Mooncakes are traditionally made for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, meant for lunar appreciation, moon-watching, and celebrating the autumn harvest.
These are Cantonese-style mooncakes, which are commonly found in Chinese bakeries and notable by their intricate patterns on top. I found a recipe from Huang Kitchen which uses salted egg yolks and homemade lotus seed paste, but you can use store-bought too if it's available. These are very traditional fillings, as the yolk inside represents the moon.
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These are incredibly time-consuming and contain more components that are hard to come by or intense to make, hence their high price. 
Is it more worth it to make or buy? Either one! If you don't have time, definitely buy them from your local bakery! On the other hand, I really enjoyed making them and giving them out to friends, plus you can customize your own fillings.

Ingredients

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Lotus Seed Paste:

• 300 grams dried lotus seeds (makes about 800g lotus seed paste)

• 1/2 Tbsp alkaline water

• 250 grams sugar

• 200 grams vegetable oil

• 30 grams maltose or honey

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Mooncake Skin Dough:

• 190 grams golden syrup

  • (To make your own: cook 200 grams sugar, 100 grams water, and 25 grams lemon juice to 118°C/240°F. Cool completely.)

• 50 grams neutral oil

• 1 tsp alkaline water

• 250 grams all-purpose flour

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Mooncake Fillings:

• 600 grams lotus seed paste

• 22 salted egg yolks, baked 5 minutes

• 60 grams melon seeds, toasted (optional, I skipped)

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Egg Wash:

• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

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Mooncake mold:

• 1 mooncake mold, 70g

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Instructions

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1. Lotus Seeds Paste: First bring water to a boil. Then add alkaline water and dried lotus seeds. Boil for about 5 minutes.

2. Remove the skin of lotus seeds by rubbing under running water. Remove the bitter tips and stems inside the softened lotus seeds.

3. Put the seeds in a pot and cover with enough water. Bring it to a boil and then turn heat to low. Allow to simmer for about 1 hour. Cover and cook until the water turns milky and the lotus seeds become tender.

4. Transfer the tender lotus seeds together with some of the water to a mixer. Puree until the lotus seeds become very velvety and smooth.

5. Heat up a non-stick pan glazed with 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Then, on low heat add in 1/4 cup of the sugar and stir fry till sugar dissolves and turns golden in color.

6. Add in the lotus seed puree and remaining sugar. Using a heat resistant spatula, stir till the paste becomes almost dry and the water has evaporated.

7. Add in 1/3 of the vegetable oil and keep stir-frying over the heat till combined before adding another 1/3 of oil. Repeat until all the oil has been added.

8. Stir constantly till the paste becomes thick. Then, add in maltose and stir non-stop until the paste starts to leave the side of the pan and eventually come together in one large dough piece. 

9. Transfer and spread the paste on a plate or casserole and let it cool before use.

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1. Mooncake Skin: While waiting, prepare the mooncake skin dough. First, whisk together golden syrup, neutral oil and alkaline water until they are thoroughly blended. Then add in flour.

2. Using a spatula, mix and fold in the flour until a soft and sticky dough is formed. Cover with cling wrap and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes before working on it.

3. Then, divide and weigh the mooncake skin dough into 25g each.

4. Be sure to cover the mooncake skin dough with cling wrap to prevent them from drying.

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1. Other Fillings: Meanwhile, prepare the other mooncake fillings. Crack whole salted eggs and retain the egg yolks. Lightly rinse to clean off a firm around the yolk and wipe off excess water with a kitchen towel.

2. Then, bake the salted egg yolks in a preheated 350F/175C oven for 5 minutes and set aside to cool.

3. Weigh to determine the weight of the egg yolk. It should be around 15g each.

4. Next, toast melon seeds for 5 minutes and remove to cool.

5. Once cooled, combine and mixed well the melon seeds into lotus seed paste prepared earlier.

6. Then, roll the combined lotus seeds paste into a log and cut into smaller pieces. Using a weighing scale, divide the lotus seeds paste into 30g each.

