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.

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.

Their mooncakes are crafted intricately, encompassing both time-honoured recipes and passion to create stunning confectioneries for families from all over to enjoy, which is no surprise why they are the best-selling mooncake brand in Hong Kong for 19 consecutive years.

Innovative new flavours may intrigue the senses, but nothing is quite as comforting as a slice of tradition.

Mei-Xin’s White Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake with 2 Egg Yolks and Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake with 2 Egg Yolks are the most popular from their traditional collection. Both are epic masterpieces comprising smooth lotus seed paste and rich, bright salted egg yolks that ooze with savouriness.

Mei-Xin also has a low sugar series of mooncakes for those who are health conscious. It retains the natural taste of mooncakes and you will be happy to know that it is practically sugar free.

In recent years, the Lava Custard Mooncakes have successfully won the hearts of mooncake lovers and the rate at which they were sold out is a testament to its taste.

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. It is embossed with Iron Man’s helmet and his gift box contains 4 Green Tea & Red Bean Mooncakes stamped with the crest of the Avengers—any comic book lover would want to add these 2 gift boxes to their collection for sure!

Mei-Xin Mooncakes have been honoured with a number of world-class awards for its magnificent mooncakes—namely their signature products of Traditional Mooncakes, Snowy Mooncakes, and Lava and Custard Mooncakes.

If authentic and high-quality mooncakes are what you are after, there is no reason why Mei-Xin Mooncakes should not be at the top of your wishlist this year. It is our favourite every single year.

Mei-Xin Mooncakes are available at the following places in Singapore:
Takashimaya: 31 Aug to 04 Oct
Change Alley: 04 Sep to 06 Oct (Closed on weekends)
VivoCity: 05 Sep to 04 Oct
Nex: 14 Sep to 04 Oct
Novena Square: 18 Sep to 03 Oct
Causeway Point: 18 Sep to 04 Oct
Compass One: 18 Sep to 04 Oct
Westgate: 18 Sep to 03 Oct
Tampines Mall: 20 Sep to 03 Oct

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

This post is brought to you by Hong Kong Mei-Xin Mooncakes.

We are always excited to receive mooncakes, but this year had us appreciating them way more, for we went on a very special and exclusive tour that heightened our admiration for the Chinese treasure. It is not every day that you get to visit a mooncake factory, so we were more than thrilled when we had the opportunity to visit Maxim’s factory to learn more about the production of their world class mooncakes.

From the meticulous procedures to ensure that the mooncakes are produced in a safe and clean environment to seeing and tasting the quality ingredients that go inside each mooncake, smelling the strong lotus paste upon stepping in the production room, witnessing the number of staff at their respective stations, and the intricate packaging process, it was such an eye-opening experience and insightful visit to witness the making of those famous Maxim’s mooncakes (known as Mei-Xin Mooncakes outside Hong Kong).

We will take you through on a behind-the-scenes journey of Maxim’s Mooncakes Factory, and how their award-winning mooncakes are being produced. And of course, no Mid-autumn festival is complete without a box or two of them.

SAFETY MEASUREMENTS AND PROCEDURES TO ENSURE A CLEAN AND SAFE PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT

It is a very thorough process, but that only means every Maxim’s mooncake is clean and safe for consumption. Every person who enters the plant has to be clothed in hygiene wear – caps to hold every strand of hair, full-length robes and gloves, surgical masks and even shoes wrappers. Hands are to be washed and sanitized after stepping in to the disinfecting rooms where every speck of dust will be blown off.

THE MAKING OF MOONCAKES

Now, this is a very amazing process. The assembly lines alone are jaw-dropping enough, and we never knew there could be so many people behind the making. There is the first group of workers who will scoop the fresh lotus paste for piping, and the second who will handle the machines that cut the mooncake into two to put the egg yolks in.

Another group of workers are in-charge of the various molds that will shape the mooncakes, and this is one complicated step as the differentiation process is no mean feat. There are so many variations – no yolk, single yolk, double yolk, white lotus paste, lotus paste… and the list goes on.

The baking process is another major set-up with multiple assembly lines. The batches of mooncakes are sent to bake multiple times. The first will be a 5-minute process to hold the shape of the mooncakes, and another group of workers will be at the end of the assembly line to dust the mooncakes with egg yolk before sending them to the second assembly line to bake for another 25 minutes. The third group of workers will then receive the baked goodies, and send them to the cooling room, and the process of cooling down takes another 30-40 minutes.

WRAPPING THEM UP

Over at the packing room, the assembly lines involve more technology. The mooncakes are packed in plastic containers, then sealed individually. And every single packet is then subjected to another hygiene test – a specialized machine is created to detect metal and foreign objects that might have gone in to the mooncakes during the production process. Stained ones will be discarded on the spot, while the good ones that passed will be stamped with expiry dates.

The final step is to pack the mooncakes into their respective boxes, and the baked goodies are good to be dispatched for sale for all discerning consumers.

MAXIM’S MOONCAKES: AWARD-WINNING MOONCAKES

We did a tasting on the many kinds of Maxim’s mooncakes, and boy, were we spoiled silly with all the goodness! From traditional baked ones to snow-skin variations, the myriad of flavours is such a joy to behold and taste. It is little wonder Maxim’s mooncakes are so popular – with such strict quality control, they promise nothing but the most comforting tastes that every connoisseur will agree with.

If you are a fan of traditional mooncakes, there is your usual white lotus paste with different number of egg yolks. They are smooth with an even sweetness level that you will not get sick of, and the egg yolks are simply fragrant. For something different, go for the red bean paste mooncake, mixed nuts mooncake, or egg custard mooncake.

The more adventurous ones will love their range of Snowy mooncake series, which are available in a wide variety of flavours including fruit jams, chocolate, and crunchy pearls.

Maxim’s Mooncakes is available at all Maxim’s Cakes outlets in Hong Kong, as well as 80 countries worldwide, including Singapore. Their consistency and popularity over the decades have proven that their mooncakes can indeed stand the test of time; they never go out of trend no matter how many Mid-autumn festivals have passed. And we are indeed fond of them.

This feature is brought to you by Maxim’s Group, the leading F&B group with 70 brands, and 840 outlets in Hong Kong, China and Vietnam. Read our guide on the best of Maxim’s Group dining concepts in Hong Kong.