Our favourite Mid-Autumn Festival (or more affectionately known as Mooncake Festival) is around the corner again! Every year, people celebrate the festivity by lighting candles and lanterns on the day of the full moon and indulge in decadent mooncakes.

For foodies like us, the best part of every year is seeing restaurants and hotels create the most unique and memorable mooncakes creations and they only seem to be getting better every year. With the ongoing trend of localising classics, we see more brands create mooncakes inspired by iconic local flavours. This 2018, you can expect a massive range of mooncakes—from elevated classic to one-of-a-kind creations, as well as mooncakes infused with Asian flavours.

Even if you’re not planning on feasting on these mooncakes, you can always choose to gift them to your family, friends and/or clients. The packaging is something to be mesmerized by too—of opulent boxes, pretty pastels and elegant designs, here are 6 Mooncakes You Need To Try This Mid-Autumn Festival 2018.

MAN FU YUAN MOONCAKES

InterContinental Singapore’s highly-lauded restaurant, Man Fu Yuan, introduces a range of baked and Snowskin mooncakes for this year’s festivities. These intricately-made mooncakes are encased in a gorgeous latticed chest with vibrant motifs that reflects InterContinental Singapore’s iconic centrepiece, The Lobby Lounge.

Making their first ever debut this year is a range of Snowskin mooncakes that are all infused with different types of premium tea. Look forward to irresistible flavours such as black sesame with ambrosial osmanthus, rich matcha with white chocolate, smooth white lotus with mandarin peel and Earl Grey with strawberry chocolate. If you prefer traditional baked mooncakes, you will be delighted to know that you can purchase classics such as baked mooncake with assorted nuts and baked mooncake with luscious white or red lotus paste with a choice of single or double yolks.

Looking for something healthy? Man Fu Yuan’s low-sugar white lotus paste mooncake, generously studded with crunchy macadamia nuts will win you over. You can purchase the mooncakes online from 22 July to 21 September 2018 at intercontinentalshoppe.sg and at the Man Fu Yuan Shoppe from 03 August to 24 September 2018.

Enjoy 25% early bird savings when you order the mooncakes from now until 31 August 2018, and an additional 5% savings when you make your purchase online. For more information, please visit ManFuYuan.sg, email sinhb-festive@ihg.com or call +65 6825 1131 or +65 6825 1132.

AWFULLY CHOCOLATE MOONCAKES

This Singapore-born chocolatier has always impressed us with their range of chocolate-based desserts. This year, be stoked about Awfully Chocolate’s intricately-made mooncakes and packaging. Mooncakes are very often purchased as gifts for loved ones, friends and acquaintances, and Awfully Chocolate takes pride in the packaging for this festival snack.

This year’s collection comes in a Chinese bamboo chest with a beautiful clasp that can definitely be reused as a decor after you’ve eaten the decadent Dark Chocolate Mooncakes (S$88 for a box of 4). The four flavours in the box are chocolate lotus paste and crunchy hazelnuts, white lotus paste with salted egg yolk, macadamia nuts and the unique chocolate brownie mooncake with toasted melon seeds.

Awfully Chocolate has also created the Chocolate Mooncake Truffles (S$88 a box) modelled after a mooncake. These adorable truffles come in flavours such as Hazelnut Chocolate with Nutella Yolk and Dark Chocolate with Espresso Yolk. Who can resist quality chocolate truffles?

Use our code ‘MC10′ to enjoy 10% off Awfully Chocolate’s mooncake hamper, mooncake collection, mooncake truffle, as well as fruit & nut full moons. You can also get free delivery when you spend S$120 and above.

Get them at the nearest Awfully Chocolate store this Mooncake Festival.

BAKERZIN MOONCAKES

Bakerzin is at the forefront of mooncake creations every year. Dishing out a plethora of types and flavours, they cater to a huge demographic. Whether you prefer classic flavours or modern and trendy mooncakes, Bakerzin has it all.

