Don't attempt to move them to cooling rack yet as they are very soft and you will break them trying to lift them up when they are fresh out from the oven like this
• After 5 minutes, very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely

Let mooncakes age for few days before eating:

• I recommend aging it for 2-3 days for the best result. Transfer the completely cooled-down mooncakes into an air-tight container. Try not to stack them because they will soften as they age

Recommended products:

50 gr mooncake mould

Baking sheets

Parchment Paper

Did you make this recipe?Please leave me a comment below and tag @whattocooktoday and #WhatToCookToday on Instagram