The mooncake festival is always an exciting time. Not just because we get to feast on the decadent pastries, but more-so for the precious time spent with family reminiscing over and creating timeless memories, even if we’re limited to a gathering of five for now.
After all, there’s nothing more comforting than timeworn flavours amid a time of uncertainty. Sure, brands are continuing to come up with innovating and exciting new variations on the traditional pastry. However, the enduring quality of old-style, handcrafted mooncakes is something that’ll never, ever go out of fashion. Here are our picks of Mid-Autumn Festival 2020’s best mooncake flavours to try.
What started as handmade mooncakes created with love by Madam Leng — a Putien employee — for her colleagues at Putien, blossomed into a staple at this Chinese restaurant during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Made without additives, these low-sugar mooncakes are traditionally Teochew and come with two types of fillings — yam and purple sweet potato — and encased in a deep-fried flaky pastry crust.
Premium Thai yam and Japanese purple sweet potato are peeled, sliced, steamed and mashed, then stir-fried until a smooth texture is attained, before being rolled into balls and refrigerated for a day. The crust is made by mixing two dough types — one rolled with vegetable shortening and the other with corn oil. The mixed dough is then flattened and meticulously layered, before being used to envelop the filling within. Upon frying, each piece becomes delightfully crispy on the outside, and perfectly moist on the inside.
Available from now until October 1, 2020.
Kam’s Roast launches three new mooncake flavours created by Executive Chef Wong Kwan Sang, who hails from Hong Kong’s one-Michelin-starred Kam’s Roast Goose, for this year’s mid-autumn festival.
The Red Dates Longan Mooncakes uses premium red dates to create a subtly sweet flavour, while longan provides a pleasant chewiness to every bite.
The Almond Egg Custard Mooncake contains a creamy almond paste made from hand-ground almonds and egg custard, while the Coconut Egg Yolk Mooncake offers the balance of sweet and savoury with coconut and duck egg yolk.
Fret not if you’re still coveting last year’s flavours, Kam’s Roast is also bringing back the Red Bean Orange Peel Mooncake, which gives you just the right amount of citrusy sweetness to keep your palate fresh.
Those who enjoy duck meat may take to the Assorted Nuts With Roast Duck Mooncake, which pairs duck meat with a medley of nuts and seeds, such as walnut, sesame seeds, almond, melon seeds and olive seeds.
Available from now until October 1, 2020.
Delicious. Delectable. Divine. The mooncakes from Old Seng Choong are virtually beyond compare. First up, the Red Lotus Paste with Bakwa baked mooncake that is simply bold and elegant. Filled with chopped-up pieces of bak kwa, this gives you a rich, savoury-and-sweet bak kwa flavour that doesn’t overwhelm. The size of the hand-chopped bak kwa pieces are just right; the texture, just tender enough, and every bite is full of bak kwa. Bak Kwa bliss.
If you’re one for classics, the White Lotus Paste with Pumpkin Seed, White Lotus Paste with Yolk Blend, and the White Lotus Paste with Double Yolk are also absolutely yummy. The baked golden-brown pastry is not too thick; the flavours are just sweet enough; and the paste, not too oily. These flavourful creations, while rich in flavours, do not come across as heavy. but light and addictive.
Love durian? Old Seng Choong also offers their Mini Mao Shan Wang Durian Snowskin mooncakes that come with a rich and creamy centre, filled with pure Mao Shan Wang durian pulp.
If you’re looking to gift someone with mooncakes, consider the Celestial Premium Gift Box that features a faux leather tiered case with watercolour florals and peacocks. Each box comes with one White Lotus Paste with Pumpkin Seed, one White Lotus Paste with Yolk Blend, one White Lotus Paste with Double Yolk and one Red Lotus Paste with Bakwa mooncake. It also comes with Red Tea and Da Hong Pao tea blends for a complete Mid-Autumn experience.
Available from now until October 1, 2020.
You can’t go wrong with Bakerzin’s Classic Premium Egg Yolk Mooncake, their decade-old signature mooncake, with its full-flavoured yolk that’s evenly spread out so that every wedge you cut gets its rightful portion of yolk. The new 2020 flavour is the Aromatic Latte Mooncake. Best for espresso fans, and not so much for the traditionalists, the aromatic filling for this mooncake is made up of 80 per cent Arabica and 20 per cent Sumatra Mandheling coffee beans. Imagine sinking your teeth into a firm espresso mousse. The aroma is exactly what you would smell when you have your latte or cappuccino. Other flavours you should not miss out on include Apple Vodka Truffle Snowskin and Black Sesame Snowskin, which we reviewed and love.
Available from now until 30 September 2020.
Wan Hao has updated their bevy of oriental treats with a selection of new snowskin mooncakes, which include a female-focused rose tea-infused white lotus mooncake that hides an opulent champagne truffle bursting with bittersweet, floral notes; as well as a daring fusion-style aquamarine mooncake that features a caramel sea salt truffle encased in white chocolate surrounded by mandarin orange and jasmine paste. For those looking to wow the room, arrive with Wan Hao’s premium gift set, which pairs a quartet of luxuriant gold-dusted black truffle and Bayonne Ham mooncakes with a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Brut Champagne. The heady, earthy aroma of black truffle in tandem with the intensely savoury ham from the Southwest of France is balanced by the vibrant and tangy flavours of the bubbly, making for an extravagant and luxurious affair. Of course, some old favourites and timeworn classic mooncakes return to grace the yearly event.
Available from August 27 to October 1.