This 2018, Bakerzin has created the luxurious Royal Collection (S$66 a box, 1000 boxes available only) featuring their Signature Salted Egg Yolk Blend Mooncakes with a new look! The sleek and new mooncakes come in an array of colours—deep saffron, maroon, jade and charcoal. The flavours include Beetroot Gula Melaka, Osmanthus, Charcoal Tangerine Red Bean and the classic Pandan.

The Brilliance Collection (S$58 per box of 8) is perfect as a gift as it features 8 pastel-coloured snow skin mooncakes with fruit fillings. This year’s Brilliance Collection boasts a new added ingredient: Chia Seeds! With the added benefits of chia seeds, this is definitely a healthier option for the health-conscious people. The stand-out flavours are Cempedak, Honeydew and Strawberry.

Bakerzin’s mooncakes are available from now until 24 September 2018 at all Bakerzin outlets and online. The mooncakes will also be available for purchase at Mid-Autumn Festivals booths across Singapore, Cheers, FairPrice Xpress, and Qoo10. Pre-orders purchase at www.bakerzin.com will be available from 17 July to 9 September 2018.

From now until 2 September 2018, there’s an early bird discount of 15% on all Bakerzin’s mooncakes (except Splendour Collection which has 10% off).

THE RITZ-CARLTON, MILLENIA SINGAPORE MOONCAKES

The exchange of mooncakes is synonymous with Mid-Autumn Festival and every year, we are impressed with the creations from The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. For the upcoming celebrations, satiate your taste buds with their curated selection of snow skin and traditional baked mooncakes.

Encased in luxe red or rose gold boxes, which also doubles up as a handy jewellery box with multiple storage compartments, these exquisite mooncake creations will impress both business associates and loved ones.

This time, there are two new flavours you can look forward to—the Irish Martini in the Assorted Mini Snowskin Martini series (S$76 for a box of 8) and White Lotus Seed Paste with Red Date and Longan (S$76 for a box of 4).

To further entice you, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore will be offering an early bird promotion from now until 19 August 2018 for online purchases via www.rcmooncake.com.sg!

Online purchases are entitled to a 20% privilege on all baked and snowskin mooncakes (excluding the Mini Snowskin ‘Mao Shan Wang’ Durian mooncakes) and 15% privilege on the Mini Snowskin ‘Mao Shan Wang’ Durian mooncakes.

TUNGLOK MOONCAKES

With the ongoing emphasis on healthier choices and healthier living, most Singaporeans are becoming more aware of what they eat. Hence, this Mid-Autumn Festival, TungLok has introduced a whole range of healthier mooncakes—without compromising on taste! Using Allulose, a sugar with less calories, expect healthier mooncakes that are still lip-smackingly delicious!

Endorsed by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), the mooncakes are stamped with the healthier choice logo so you can be assured that it truly is healthy for you. The design on their boxes is also symbolic as goldfishes reflect the story of the Lantern Festival.

The limited edition TungLok Treasure Box (S$188+)—with its exquisite hand-crafted jewellery goldfishes and lotus flower—is the perfect gift for your business associates.

TungLok Perfect Duo (S$66+ for a box of 4) features its signature Double Yolk White Lotus and Double Yolk Red Lotus. Alternatively, go for something unique such as their Petals Mochi Snowskin Mooncake (S$60+) which comes in two incredible flavours—Brown Sugar Mochi with Red Bean and Yam and Brown Sugar Mochi with Peanut and Black Sesame.

From now until 31 August 2018, TungLokfirst, Most Valued Guest and UOB cardmembers get to enjoy 20% off from 2 to 10 boxes, 25% off from 11 to 49 boxes and 30% off from 50 boxes and above.

For more details on the mooncakes, visit www.tunglok.com.

SINGAPORE MARRIOTT TANG PLAZA HOTEL MOONCAKES

This Mid-Autumn Festival, Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel is elevating your celebrations to new heights with their stellar range of mooncakes. Featuring 11 exquisite mooncake creations that are handcrafted by the chefs of the award-winning Wan Hao Chinese restaurant, you can expect nothing short of culinary genius—unique flavours, traditional mastery and modern refinement.