7. Since making the mooncakes with a mold (original poster's mold was 70g), you must ensure they are all of the same size. So make sure the TOTAL weight for all the portions (paste + dough + egg) is 70g.

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1. Assemble Mooncakes: To assemble, press down to flatten a lotus seed paste ball and wrap one salted egg yolk in it. Gather the edges around the part between your thumb and index finger. Roll it into a ball. Continue to do the same for the rest of the lotus seed paste portions to make filling balls.

2. Flatten one portion of the skin dough and place one filling ball in the middle. Flip over and then wrap the edge evenly around the filling ball.

3. Flip over again and gently but firmly push the skin dough around the filling using the palm of your hands. Check to see if there are any breaks in the dough. Then gather the edges over and pinch to secure the filling ball on the top. Roll it again into a ball to seal completely and smooth the shape. Continue to wrap the rest of the filling balls with the mooncake skin dough.

4. Next, prepare to mold the mooncakes. Lightly brush a [plastic] mooncake mold with flour. See notes below about wooden molds.

5. Then roll the mooncake into a longer ball with the palm of your hands. This will make it easier to place into the mooncake mold.

6. Carefully place the mooncake into the mold and place the mold on a floured surface. Press the handle down to impart the design. Press gently until you can’t move it any further.

7. Then pull the handle up and release the mooncake. Repeat for the rest of the round mooncake balls.

8. Place the molded mooncakes on a baking tray.

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1. Bake Mooncakes: To bake the mooncakes, preheat oven to 375°F/190°C and place rack in the center of the oven.

2. Then bake the mooncakes until the mooncake skin sets and the edges of the mooncakes start to turn golden, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove the mooncakes from the oven to cool for 15 minutes. Then lightly brush a thin layer of egg yolk wash over the pattern on the top of mooncakes.

4. Place the mooncakes back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the mooncakes turn golden brown.

5. Remove from the oven and let mooncakes cool on the tray for about 5 minutes.

6. Then transfer the baked mooncakes to cool completely on wire rack before storing them in an airtight container.

7. Mooncakes can be served after 24 hours and they will look and taste better after 3 days. Enjoy!

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Recipe Notes

• Golden syrup is a type of inverted sugar syrup. It is an amber-colored syrup made from sugar but has a much richer texture and a deep aroma from the citric acid in it. The acid is needed for making the mooncakes, as it reacts with the lye water and creates the beautiful golden-brown color.

• The alkaline water adds a yellow color to the dough skin. It also acts like a baking soda to keep the dough skin fluffy and moist. It helps to neutralize the acid in the golden syrup so the dough won’t taste sour.

• Making mooncakes requires very accurate measurements so it’s best to have in hand a weighing scale to measure all the ingredients needed.

• When pressing using the plastic mooncake mold, set the tool with one hand and then press it down with the other hand. Do not press it too hard, otherwise the mooncake will squeeze out from the bottom of the mold.

• If using a wooden mooncake mold, gently flour the outside of the unshaped mooncake so it doesn't stick in the mold nor ruin the design of the mooncake. Gently press it in with the palm of your hand until completely filling the mold. Then smack the entire sides of the mold against a counter (covered with a towel) and invert to remove the mooncakes

• Only lightly egg wash the top surfaces of mooncakes and not the vertical surfaces. If you accidentally brush too much egg wash and it fills the pattern, then use a small brush to clean the gaps and remove excess egg wash.

• Allow baked mooncakes to cool on baking tray before removing them, as the mooncakes will be flaky and soft when hot. If removed them right after baking, the mooncakes may crush easily.

• These mooncakes should be kept in air tight containers for 1 to 3 days before serving, as the mooncake skin will be very tough and crumbly right after baking. As the mooncakes rest, the oil inside them seeps out and this will allow the crust to soften, be moist and the flavor to develop.