Pandan Lotus Salted Mung Bean Mooncake

Creating Vegan Mooncakes

The first two mooncake flavors I ever made were White Lotus Black Sesame and Pandan Lotus Salted Mung Bean.

Back in 2010, when we were the first vegan bakery around, it wasn't easy for customers to find eggless and dairy-free mooncakes in the market. My idea was to replace the egg yolk center with a vegan alternative to fill this glaring gap. 

Crafting the Perfect Bite

Traditional mooncakes are typically filled with lotus paste and salted egg yolk. They work so well because of their balanced flavors - the salty egg yolk complements the sweet lotus paste perfectly. 

So in my mind when I was creating my first two flavors, I knew that if I wanted to use white lotus, I needed another flavor that balanced with lotus paste as well as egg yolk. I was determined to use two lotus flavors: white lotus and pandan lotus. 

After experimenting with various flavors and pairings, I discovered that salted mung bean was perfect for pandan lotus. Its salty yet sweet taste balanced out really well with the pandan lotus. 

From there, we began molding the salted mung bean into round balls, placing them in the center of the pandan paste, and wrapping it in our vegan pastry without any egg wash.

Over the years, we continued to refine our recipes based on our customers' feedback. One issue they mentioned and I could completely understand was that the filling was rather unevenly distributed. This meant that when they sliced the mooncakes, some slices had no filling while others had too much.

Since we handmake all our mooncakes at Delcie's, we couldn't position the black sesame filling right in the middle of the product. 

And, as we strive for perfection in every bite, we did extensive R&D. I finally found that by doubling the amount of salted mung bean - essentially double yolking - and using a layering technique, we could ensure that each slice of the mooncake consistently had mung bean in it.

Pandan Lotus Salted Mung Bean Mooncake

Our Pandan Lotus Salted Mung Bean Mooncake became one of our best-sellers. While we've experimented with different flavors, this classic combination remains an all-time favorite among our customers.

The pandan salted mung bean filling offers a harmonious blend of sweet, salty, and aromatic flavors, with a smooth and creamy texture.