Why do mooncakes crack?

Mooncake is a kind of food we eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncake is composed of two parts, one is the dough, which is the surface of the cake; the other part is the filling. There are many kinds of mooncake fillings, such as fruit fillings, five-nut fillings and so on. Foods like mooncakes may crack after being stored for a long time, which will affect the taste of the food. The following is a detailed introduction to why mooncakes crack.

Why do mooncakes crack?

1. The ratio of making mooncakes is incorrect, the ratio of high flour and low flour in the crust is incorrect, the ratio of crust and filling is incorrect, or the ratio of oil, sugar and alkaline water is incorrect.

2. The mooncake skin is too hard or the dough is too relaxed. If the dough is too hard and has too strong gluten, it will easily break. If the dough is too soft, it cannot provide enough gluten strength to offset the expansion of the filling during baking, resulting in cracking.

3. The oven fire is too strong or the mooncake is baked for too long, causing the filling to expand and the mooncake skin to crack.

4. There is too much filling, which expands during the baking process and breaks the mooncake skin.

5. The mooncake filling is too wet, which causes water vapor to form during baking and crack the skin.

6. The concentration and conversion rate of the syrup are not enough, and the skin has poor viscosity, which leads to the skin and filling being easily separated and the mooncake skin cracking.

7. When wrapping the stuffing, there should be a large air difference between the stuffing center and the stuffing skin.

Is there any way to avoid cracking?

1. Preheat the mooncake filling to prevent it from expanding during baking.

2. Pay attention to the ratio. The ratio of mooncake skin to filling is 2:8. Too much will cause it to burst.

3. Pay attention to the ratio. Use 90% low flour and 10% high flour in the pie crust.

4. Bake at low temperature, but not too low. The lowest temperature should not be lower than 150 degrees and the highest temperature should not exceed 250 degrees, depending on the type of filling. Bake at low temperatures for a longer time, and at high temperatures for a shorter time. Be sure to carefully observe the color changes of the mooncakes and do not overbake them.

5. Brush a layer of water on the mooncakes before baking. Brush a thin layer of egg yolk every 5 minutes during baking.

6. Try to dry out the water in the filling as much as possible. Use a little more oil, as too much water will cause the filling to crack easily.

7. Make high-quality syrup, or simply buy ready-made syrup in the market.

8. When wrapping mooncakes, pinch the skin and filling tightly and do not leave too much air space.