6 Easy Ways to Make Homemade Mooncakes Without an Oven

Nowadays, when the Mid-Autumn Festival arrives, alongside traditional mooncake brands, many people also take the time to handcraft various types of mooncakes to gift to their family, friends, or loved ones. This not only expresses love and care but also ensures food safety. Perhaps for this reason, the recipe for making mooncakes at home has garnered much attention. But how can you make them without an oven? If you're worried about this, Mytour Blog will guide you through the detailed process of making mooncakes without an oven, with simple and easy-to-follow steps. Let's check it out!

 Ingredients Needed for Making Mooncakes Without an Oven

To apply the method of making mooncakes without an oven, you need to prepare all the necessary ingredients. Here are the ingredients for making delicious and flavorful mooncakes:

Ingredients for Making Syrup for Mooncakes

The syrup for baked mooncakes plays a crucial role in determining the flavor and color of the crust. To achieve a beautiful color when baking, you need to prepare the syrup for making Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes with the following ingredients:

Ingredients for Making Traditional Mooncake Crust

The ingredients for making traditional mooncake crusts are often quite diverse depending on the type of crust you want to make. Below is a list of common ingredients for making traditional-style mooncake crusts:

• 1 packet of ready-to-bake mooncake flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 300ml sugar syrup for water-based cakes
• 50ml cooking oil
• ½ tablespoon of osmanthus wine

Ingredients for Making Mooncake Filling

The ingredients for making mooncake filling are also very diverse and depend on the type of mooncake you want to make. Here is a list of traditional ingredients for mooncake filling:

Processing Ingredients for Making Oven-Free Mooncakes

After processing all the ingredients and shaping the mooncakes according to the steps below, you can bake the mooncakes without an oven using a rice cooker, microwave, or air fryer...

Step 1: Cooking Sugar Syrup for Mooncakes

In a pot, combine 500g sugar, lemon juice, and 300ml water, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir gently during boiling to dissolve the sugar completely in the water.

Once the sugar has completely dissolved in the water, use a spoon to skim off the foam and lemon peel floating on the surface of the pot. This helps clarify the syrup. After removing the foam and lemon peel, add squeezed lemon peel to the pot, simmer the syrup and lemon peel over low heat, being careful not to stir. When the lemon peel turns yellow, remove it from the pot and continue simmering the syrup over the lowest heat for about 1 hour until the sugar is completely transformed into simple syrup.

If the syrup is still thin, continue simmering. If the syrup thickens, add a little water to the pot and simmer until it reaches the desired consistency. To check the consistency of the syrup, prepare a bowl of water, then add a few drops of syrup. If the syrup is at the right consistency, when it falls, it will spread out on the bottom of the bowl to form a circle. Once the syrup reaches the desired consistency, place the pot of syrup in a bowl of cold water to cool completely.

Step 2: Making Soft, Delicious Mooncake Crusts without Hardening

To apply the method of making soft and delicious mooncake crusts, you use a large bowl to combine: the syrup for baking, egg yolks, and a little cooking oil, then stir until everything is well mixed. Gradually sift in the baking flour into the mixture, kneading the dough thoroughly until you get a cohesive, smooth, and non-sticky dough.

To store the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out, and let it rest for about 30 minutes. During the waiting time, you can proceed to make the filling for the mooncakes.

Step 3: Making Mooncake Filling

To prepare the filling, first, soak the mung beans in water for about 2 – 3 hours to soften them. Make sure to check if the mung beans have been peeled before. Peeled beans will make the filling more attractive in color.

After soaking, put the mung beans in a pot and add enough water to cover them, then add a little salt to the pot and simmer until the water evaporates. Use your fingers to gently press a few beans, when they feel soft, turn off the heat. While the mung beans are still hot, use a spoon to mash them finely or you can use a blender to save time and effort.

Next, mix the finely mashed mung beans with sugar, coconut milk, glutinous rice flour, mai quế lộ liquor, and cooking oil in a pan, then cook this mixture on low heat until it becomes a thick, smooth, and elastic dough.

Note: You need to cook the filling mixture over low heat to avoid burning.

Step 4: Proceed with shaping the mooncakes

Divide the filling and dough into small round balls, ensuring that the weight of the filling equals half of the dough. Then, roll out the dough thinly, place the filling in the center gently, and wrap it carefully to ensure that the filling is fully enclosed. You can dust a little flour and use mooncake molds to prevent sticking. Afterwards, gently tap to remove the mooncake from the mold and proceed with making mooncakes without an oven using the methods below.

1. Making mooncakes without an oven using a rice cooker

When it comes to homemade mooncakes, many people immediately think of baking them in the oven. However, you can still apply making mooncakes without an oven using a rice cooker, which is not only convenient but also much more economical. Follow these steps:

• Step 1: Brush a mixture of cooking oil, egg yolks, and malt syrup on the surface of the mooncakes to enhance their color and appearance. Then, apply a small amount of cooking oil around the pot or place a layer of aluminum foil at the bottom to prevent sticking.
• Step 2: Place the mooncakes in the cooker and press the Cook button. When it switches to Warm mode, wait for another 15 minutes and press the Cook button again. Repeat this process 2-3 times to ensure even cooking.
• Step 3: Once the mooncakes are golden brown, remove them and enjoy the delicious and soft mooncakes.

Regularly check the surface of the mooncakes during the cooking process with the rice cooker to ensure they are evenly golden brown.

