Snow skin mooncakes with a gooey lava filling are the latest trend in mooncake making, and for a good reason! These lemon snow skin mooncakes with lemon curd lava filling are not only visually stunning but also have a tangy and refreshing flavor that will delight your taste buds. The secret to creating the lava effect is the use of lemon curd as a filling, which adds a burst of zesty flavor to the mooncakes. In this recipe, we'll show you how to prepare the lemon curd in advance, so you can easily create the lava effect when assembling the mooncakes. Get ready to impress your family and friends with these lemony delights!
PLEASE NOTE: This snow skin mooncake recipe is based on my original shortcut snow skin mooncake recipe (link here) and does not adhere to most traditional recipes, where the mooncake dough is made using cooked glutinous rice flour, icing sugar, shortening and water. While this recipe may differ from the traditional preparation, it still produces delicious and unique mooncakes that are perfect for anyone looking to try something new. It's also less time-consuming and simpler, so I hope you'll still give it a try!
Here's why I love this recipe
- so easy to make, and no steaming required
- made in the microwave
- only requires a couple of ingredients
- gluten free & can be vegan if using vegan lemon curd
- customizable (so many filling options!)
Ingredients Used to Make Lemon Snow Skin Mooncakes
**I've linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂
- Sweetened White Bean Paste (a.k.a. Shiro An) - Shiro an is a thick and sweet fudgy paste made from finely mashed white beans, usually large butter beans or cannellini beans. It's a hugely popular ingredient in East Asia and widely used in Asian confectionary and desserts like mochi, sweetbreads, cookies as well as mooncakes. Unfortunately, it's not always stocked in most Asian grocery stores. Here's one brand I found on Amazon (here).
- Glutinous Rice Flour - this goes by many names. You’ll see Glutinous Rice Flour and Mochiko Flour (my favorite brand) in Asian grocery stores, and Sweet White Rice Flour in most other stores. ***Please note that regular white rice flour or brown rice flour is NOT the same thing as glutinous rice flour!!!
- Lemon Curd - I used storebought lemon curd, but if you're looking for a gluten free or vegan lemon curd, you can find them online (on Amazon). You can also make it at home - here's a wonderful recipe from Plant Based School that uses soy milk to make the lemon curd
- Water
Filling Ingredients
- I used the sweetened white bean paste leftover from making the snow skin dough as my mooncake filling, but you can also fill these mooncakes with lotus paste, mung bean paste or red bean paste.
For more filling ideas, check out my Ultimate List of Mooncake Filling post, here!
Equipment for Mooncakes
The main highlight of mooncakes is their beautiful engraved patterns and shapes. Mooncake molds are readily available at different Chinese grocery stores. You can also find it online, especially on amazon. They are of premium quality and quite affordable. I got the 75g and 125g mooncake molds here
Step by Step Guide
How to Make Lemon Snow Skin Mooncakes with Lemon Lava Filling
STEP 1
Prepare mooncake lava filling by rolling 1-2 Tablespoons of sweetened bean paste into balls.
Use your thumb to create a well in the middle of each bean paste ball.
Use a teaspoon to drip about 1 tsp of lemon curd into each well
Keep the filling in the freezer until ready to use. Wrapping the filling with the dough later will be so much easier if the filling is pre-frozen.
STEP 2
In a microwaveable glass bowl (like Pyrex), mix the sweetened white bean paste (shiro an) and sweet rice flour
STEP 3
Mix until the white bean paste has been well incorporated into the flour.
STEP 4
Add water, lemon extract and the lemon curd and whisk until smooth.
STEP 5
Microwave the mixture for 1 minute
STEP 6
Use a SOLID METAL spoon (wooden spoons can break!) to stir the cooked mixture so that the cooked and uncooked parts are evenly mixed.
Microwave the mixture again, this time for 1 minute. The resulting dough should be hot and slightly translucent.
