Traditional baked red bean mooncakes are my favourite mooncakes. This year, I made my red bean paste from scratch and added a black sesame twist to some of the red bean mooncakes – because red bean and black sesame is a delicious pairing!
Homemade Red Bean Paste Filling
I’ve all along used store-bought red bean paste from Phoon Huat or Kwong Cheong Thye. This year, I wanted to make a smaller batch of mooncakes and you can say I’m looking for a challenge – how can a foodiebaker don’t make her own red bean paste from scratch, right?
I looked through countless of recipes and I finally settled on the recipe from MyKitchen101. It is straightforward, easy to follow and the sweetness of the paste is just right for me. There is also a YouTube video which is very helpful in determining the right consistency of the red bean paste. The only difference I made is to cook the beans with a pressure cooker instead. The pressure cooker reduces the time to cook the beans by at least half, and I do not have to pay much attention to it while it’s cooking, so it’s definitely a win for me. The only additional thing required (not listed in the list of ingredients) is patience (not my strongest suit) – as the paste needs to be stirred constantly as it cooks and thickens.
Step-by-Step Photos - Red Bean Paste | |
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| 1) Pressure cook soaked red beans until soft. | 2) Blend the red beans into a smooth paste using a blender. |
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| 3) Strain the mixture through a fine stainless steel sieve. | 4) Add in sugar, peanut oil, glutinous rice flour slurry and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, to form a firm paste. |
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| 5) Transfer the cooked red bean paste onto the lined baking sheet and spread it out evenly to let cool quickly. |
Black Sesame Filling
I wanted to make a new flavour (so that I have something new to blog about), so I incorporated black sesame filling into half of my red bean mooncakes. I’ve all along been a fan of black sesame – it has a strong earthy and nutty flavour, and is sometimes pleasantly bitter. It is definitely an acquired taste because half of my tasters like the black sesame flavour while the other half couldn’t stand it. If you a fan of black sesame like me, you may want to give this a try.
Step-by-Step Photos - Black Sesame Filling | |
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| 1) Toast black sesame seeds in 160°C oven for 10 minutes until fragrant. | 2) Process black sesame seeds into a fine powder. Add in sugar, maple syrup and butter. |
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| 3) Process until well-mixed. Add in glutinous rice flour. | 4) Process until mixture becomes a dough. |
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| 5) Divide filling into 10-grams portion and roll into a ball. Freeze for 30 minutes. | 6) Wrap the black sesame ball with 20 grams of red bean paste. |
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋节快乐!
Overall, I personally really quite like these red bean and black sesame mooncakes. It is just unfortunate that I have not found someone who likes black sesame as much as I do. So please let me know if you are a black sesame lover! (:
This is my last mooncake recipe for this year – didn’t really plan a lot of mooncake bakes and I’m quite late in blogging about it (oops), but here’s a round up of some other mooncakes on the website:
Homemade Red Bean Paste Filling for Mooncakes
EQUIPMENT
- Pressure cooker (I'm using Instant Pot 6-Quart)
- Non-stick pan
INGREDIENTS
Pressure Cook
- 150 grams small red beans, rinsed and soaked in water overnight
- 450 grams water
Cook on the Stove
- 110 grams sugar
- 55 grams peanut oil
- 15 grams glutinous rice flour
- 45 grams water
- 1/4 tsp salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Pressure Cook
- Drain the soaked red beans and combine with water in the pressure cooker. Pressure cook on high pressure for 20 minutes, then allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the red beans into a smooth paste. Strain the mixture through a stainless steel sieve into a non-stick pan to ensure a thoroughly smooth paste.
Cook on the Stove
- Add in sugar, peanut oil, glutinous rice flour slurry and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, to form a firm paste. This will take about 30 to 45 minutes. Take note that the paste will continue to firm up as it cools.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the cooked red bean paste onto the lined baking sheet and spread it out evenly to let cool quickly.
Storage
- If not using the paste immediately, wrap the paste with clingwrap and freeze. Thaw the paste the night before in the refrigerator before using.
NOTES
- Recipe from My Kitchen 101’s Smooth and Silky Red Bean Paste. The YouTube video is extremely useful in gauging when the red bean paste is ready.
Baked Red Bean and Black Sesame Mooncakes
INGREDIENTS
Black Sesame Filling
- 90 grams black sesame seeds, toasted in 160°C oven for 10 minutes until fragrant
- 25 grams sugar
- 10 grams maple syrup
- 50 grams unsalted butter
- 30 grams glutinous rice flour
Red Bean Filling
- 400 grams red bean paste
- 20 grams melon seeds, toasted in 160°C oven for 10 minutes until fragrant
Mooncake Dough
- 188 grams all-purpose flour
- 113 grams golden syrup
- 4 grams lye water
- 48 grams peanut oil
Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp water
INSTRUCTIONS
Black Sesame Filling
- Process black sesame seeds into a fine powder. Add sugar, maple syrup and butter and process until well-mixed. Add glutinous rice flour and process until it becomes a dough.
- Divide filling into 10-grams portion and roll into a ball. Freeze for 30 minutes for ease of wrapping.
Red Bean Filling
- Knead the melon seeds into the red bean paste. Divide the filling into 20 pieces, about 20 to 21 grams each. Roll each filling into a ball.
- Flatten each red bean ball then enclose a black sesame ball inside. Roll into a ball and set aside. You can chill the filling while making the mooncake dough for ease of wrapping.
Mooncake Dough
- Sift flour into a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk golden syrup, lye water and oil in a separate measuring jug until thoroughly combined. Pour liquid into the flour and stir with a wooden spoon / spatula until a dough has formed. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl to ensure all the flour has been mixed in.
- Cover with cling wrap or tea towel and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Divide the mooncake filling into 20-gram portion. You may end up with a little leftover mooncake dough.
Wrap and Shape
- Flatten each portion of mooncake dough and enclose the red bean filling inside.
- If your red bean filling is very chilled, let the wrapped mooncake come to room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before stamping it out with the mooncake mould.
Egg Wash
- Whisk egg yolk and water together in a small bowl.
Bake and Rest
- Preheat oven to 180°C (conventional) / 170°C (convectional).
- Spritz the surface of the mooncakes with water. Dip a pastry brush into the egg wash. Remove the excess egg wash and brush the top of the mooncakes gently and lightly. (As the designs are very delicate, if you brush with too much egg wash or used too much strength, the designs may be ruined.)
- Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside on a rack for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 175°C (conventional) / 165°C (convectional).
- Brush with a second layer of egg wash and bake for another 10 to 13 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Set the baking sheets on a rack and let the mooncakes cool completely.
- Store the cooled mooncakes in an airtight container. Let the mooncakes rest for 2 days to allow the skin to soften before consuming. The skin will also become darker as it rests.
Storage
- Store the mooncakes in an airtight container at room temperature for about 1 week. Store them in the refrigerator to last longer.
What are you thinking?