2. Making chewy mooncakes without an oven using a microwave

When baking mooncakes in the microwave, you don't need to spread the egg and syrup mixture on the surface of the mooncakes beforehand; you can do this after the first baking. This method of making mooncakes without an oven includes the following steps:

• Step 1: Preheat the microwave to 200°C for 10 - 20 minutes.
• Step 2: Place the mooncakes on a baking tray, turn on the baking mode, and bake the mooncakes for 10 minutes. Then, remove them, spray a thin layer of water on the mooncakes, and let them cool for 5 minutes.
• Step 3: Once the mooncakes have cooled, brush a mixture of cooking oil, egg yolks, and malt syrup on the surface of the mooncakes to enhance their color and appearance.
• Step 4: Place the mooncakes back in the microwave and bake for an additional 10 minutes to complete the process.

3. Making mooncakes with an air fryer

In addition to a rice cooker or microwave, you can also use an air fryer to make mooncakes. The steps for making mooncakes with an air fryer are as follows:

• Step 1: Preheat the air fryer at 180°C for 10 minutes. Then, place the mooncakes in the basket, bake them for the first time at 150°C for 5 minutes, and then remove them to cool.
• Step 2: Once the mooncakes have cooled, brush the mixture of syrup, cooking oil, and egg yolks on the surface of the mooncakes to enhance their color. Continue baking them for the second time at 140°C for 4 minutes. When the mooncakes turn slightly golden, remove them and let them cool.
• Step 3: Repeat the brushing process and place the mooncakes back in the basket for the third time at 140°C for 5 minutes. When you take the mooncakes out after the final baking, you may notice that the crust is slightly hard, but don't worry; it will soften as the mooncakes cool down.

4. Making mooncakes without an oven using a gas stove and sand

Making mooncakes without an oven using a gas stove and sand might sound quite unconventional, right? In fact, this is the most traditional method when modern kitchen appliances like ovens, rice cookers, or microwaves were not available. You'll need to prepare sand, cardboard, and aluminum foil with the baking steps as follows:

• Step 1: Use a larger stainless steel tray than the pot's mouth to make a pot lid. Put an appropriate amount of sand into the tray. Place this sand tray on the stove to heat it before baking the mooncakes.
• Step 2: Cut a piece of stiff cardboard slightly smaller than the pot's size to ensure it fits snugly inside the pot. Then wrap the cardboard pieces with aluminum foil.
• Step 3: Pour sand into the pot, about 2 – 3 cm high. Place the prepared cardboard from step 1 into the pot. Line the pot with wax paper and place the mooncakes in it. Use the sand tray from step 1 as a pot lid to cover it and bake the mooncakes over medium heat.
• Step 4: Bake the mooncakes for about 10 – 15 minutes until they turn opaque white. Sprinkle a thin layer of water on the mooncakes to make them softer. Then evenly spread the mixture of syrup, egg yolks, and cooking oil on the surface of the mooncakes to make them look more attractive and delicious.
• Step 5: Continue baking the mooncakes for another 10 minutes until they turn golden brown before removing them. That's it, you've completed the baking steps using a gas stove and sand.

5. Steaming mooncakes without an oven using a steamer

To execute making mooncakes without an oven using a steamer, you need to follow these steps:

• Step 1. Prepare the steamer: Place the steamer on the pot, making sure not to fill the water up to the steamer's level to avoid making the cakes soggy. Only add water to fill about half of the space between the steamer and the bottom of the pot.
• Step 2. Arrange the cakes on the steamer: Place the mooncakes into the compartments of the steamer. To prevent the cakes from sticking together during steaming, place them apart, creating space for expansion.
• Step 3. Steam the cakes: Place the steamer on the stove and steam the cakes for about 25-30 minutes until they expand and become soft and smooth. The steaming time may vary depending on the size and type of mooncakes you're making.
• Step 4. Check for doneness: To check if the cakes are done, you can use a chopstick to poke into the cake. If the chopstick comes out clean without any sticking residue, the cakes are cooked.
• Step 5. Let the cakes cool: Once cooked, let the cakes rest in the steamer for at least 10-15 minutes to cool and firm up. This prevents the cakes from cracking when you remove them.
• Step 6. Completion and enjoyment: After the cakes have cooled, you can enjoy the delicious steamed mooncakes with your family.

5. Deep-frying mooncakes without an oven

To give a twist to making mooncakes without an oven using the frying method, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: For this method of making mooncakes, you need to create a thin layer of dough before wrapping the filling. Roll out the dough thinly, stack it into multiple layers, and then add the filling before wrapping it.

Step 2: After wrapping the filling and shaping the cakes into rounds, use a gentle knife to make crisscross cuts on the dough layer.

Step 3: Heat oil in a pan, ensuring the cakes are evenly fried and crispy by adding enough oil to cover the surface of the cakes. Once the oil starts bubbling, gently place the cakes in to fry over low heat. The key to achieving evenly golden mooncakes is to fry them submerged in oil for about 2-3 minutes, then flip them over, repeating until the dough puffs up like a flower petal and turns uniformly golden brown.

Frequently Asked Questions about “Making Mooncakes Without an Oven”

Is making mooncakes with a rice cooker difficult?

Making mooncakes without an oven using a rice cooker, as presented above, isn't too complicated, is it? With just a little effort, you can make delicious, fragrant mooncakes for your family.

How long can homemade mooncakes be stored?

Homemade mooncakes do not contain preservatives, so they cannot be stored for long. Typically, they can last for about 3 – 5 days if kept in a dry place at room temperature between 18 – 25 degrees Celsius.

Where to buy authentic mooncakes at good prices?

To find and purchase high-quality mooncakes at reasonable prices with attractive promotions, consider choosing Mytour.vn, where you can find reputable mooncake brands such as:

So now you know how to make mooncakes without an oven. Get into the kitchen and showcase your skills to your family and friends, let them enjoy these delicious mooncakes. You can find all the ingredients, baking tools, or kitchen appliances at Mytour. Hurry up and visit now to get special offers!