If you are looking for something to impress your business associates or to spoil your loved ones, the Limited Edition Royal Gift Set (S$238) aims to go above and beyond with White Lotus Seed Paste Baked Mooncakes with Chrysanthemum, Mixed Grains, Serrano Ham & Salted Egg Yolk, accompanied with a bottle of Villa Girardi Amarone Della Valpolicella 2013 (375ml), wine opener and wine stopped.

For those who prefer something familiar, Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant is offering traditional recipes with a twist—by injecting local flavours. Drool-worthy options include the new Chicken Bak Kwa Baked Mooncakes with Assorted Nuts (S$70) and Cempedak Paste Baked Mooncakes with Pumpkin Seeds (S$78).

As for their snowskin renditions (S$68), the restaurant is launching three exciting flavours in the likes of Mango Yoghurt Snowskin Mooncakes with Lime Margarita Truffle, Mocha Snowskin Mooncakes with Milk Chocolate Royaltine and White Lotus Seed Paste Snowskin Mooncakes with Salted Egg Truffle.

Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel’s mooncakes are available for purchase from 20 August to 24 September 2018 at the hotel’s Forecourt Stall. Otherwise, you can pre-order online over at their website.

The annual Mid-Autumn Festival is one Chinese festival in Singapore that we always look forward to. Falling on the 15th of the eighth lunar month, it is often celebrated at night when there is a bright full moon and is usually accompanied by the soft glow of paper lanterns, Chinese tea and mooncakes.

Without a doubt, mooncakes are the main highlight of the Mid-Autumn Festival and with each year that passes by, we are spoiled with even more innovative mooncake varieties. This year, you can expect some pretty strange yet tantalising mooncake flavours from tom yum to American Ginseng—boozy ones are also available for the grown-ups. And for those of you who prefer the traditional white lotus mooncake with egg yolk, we’ve also included a list of our favourite places.

From traditional to contemporary mooncakes, here is our guide to 9 places to buy the best mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival this 2017.

AWFULLY CHOCOLATE MOONCAKES

Highly regarded for their luxurious and high-quality chocolates, we were anticipating Awfully Chocolate Singapore’s gorgeous Blue Moon Chocolate Mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival this year. We expect nothing less from the expert chocolatiers at Awfully Chocolate who have been in the business for almost 20 years.

This year, they will be showcasing their stunning Blue Moon Chocolate Mooncakes that come in two variations—Dark Moon and White Moon. These mooncakes are like mini chocolate desserts that mimic an actual mooncake and they are all handmade using premium chocolate and natural ingredients with no added preservatives.

The former is made entirely of premium dark chocolate. The centre comprises a smooth nutty praline filling, chocolate cake and a white chocolate “yolk” centre. The Dark Moon mooncake is encased with a chocolate shell made from delicious 60% dark chocolate for a nice crunch and textural variation as you bite into it.

If dark chocolate is not your thing, the White Moon will be right up your alley. The centre is filled with premium white chocolate ganache infused with fresh vanilla bean, chocolate cake and a white chocolate “yolk” centre. To get the gorgeous white “casing”, quality white chocolate is used to surround it.

If you are looking to buy them from Awfully Chocolate’s stores, the set of 4 mooncakes is only available via pre-order (4 days in advance) at the Marina Bay Link Mall and McCallum St stores. For online purchases, you can choose either the box of 2 (S$38) or box of 4 (S$68) mooncakes.

BAKERZIN MOONCAKES

Be enchanted by Bakerzin’s Crème de la Crème Mooncake Collections! This year’s festive line-up features 8 stunning collections of beautifully handcrafted mooncakes—Bold Collection, Supreme Collection, Signature Collection, Premium Collection, Pure Divine Collection, Majestic Collection, Prestige Collection and Heavenly Collection.

The Signature Collection (S$62 per box of 4) features four Premium Egg Yolk Blend Mooncake, and the Premium Collection (S$60 per box of 4) features two Premium Egg Yolk Blend Mooncakes and two Classic Melon Seed Mooncakes.