STEP 7
Stir again, and pour the snow skin mooncake dough onto a lightly greased baking pan. Flatten with a rolling pin or gloved hands (dough will be hot!)
STEP 8
Cut the snow skin dough into 6 pieces using scissors or a plastic dough cutter
STEP 9
Wrap the prepared sweetened white bean filling with each snow skin dough.
STEP 10
For the best shape, pinch off the ends of the snow skin dough. This way the lemon curd center won't leak out
STEP 11
Fit the filled pieces into a lightly greased mooncake mold and press into shape.
STEP 12
Enjoy!
Filling Variations for Lemon Snow Skin Mooncakes:
There are many types of fillings used in snow skin mooncakes. Here are some ideas below:
- Lotus paste – classic! You can buy these in the refrigerated section in a Asian grocery store, or buy them online (like Amazon, here)
- Shiro-an (sweetened white bean paste) – on Amazon, here, or here's a Shortcut White Bean Paste Recipe I make when I’ve run out of Shiro An
- Koshi-an (sweetened red bean paste) – on Amazon, here
- Mung Bean paste - sweet and delightfully yellow, homemade mung bean paste is a perfect mooncake filling for those who are looking for a healthier bean paste alternative. Here's my 2-Ingredient mung bean paste recipe here
Final Tips for Making Lemon Snow Skin Mooncakes
- Pre-freeze the filling 1-2 hours before making the snow skin dough. Wrapping the filling with the dough will be so much easier (and less messier) if the filling is frozen.
Lemon Lava Snow Skin Mooncakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Snow Skin Mooncake Dough
- 150 g sweetened white bean paste (shiro an) , about ⅓ cup
- 50 g mochiko flour, sweet rice or glutinous rice flour , about ⅓ cup
- ½ tsp lemon extract , optional (added for more lemon flavor)
- 60 g lemon curd , about 2 Tbsp
- 45 g water , about 3 Tbsp
Mooncake Filling
- 250 g sweetened white bean paste (shiro an) , or other mooncake fillings of choice like mung bean paste. Check out my ULTIMATE LIST OF MOONCAKE FILLINGS post for more ideas!*
- about 6 tsp lemon curd
Instructions
Prepare the filling
- Prepare mooncake filling by rolling 1-2 Tablespoons of sweetened bean paste into balls.
- Use your thumb to create a well in the middle of each bean paste ball.
- Use a teaspoon to drip ½ tsp to 1 tsp of lemon curd into each well
- Keep the filling in the freezer until ready to use. Wrapping the filling with the dough later will be so much easier if the filling is pre-frozen.
- NOTE: You can also use other mooncake fillings of choice like mung bean paste. Check out my ULTIMATE LIST OF MOONCAKE FILLINGS post for more ideas!*
Make the Mooncake Skin
- In a sturdy microwaveable glass bowl (like Pyrex), mix the sweetened white bean paste (shiro an) and sweet rice flour until the bean paste has been well incorporated into the flour.
- Add water, lemon extract and the lemon curd and whisk until smooth.
- Microwave the mixture for 1 minute
- Use a SOLID METAL spoon (wooden spoons might break!) to stir the cooked mixture so that the cooked and uncooked parts are evenly mixed
- Microwave the mixture again, this time for 1 minute
- Stir again until all cooked and uncooked parts of the dough are mixed evenly.
- Scrape the cooked mooncake dough onto a lightly greased baking pan
Shape the Mooncakes
- Cut the snow skin dough into 6 pieces using scissors or plastic dough cutter
- Take each piece of the cut dough and fill with the prepared filling with the lemon curd centers
- Fit the filled pieces into a lightly greased mooncake mold** and press into shape. TIP: these mooncakes sometimes don't hold their original shape since they're made while the dough is still warm. For the best shape, you can let the mooncakes cool in the freezer for 20-30 minutes and re-press the mooncakes back into shape using the mooncake mold.
- Enjoy!
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