Well known for their handcrafted tea-infused snowskin mooncakes, Teaspoon Of Love’s flavours this year include their Signature Salted Gula Melaka snowskin mooncake, together with the perennial favourite Osmanthus Oolong with Champagne Truffle snowskin mooncake, and Royal Earl Grey Milk Tea with Chocolate Truffle snowskin mooncake. Their newest flavour this year is Phoenix Lychee Tea snowskin mooncake. Experience the delightful sweet flavours of Lychee paired exquisitely with white chocolate and lychee martini truffle. This heavenly dessert is best enjoyed with a cup of Phoenix Oolong Tea.
Available for orders now. Delivery dates are from 1 Sept – 1 Oct.
While we normally associate delicate flavours such as lychee and rose with snowskin mooncakes, BreadTalk group’s Thye Moh Chan has come up with a flaky pastry version of this flavour profile. How? By infusing dried rose petals and lychee with sugar-free white lotus paste, then wrapped in a buttery, flaky pastry that’s characteristic of Teochew mooncakes. This is definitely a must-try for those who enjoy floral and fruity flavours in their mooncakes.
Available exclusively at Thye Moh Chan’s Chinatown Point and Paragon outlets.
Cherry Garden unleashes Oriental flavours this season with tea-infused mooncakes in both their baked and snowskin varieties. There’s your classically-styled Lugu Oolong tea baked mooncake complete with the textural crunch of melon seeds, as well as a newly introduced snowskin mooncake that balances out the dulcet flavours of red bean paste with mellow notes of the well-loved Japanese green tea. For a departure from other tea-related pastries, try out their citrusy mooncake that intersperses candied pineapple chunks – that have undergone an extensive eight-hour sweetening, then two-day drying process – and mango-and-passion-fruit-spiked mochi with silver lotus paste.
Available for orders now.
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport brings locavore flavours this Mid-Autumn Festival with mooncakes inspired by local desserts. These include snowskin mooncakes that draw from favourites like orh nee (yam paste), mango pomelo and pandan kaya. They’ve also got a mooncake inspired by the Nyonya mainstay Kueh Salat, that incorporates the classical blue pea flower in the pastry’s snowskin. An incredibly smooth and creamy kaya custard with heavy hints of pandan rounds out the alluring treat. The kicker is that you don’t even have to pick which of these four flavours you like the most: get them all as a set for your guests – and you – to embark on a nostalgia-tinged mooncake feast.
Available from now to October 1.
Cantonese restaurant Yan returns this year with a perennial favourite, it’s flaky, “thousand-layer” yam mooncake. This comes in addition to a macadamia-studded baked variant; and one snowskin creation – heady mao shan wang durian pulp encased in thin snow skin. While the mooncakes are available in sets of two or four, customers can also mix-and-match flavours as a box of four.
Available to order now.
If you want to go all-out this year, Goodwood Park’s offering a 12-yolk, 16.5 cm marvel of a baked mooncake. For the snowskin lovers, they’ve got two new flavours this year. The first is a refreshing combination of orange mousse studded with slices of fresh grapes; and the second featuring Japanese sweet potato with a pumpkin-coconut centre. Of course, it’s not Goodwood Park without at least one durian creation – last year’s mao shan wang Black Thorn, and D24 mooncakes make a comeback in all their luxurious, bittersweet glory.
Available for orders now.
Aroma Truffle’s handcrafted World’s Strongest Truffle Mooncakes feature a modern twist to traditional durian mooncakes. Infused with premium Black Winter Truffles harvested from Spoleto Italy, these mooncakes contain a medly of flavours. From sweet, ceramy, mildly savoury, to the classic bitter durian and strong truffle aroma. Filled with 100 per cent pure Musang King durian from Raub Pahang, their mooncake sets are available in two flavours. The Black Charcoal Musang King Mooncake is encapsulated in a 100 per cent natural Black Charcoal snow skin that is infused with premium Black Winter Truffle from Spoleto Italy, then delicately garnished with edible gold dust for maximum decadence. Whereas the Butterfly Pea Musang King Mooncake is enveloped in a beautiful blue hue extracted from the natural colour of the Butterfly Blue Pea flower. The core filling is a divine combination of pure Musang King durian flesh mixed with bits of premium Black Winter Truffle harvested from Italy.
Available now.
JW Marriott Singapore South Beach’s Madame Fan takes refreshing lychee – commonly seen in snowskin mooncakes – and puts it in a baked mooncake this year, giving the rich confection a refreshing edge. If that still hasn’t got the snowskin camp converted, they’ve got two equally compelling snowskin flavours this year: bird’s nest with Japanese purple sweet potato; and mao shan wang durian.
Available to order now.
For something a little lighter amid a spat of indulgence, Jiang Nan Chun uses silver lotus, which requires less oil and sugar to achieve that same velvety mouthfeel. That’s excellent when you’ll be eating far too much of this season’s debut, the Litchi with Raspberry and Rose snowskin mooncake. A raspberry-rose gelee morsel is hidden within vanilla-litchi pastry cream for a delightful and refined take on the pastry. Your typical baked and snowskin editions return in force, including their take on the Mao Shan Wang durian snowskin mooncake if you aren’t tired of the stuff as we wind down for the season. There’s even the option of pairing the mooncakes with organic sparkling tea, courtesy of COPENHAGEN – unsurprisingly, a Danish label – developed by renowned sommelier Jacob Kocemba and business partner Bo Sten Henson.
Available for orders now, collection or delivery from September 1 to October 1.
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Text: Alvin Lim/The Peak, Additional Reporting: Farisia Thang and Simone Wu
