Cinderella Inspired Pumpkin Spice Mooncakes

Snowskin mooncakes filled with rich, savory salted egg yolk custard accented with warm notes of pumpkin spice - an intersection of eastern and western fall flavors.

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

I must admit, I feel a level of excitement for pumpkin spice season that is borderline inappropriate. Fall is undoubtedly my favorite season of the year, the advent of which is marked by the return of the PSL to the Starbucks menu (PSLs are pumpkin spice lattes for those who are unaware). Seeing the variety of pumpkin spice products stocked on grocery store shelves is a dopamine rush akin to how a kid feels in a candy store. I have been known to frequent Trader Joe’s this time of year and return home with an excessive haul of pumpkin spice goodies. 

Shifting to a More Eastern Mindset 

The other marker of the fall season is the arrival of mooncakes at my local asian grocery store. These Chinese pastries are only available around the month of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which varies annually based on the lunar calendar. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 29th, which means it’s already mooncake season. While mooncakes themselves are both delicious and visually appealing, perhaps my favorite aspect of this tradition is admiring the gorgeous packaging the pastries’ are housed in. Mooncakes are often sold in elaborately decorated tins and boxes, as they are commonly purchased as gifts for friends and family. I often use the beautifully designed packaging as inspiration for my own baking projects.

What are Mooncakes?

Mooncakes come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors, but I like to classify them into two simple camps - baked and snowskin. Baked mooncakes are encased in a pastry wrapper and commonly filled with lotus seed, red bean, sesame, salted egg yolk, custard, nuts, etc. The  mooncakes are stamped in a mold to impart a pretty design and baked in an oven. Snowskin mooncakes are wrapped in a sticky rice flour dough (similar to mochi) and commonly filled with fruitier fillings, custards, ice cream, etc. These can also be stamped with a mold, but are not baked.

The Best of Both Worlds

In the spirit of mooncake gift giving, I decided to try my hand at making these Mid-Autumn delicacies from scratch. I made both classic canto lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes (my favorite flavor combo), as well as the snowskin mooncakes outlined in this recipe. In the spirit of my affinity for both western and eastern fall themes, I merged both flavor profiles to create the ultimate fall treat. These snow skin mooncakes are filled with a salted egg yolk pumpkin spice custard. To make things extra fun, I shaped them into Cinderella-esque pumpkins with little white mice popping out.

Sharing is Caring

Every mid-autumn moon festival, our family is gifted boxes of mooncakes from friends and family. For the first time ever, I was able to return the love by shipping out my very own homemade mooncakes back to them! It was a very exciting experience for me to be able to package my own mooncakes and give back to my loved ones. With that in mind, I encourage everyone to try making mooncakes and join in on Mid-Autumn festivities. 

Cinderella Inspired Pumpkin Snowskin Mooncakes

Yield: 12

Author: Bailey Chu

Cook time: 1 HR & 45 MIN Inactive time: >2 HR Assembly time: Varies

Snowskin mooncakes filled with rich, savory salted egg yolk custard accented with warm notes of pumpkin spice - an intersection of eastern and western fall flavors.

Ingredients

Salted Egg Yolk Pumpkin Custard Filling:

• 1 ¹⁄₂ cooked salted egg yolks (about 18 grams)
• 70 grams pumpkin puree
• 28 grams softened butter
• 60 grams powdered sugar
• 24 grams milk powder
• 24 grams cornstarch
• 30 grams evaporated milk
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tsp vanilla
• ¹⁄₈ tsp pumpkin spice

Mooncake Snowskin:

• 38 grams glutinous rice flour
• 38 grams rice flour
• 22 grams wheat or corn starch
• 30 grams icing sugar
• 150 grams milk
• 22 grams sweetened condensed milk
• 22 grams oil

Instructions

Salted Egg Yolk Pumpkin Custard Filling:

1. Bake salted egg yolks in a preheated 350 F oven for 10 min. Using the back of a spoon, mash cooked egg yolks in a fine powder/paste.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine mashed egg yolks with remaining ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, until mixture is fully incorporated.
3. Transfer mixture into a nonstick skillet set on low heat and cook for 15-20 min stirring/folding constantly until thickened into a paste.
4. Transfer the custard filling into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (touching the top surface of custard) Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Mooncake Snowskin:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: glutinous rice flour, rice flour, cornstarch, and icing sugar.
2. In a second bowl, whisk together wet ingredients: milk, condensed milk, and oil.
3. Combine dry and wet ingredients together, whisk well to incorporate.
4. Steam the mixture in a heat proof bowl set over boiling water for 15-20 min. Let cool until dough is workable with hands.
5. Transfer dough onto a work surface and knead until smooth and pliable (5-10 min).
6. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight.
7. Divide dough into one half and 2 quarters. Dye one half orange and one quarter green.

Assembly:

1. Weighing the Dough and Filling: Divide the orange dough and custard filling into 25 gram portions and roll into balls. You should have around 6 of each. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
2. Wrapping the Mooncakes: Flatten and roll out a dough ball into a large circle and place a ball of filling inside. Gently manipulate the dough until it completely encloses the filling. Pinch to close the seams. Repeat the process with remaining balls of dough and filling.
3. Forming the Mooncakes: Dust each wrapped ball with a little bit of cornstarch. Roll the ball gently so it fits into the mooncake mould. Press the plunger down firmly and hold for 10 seconds, then push out to release the formed mooncake. Repeat with remaining balls and chill in the refrigerator.
4. Forming the Mice: Divide and weigh the white dough into 12 g pieces. Roll them into slightly oblong balls. With remaining dough, dye two very small portions pink and black, reserving most of the dough as white. Form the features of the mice: ears, feet, nose (white), eyes, nose tip (black), inner ears and cheeks (pink) Attach features onto the bodies (if they do not easily stick on, lightly mist the body with some water to make it tacky). Place a mouse onto each pumpkin mooncake and chill.
5. Forming the Pumpkin Hats: Using the remaining orange dough, divide and roll into small balls (about 1-2 g each) Gently press each ball into the flower attachment of the mooncake mould to form a small disk with grooves. Shape and roll out little pumpkin stems and vines with the green dough and attach onto the orange disks to form pumpkin hats. Set a hat onto each mouse and chill for 2 hours.
6. Enjoy your adorable pumpkin mooncakes within 2-3 days for best taste and texture!