As the Mid-Autumn Festival draws closer each year, we are always surprised by the number of new mooncake flavours created by restaurants, bakeries, and hotels. Some of these are adventurous, especially the snow skin ones. But for the traditionalists who love their baked mooncakes, here are some of this year’s best we think are must-tries, including unique ones featuring bak kwa and duck meat.
Andaz Singapore’s 5 On 25 Cantonese restaurant has debuted its mooncakes for the first time, and one of them’s this baked mooncake that sees smooth lotus paste infused with the restaurant’s signature tea blend.
Sink your teeth in and you’ll be greeted first by the delicate perfume of osmanthus, alongside notes of Oolong and Pu’Er tea.
Other flavours include white lotus paste with either melon seeds or double yolk, Dating Longans (red date lotus paste with longan meat), Teh Gao Siew Dai (milk tea lotus paste with almond flakes) and Ruby Pandan (pandan lotus and red bean paste with red beans).
$22 nett per piece or $85 nett for four pieces. Order here.
Bak kwa creations aren’t just for Chinese New Year — you’ll find them at traditional bakery Old Seng Choong this Mid-Autumn Festival.
Housed within a black and gold exterior, rich smokey hand-chopped bak kwa is paired with black truffle oil and red lotus paste for an indulgent confection that’ll find favour with those who prefer savoury mooncakes.
Other unique baked mooncakes include flavours like the Taro with Pumpkin, and the White Lotus Paste with Olive Kernel.
The Black Truffle Red Lotus Paste with Bakwa mooncake is at $88.80 for a box of eight. Visit its website to order or for more information.
Those who gravitate towards flaky Teochew mooncakes with spiral exteriors might fall for bakery-cafe La Levain’s creations this year.
Giving the trad pastry a modern spin, it has a set of three unique flavours this year. For one, there’s the Bobo Chacha Mochi Teochew mooncake with a velvety taro pumpkin almond cream filling and a coconut mochi centre.
Salted egg yolk lovers will be delighted with the Molten Salted Egg Teochew Mooncake, while the fragrant Earl Grey Latte Teochew Mooncake tempts with an earl grey latte-infused white lotus paste with a Valrhona caramel praline centre.
$66.30 (UP $78) for a box of six mooncakes in three flavours. Order here.
If you have a penchant for flaky Teochew-style mooncakes, dim sum restaurant Ju Signatures is where to place your order. It’s got an assortment of flaky mooncakes with spiral crusts, all handcrafted by executive chef Wong Kok Shyong, a former chef at Peony Jade.
Fillings range from orh nee to pumpkin, but there’s also one that envelops an oozy matcha mochi filling that’ll appeal to those after novel flavours.
The Flaky Matcha Mochi Lava Orh Nee Mooncake is at $73.80 (U.P $82 ) for four pieces. Order here.
Think pecan pie but as a mooncake. This ambrosial creation pairs a zesty honey lemon paste with roasted pecans and the caramel notes of maple for a sweet nutty treat.
$88 for a box of four. Order here.
First, you’ll be impressed by striking black and gold exterior of this mooncake. Then be equally delighted by the aroma of truffle permeating the smooth white lotus seed paste that’s complemented with savoury Jamon Iberico ham and salted egg yolk.
And for an additional luxurious touch, you can purchase the premium gift of four mooncakes together with a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut (375ml) at $238.
From $88 nett for four pieces. Visit its website to order or for more information.
The iconic floral and fruity flavours of Ispahan lend themselves to Baker’s Brew’s mooncake. Underneath the golden brown exterior, you’ll find a lychee-infused lotus paste studded with freeze-dried raspberries. It’s part of a box of four, with three other flavours: Traditional Single Yolk, Black Sesame, and Japanese Red Bean Citrus.
$78 for a box of four. Order here.
One of The Fullerton Hotels’ new creations this year, cut into the mooncake to reveal subtly sweet black sesame paste with hints of spicy ginger, rounded off with Hokkaido milk for a creamy finish. It’s a part of the Jade Signatures Classic Baked Gift Box, which also includes a new Chestnut with Pistachio Baked Mooncake and two lotus seed paste with yolk mooncakes.
$78 for a box of four. Order here.
You’ll be taken on a tour of Singapore’s diverse hawker culture with Clifford Pier’s mooncakes. Housed in a pretty tiffin carrier, dig into a Mixed Nuts with Satay Sauce Baked Mooncake that has an assortment of nuts and seeds, candied tangerine peel and melon for a touch of sweetness. Then, a dash of satay sauce for a familiar savoury flavour.
There’s also a Salted Lotus with Hae Bee Hiam Baked Mooncake that gets a tongue-tingling contrast with spicy dried shrimp paste, as well as the Assam Lotus with Mango Baked Mooncake that has tamarind tea-infused lotus paste studded with dried mango. The last one’s a Baked Pandan Coconut with Chendol confection with desiccated coconut and other chendol ingredients.
$108 for a box of four. Order here.
We know mooncakes are hardly the healthiest treats, but at least this one with the addition of oats and dried fruits bring a little more fibre and vitamins. Crafted by the culinary team of Sheraton Towers’ award-winning Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant, there’s a medley of raisins, apricots, prunes and dried figs alongside oats for a (more) wholesome Mid-Autumn Festival snack.
$91.59 for a box of four. Order here.
If you can’t get enough of anything matcha or hojicha, get this new mouthwatering treat from The Marmalade Pantry with a paste crafted with matcha and hojicha teas. Raisins balance the light earthy fragrance with a hint of sweetness.
It comes in a box of four flavours, with other options like Double Yolk with White Lotus Paste, Baked Charcoal with Black Sesame and Melon Seeds, and the Traditional White Lotus Paste with Macadamia Nuts which is also new.
And instead of boxes that are likely to land in the recycling bin, the Marmalade Pantry’s gift sets come in a stylish rattan vanity case that is ideal for yourself or for gifting.
The mooncakes come available in four gift sets, from $88 for The Marmalade Mix. Visit its website to order or for more information.
Instead of the usual salted egg yolk, you’ll get an oozy runny centre with this totally Instagram-worthy baked mooncake from local brand Mdm Ling Bakery. It has other mooncakes in the Lavalicious series as well, including Nanyang Coffee Caramel, Japanese Matcha, and Finest Belgian Chocolate and Italian Chocolate Hazelnut.
And if the mooncakes are meant as a gift, the packaging will impress too – take your pick from boxes that double as an exclusive Monopoly board game, a Chinese chess game box, or a Snakes & Ladders game box.
From $50.84 for a box of four (Snakes & Ladders box) Visit its website to order or for more information.
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