Allow the sweet pastel gems of the Prestige Collection (S$60 per box of 8) and Pure Divine Collection (S$56 per box of 8) to invigorate you with their tangy exotic flavours. Booze lovers are in for a treat as these collections featuring liqueur infused white chocolate truffle ganache such as Butterscotch Baileys Snow Skin and Coconut Liqueur Snow Skin.

All mooncakes will be available for pre-orders from 07 August 2017 onwards at all Bakerzin and Nom La La by Bakerzin outlets in Singapore or via their website at www.bakerzin.com/mooncake

Bakerzin mooncakes are also available online on Qoo10, ezbuy, Fave, Redmart, as well as two O’Coffee Club outlets (Paragon and Raffles Place). You can also find them at the following mooncake fairs in Singapore—Takashimaya, NEX, North Point, Tampines1 and Hillion Mall.

GRAND HYATT SINGAPORE MOONCAKES

Every year, we look forward to our favourite snowskin mooncakes from Grand Hyatt Singapore which come in all sorts of interesting flavours. This year is no exception of course, and as with every Mid-Autumn Festival, we seek joy and comfort in indulging in the snowskin mooncakes with premium truffles. Trust us on this; Grand Hyatt Singapore’s snowskin mooncakes will have you falling head over heels in love.

For snowskin mooncakes (S$69 for eight) this year, Grand Hyatt Singapore is featuring two new flavours which are Violette & Gin and Chocolate-Mint Fondant. Violette & Gin is the beautiful purple piece which comes with floral flavours and is infused with Tanqueray No. TEN gin and crème de violette liqueur; the green one is Chocolate-Mint Fondant and it is a mixture of both white and dark chocolate with a mint fondant centre.

From 28 Aug to 15 Sep 2017, enjoy 15% discount when you pay with selected credit cards while Damai and Club at the Hyatt members are entitled to 20% off their bill.

Thereafter, those who make their purchase from 16 Sep to 04 Oct 2017 enjoy 10% discount with selected credit cards while Damai and Club at the Hyatt members get 15% off.

Find out more details of Grand Hyatt Singapore’s mooncakes at www.singapore.grand.hyattrestaurants.com/shopatmezza9.

HONG KONG MEI-XIN MOONCAKES

Year after year, Hong Kong’s Mei-Xin Mooncakes impress with the most authentic tastes of Mid-Autumn Festival coupled with innovative new flavours such as lava custard and lava chocolate flavours which performed exceptionally well in recent years.

This year, they aim to do no different with their traditional varieties, snow skin collection, the ever-popular lava custard mooncakes and even a superhero-themed mooncake collection featuring iconic Marvel characters Iron Man and Spider-Man.

This year, Mei-Xin Mooncakes launches the Lava Egg Yolk with White Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake. In addition, their new Delicate Trio Mooncake offers you an assortment of Lava Custard Mooncake, Egg Custard Mooncake and Lava Egg Yolk with White Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake—something to entice all salted egg yolk fans out there.

For the kids, consider their new line of superhero-themed gift boxes and mooncakes featuring iconic characters such as Iron Man and Spider-Man. The Spider-Man Egg Custard Mooncake gift box is designed with the iconic head portrait of Spider-Man in navy blue. Each box contains 4 Egg Custard Mooncakes bearing his iconic hand gesture. On the other hand, Iron Man shows up on the Iron Man Green Tea & Red Bean Mooncake gift box.

For more details, head over to www.sgmeixin.com.

INTERCONTINENTAL SINGAPORE MOONCAKES

This year, InterContinental Singapore’s award-winning restaurant Man Fu Yuan unveils a divine collection of handcrafted mooncakes featuring four new tantalising snowskin mooncakes that come in floral flavours, and a selection of six baked mooncakes handcrafted by Executive Chinese Chef Kwan Yiu Kan using time-honoured recipes.

Making its debut this year, the Garden Collection features four snowskin mooncake flavours that include Roselle and Red Date; Rosemary, Almond and Green Tea; Rose and Pistachio; and Pandan and Macadamia.

The Garden Collection (S$72 nett for a box of four) features a stellar line-up of innovative snowskin mooncake creations that incorporate the use of botanicals and floral flavours—think elegant aromas such as rose, pandan, and rosemary.

