A flaky Mid-Autumn pastry from Suzhou: two simple lard doughs are rolled together into dozens of thin layers that shatter when you bite in, around a sweet red bean filling. The cakes are pressed flat, stamped with a red mark and baked golden on both sides. Makes 10 mooncakes in about 2 hr 25 min.
Prep60 min
Cook30 min
Cooling55 min
Total
2 hr 25 min
Yield
10 mooncakes
Ingredients
Adjust yield
mooncakes
Scales from a half to a double batch; give a bigger batch a little more time.
1 ¼ cups (150 g)all-purpose flour
1 tbsp (15 g)sugar
2 oz (50 g)lard, soft, for the water dough
5 tbsp (70 ml)warm water, about 140°F (60°C)
1 cup (120 g)cake flour
2 oz (60 g)lard, soft, for the oil dough
14 oz (400 g)sweet red bean paste, smooth, thick
2 tbsp (20 g)toasted white sesame seeds
¼ tsp (1 ml)red food coloring, mixed with a few drops of water
Make the water dough: mix the all-purpose flour and sugar, add the soft lard and warm water and stir, then knead until smooth and soft, about 5 minutes. Cover and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make the oil dough: rub the cake flour and soft lard together with your fingers until they form a smooth, soft paste that holds together, about 2 minutes. Cover and keep at cool room temperature.
Mix the sweet red bean paste with the toasted white sesame seeds and divide into 10 portions of 42 g; roll into balls.
Divide the water dough into 10 pieces (about 28 g each) and the oil dough into 10 pieces (about 18 g each). Flatten a piece of water dough, set a piece of oil dough in the center and pinch the water dough closed around it. Repeat, keeping the finished pieces covered.
Laminate: roll one piece seam-side up into a long oval about 6 inches (15 cm) long and roll it up from the short end like a jelly roll. Turn the roll 90 degrees, roll it out long again and roll it up again. Repeat with all the pieces, cover and rest for 15 minutes.
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Press each roll on its end, flatten into a 4-inch (10 cm) round slightly thinner at the edge, set a filling ball in the center and gather the dough up and over it, pinching firmly to seal. Set seam-side down on the lined baking sheet and press gently into a disk about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
Dip a small stamp (or the end of a chopstick) into the red food coloring, blot off the excess and stamp the center of each cake.
Bake until the bottoms are golden and the sides are puffed, 15 minutes. Carefully flip each cake with a thin spatula and bake until the second side is golden and the layers are crisp, 12 to 15 minutes more.
Cool on the sheet for 10 minutes, then on a rack for at least 20 minutes before serving warm, stamped side up.
Tips
Keep both doughs at the same soft, room-temperature consistency; if the lard is too cold the oil dough tears through the water dough and the layers smear.
Keep the dough you are not working with covered so the surface does not dry and crack.
Su-style mooncakes are best on the day they are baked, when the layers are crisp; rewarm leftovers in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 8 minutes.
Good with hot Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea.
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How long does it take to make su-style mooncake (suzhou flaky mooncake)?
Plan on 60 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of cooking, plus 55 minutes to rest. The recipe makes 10 mooncakes.
How should I store su-style mooncake (suzhou flaky mooncake)?
Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze up to 1 month and rewarm in a 300°F (150°C) oven.
Can I make su-style mooncake (suzhou flaky mooncake) ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
Su-style mooncakes come from Suzhou and the wider Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai area, where a lard water dough is wrapped around a lard oil dough and rolled up twice to make a many-layered flaky shell. Serve it with hot Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea.
Variations
Lotus or black sesame filling: replace the sweet red bean paste with 400 g (about 1 1/2 cups) lotus seed paste or sweet black sesame paste; bake times unchanged.
Salted egg yolk: wrap half a salted duck egg yolk (pre-baked 5 minutes with a splash of Shaoxing wine) in each 35 g portion of filling; bake times unchanged.
Fresh-pork savory version (common in Suzhou): replace the filling with 400 g ground pork seasoned with 15 ml soy sauce, 5 g sugar, 5 g grated ginger and a pinch of white pepper, chilled firm; bake 18 minutes, flip and bake 15 minutes more until the meat reaches 160°F (71°C).
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 10 servings this recipe makes.
314Calories / serving
14.2gFat
42.2gCarbs
4.6gProtein
21.8gSugar
Whole recipe (10 servings):
~3140 cal ·
142g fat ·
422g carbs ·
46g protein ·
218g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
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