The Baked Mooncake selection is available in a variety of flavours to suit all palates, such as White Lotus Paste with Single Yolk (S$68 nett for a box of four) and Double Yolks (S$72 nett for a box of four), Red Lotus Paste with Single Yolk (S$64 nett for a box of four) and Double Yolks (S$68 nett for a box of four), Assorted Nuts (S$66 nett for a box of four), and Low-Sugar White Lotus Paste with Macadamia Nuts (S$68 nett for a box of four) for a healthier indulgence this Mid-Autumn.

These dazzling mooncakes are all available online until 03 October 2017, and guests enjoy a 5% savings when they make their purchases at InterContinentalShoppe.sg.

If you prefer to make the trip down, you can also get them at the Man Fu Yuan Shoppe, located at the entrance of InterContinental Singapore from Bugis Junction until 04 October 2017.

For more information, you may visit ManFuYuan.sg, email sinhb-festive@ihg.com or call +65 6825 1131 or +65 6825 1132.

PAN PACIFIC SINGAPORE MOONCAKES

This year, a captivating ensemble of Mid-Autumn delights await at Pan Pacific Singapore’s Hai Tien Lo. Commemorate the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival with their stellar line-up of seven delicately handcrafted baked mooncakes such as Pandan Paste with Single Yolk and Caramel with Lotus Paste Single Yolk just to name a few.

New flavours this year include the Pandan Paste with Single Yolk (left), which features an aromatic blend of pandan-infused lotus paste and single egg yolk, elegantly cocooned within golden brown pastry. The Caramel with White Lotus Paste Single Yolk (right) features a seamless blend of rich caramel and fine textured egg that provides a charming contrast between sweet and salty.

For an unconventional option, savour the Mixed Nuts with Chicken Ham that boasts a combination of walnuts, almond, preserved melon, sesame seeds, melon seeds, olive seeds and macadamia nuts.

These exquisite mooncakes are available between 07 August and 04 October 2017. These seasonal treats may be purchased from Hai Tien Lo, by calling +65 6826 8240, emailing celebrate.sin@panpacific.com or via their website at pacificmarketplace.sg

SWATOW SEAFOOD RESTAURANT MOONCAKES

Die-hard fans of Teochew cuisine would know that Swatow Seafood Restaurant is one of the best when it comes to traditional Teochew dishes and handmade dim sum. For the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, it only makes sense to trust Swatow to delight our taste buds with their Traditional Teochew Mooncakes.

Yam is an essential ingredient in Teochew dishes and it is reflected in Swatow’s signature mooncake—Crispy Orh Nee with Single Yolk (4 for S$45). Think sweet yam paste moulded and encased in a flakey pastry; it is a classy mix of sweet and savoury notes. This is something the older folks would love!

If you are looking for another classic to please the Teochew cuisine loving folks, you cannot go wrong with the Traditional Teochew Baked Mixed Nuts (4 for S$62). The mooncake is infused with a mixture of wheat and healthy grain nuts. On top of that, the chefs are including bak kwa for the very first time too!

From now till 15 Sep 2017, Swatow is offering a 20% discount off their 4 and 8 pieces mooncake boxes. Now, this is an irresistible deal you must not skip.

Swatow’s mooncakes are available at all Swatow outlets and they come in boxes of two, four and eight to suit your needs—whether you are gifting them to families and clients or for your own personal indulgence.

THE RITZ-CARLTON, MILLENIA SINGAPORE MOONCAKES

The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore’s premium mooncakes are sure to impress your family, friends and colleagues this Mid-Autumn Festival. Expect to choose between traditional baked mooncakes and the ever popular snowskin creations which come in intriguing flavours.

For baked mooncakes this year, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore is introducing the new White Lotus Seed Paste with Five Grains (S$72 for 4 pieces). It is a healthier and nuttier version of your classic baked mooncake with the addition of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, oats and sesame seeds to the white lotus seed paste.

The Mini Lava Custard with Vanilla (S$78 for 8 pieces) and Mini Snowskin ‘Mao Shan Wang’ Durian mooncakes (S$78 for 8 pieces) make a comeback this year.

The former is a delectable combination of salted egg yolk and vanilla flavours while the latter boasts the bittersweet flavours of ‘Mao Shan Wang’.

Purchases for these stunning beauties can be made online at www.rcmooncake.com.sg. From 19 Sep to 01 Oct, simply use our code ‘LIC2017’ upon ordering to enjoy a 25% off Baked Mooncakes, as well as 15% off Mini Custard Lava with Vanilla & Snowskin mooncakes.

TUNGLOK GROUP MOONCAKES

This Mid-Autumn Festival 2017, indulge in TungLok Group’s new mooncake creations on top of the classics. The household brand is a well-loved name in Singapore and we are abashedly die-hard fans of all their gastronomic creations.

Newly introduced this year are the Petals Mochi Snowskin Mooncake, Sweet Hearts Mochi Snowskin Mooncake and Lava Custard & Matcha Oolong Mooncake. They are beautifully shaped into hearts and flowers, and are a treat to savour.

You can also look forward to TungLok Four Seasons, which includes the traditional quad of Egg Yolk White Lotus, Egg Yolk Red Lotus and Egg Yolk Pandan Lotus with Pistachios and Mixed Nuts. This old-school set will never go out of style.

TungLok mooncakes are available at all TungLok restaurants from 15 August to 04 October 2017, or whilst stocks last.

For enquiries and more information, call +65 9088 8008 or visit www.tunglok.com.

This post is brought to you by TungLok Group.

Mid-Autumn is soon upon us and like every other year, the mooncake craze has taken flight by now. Be enchanted by Bakerzin’s Crème de la Crème Mooncake Collections! This local homegrown brand never ceases to impress.

This year’s festive line-up features 8 stunning collections of beautifully handcrafted mooncakes—Bold Collection, Supreme Collection, Signature Collection, Premium Collection, Pure Divine Collection, Majestic Collection, Prestige Collection and Heavenly Collection.

Be frenzied with beautiful and colourful pastel mooncakes from the Prestige Collection and Pure Divine Collection or stick to Bakerzin’s evergreen classic that will never run out of style, the Signature Collection or the Premium Collection.

 For all health conscious foodies and mooncakes lovers out there, you will be happy to know that Bakerzin’s mooncakes are all handcrafted with premium low sugar lotus paste this year.

The Signature Collection (S$62 per box of 4) features four Premium Egg Yolk Blend Mooncake, and the Premium Collection (S$60 per box of 4) features two Premium Egg Yolk Blend Mooncakes and two Classic Melon Seed Mooncakes.

Back by popular demand, the beloved Premium Egg Yolk Blend mooncake features a thick layer of perfectly cured and aromatic salted egg yolk paste in the centre, promising a generous portion of egg yolk with every delightful bite!

These reign as one of Bakerzin’s best sellers, making it befitting as gifts for your business partners, friends and family members.

Allow the sweet pastel gems of the Prestige Collection (S$60 per box of 8) and Pure Divine Collection (S$56 per box of 8) to invigorate you with their tangy exotic flavours. Booze lovers are in for a treat as these collections featuring liqueur infused white chocolate truffle ganache such as Butterscotch Baileys Snow Skin and Coconut Liqueur Snow Skin.

Every slice replicates a shot that scores with its alcohol nuances excellently.

If you are game for something more exotic, you may also consider their Bold Collection (S$66 per box of 4) that features oddities such as Tom Yum Mooncake and Sakura Ebi Mooncake, American Ginseng and Ginger. Only 500 boxes of these four luxuriant flavours exist so get them while stocks last!

All mooncakes will be available for pre-orders from 07 August 2017 onwards at all Bakerzin and Nom La La by Bakerzin outlets in Singapore or via their website at www.bakerzin.com/mooncake.

Bakerzin mooncakes are also available online on Qoo10, ezbuy, Fave, Redmart, as well as two O’Coffee Club outlets (Paragon and Raffles Place). You can also find them at the following mooncake fairs in Singapore—Takashimaya, NEX, North Point, Tampines1 and Hillion Mall.