The Hungry Ghost Festival is finally over, and in less than two weeks time, we will be celebrating Mooncake Festival 2011!

Mid-Autumn festival always comes early for me, I have been trying out different mooncakes for the past month. Which are the best mooncakes? Which are the some of the new mooncake flavours that you can’t miss?

Here are 5 mooncakes that you must try for Mid-Autumn Festival 2011.

Mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. From the traditional baked mooncakes with lotus paste, to snowskin mooncakes with truffles – there are so many mooncakes to choose from.

I prefer traditional baked mooncakes to snowskin mooncakes. I don’t know about you, but I feel that Mid-Autumn Festival is all about having a traditional baked mooncake with a pot of tea. Snowskin mooncakes are nice, but to me, they will never replace the traditional baked mooncake with single yolk and white lotus paste.

Sure, I wouldn’t mind trying out samples of the new exotic flavours at the various mooncake fairs, but if I am buying them as gifts, I’d stick with the traditional baked mooncakes and some of the more popular snowskin mooncakes.

Mandarin Orchard Singapore Mooncakes

Among the four mini snowskin mooncakes from Mandarin Orchard Singapore, my favourite is the Lychee Martini (picture above). For Mooncake Festival 2011, Mandarin Orchard is selling their mini snowskin selection of four flavours (8 pieces) for $58. The other three flavours are Almond with Black Sesame Paste Mooncake, Purple Sweet Potato and Amaretto Truffle Mooncake and Green Tea and Melon Seeds Mooncake.

If you want something special for traditional baked mooncakes, you must try the Baked Mooncake with Mixed Nuts and Jamón ibérico ($58 for a box of 4). Oh my god, Jamón ibérico in a mooncake! By the way, I saw a mailer from Citibank – they have a ’15% off’ mooncake promotion for Mandarin Orchard’s mooncakes.

Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant
333 Orchard Road Level 35
Orchard Wing Mandarin Orchard Singapore
Tel: +65 6831 6262
From 5 Aug to 12 Sep 2011

Deli Counter
Outside Mandarin Gallery main entrance
From 13 Aug to 12 Sep 2011

Jewels Artisan Chocolate Mooncakes

The Korean Black Garlic mooncake ($56.8 for 8 pieces) from Jewels Artisan Chocolate is surely one of the most exotic mooncake flavours in the market. The combination of black garlic and mooncake may seem a little intimidating, but the garlic taste was actually quite subtle.

In the hands of Chocolatier Then Chui Foong, chocolates become something more. Her other snowskin mooncake creations – Champagne Ganache Truffle, Dark Chocolate Crunchy Pearl, Espresso Truffle and Salted Caramel Truffle – are equally brilliant.

Jewels Artisan Chocolate
181 Orchard Road #02-31/32
From 12 Aug to 11 Sept 2011

Takashimaya Mooncake Fair
Basement 2 Ngee Ann City
391 Orchard Road
From 18 Aug to 11 Sept 2011

Entertainment Centre Atrium (Outside Carrefour)
Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard
From 29 Aug 2011 to 11 Sept 2011

Pan Pacific Singapore Mooncakes

One of the mooncakes that caught my attention for Mooncakes Festival 2011 is the Hazelnut Feutilletine snowskin mooncake from Pan Pacific Singapore. Hazelnut feutilletine!!

A box of 8 petite snowskin mooncakes is available at $58, and it includes other interesting flavours like Apricot Brandy with Sweet Potato, Black Forest with Chocolate Pearls and Champagne Strawberry.

Hai Tian Lo
7 Raffles Boulevard
37F Pan Pacific hotel
Tel: +65 6826 8338

Mid-Autumn Festive Booth
7 Raffles Boulevard
Level 1 Pan Pacific hotel

Four Seasons Hotel Mooncake

Four Seasons Hotel Singapore Mooncakes

For traditional Baked Mooncake, get the one from Four Seasons Hotel. The traditional Baked Mooncake with Silver Lotus Paste and Single Yolk is $59 for a box of 4 (picture above). The chefs at Jiang Nan Chun have also created baked Mooncake with Home Made XO chili sauce and mixed nuts and Baked Mooncake with Mixed Berries ($59 for a box of 4).

Jiang Nan Chun
190 Orchard Boulevard
Four Seasons Hotel
Tel: +65 6831 7220

Raffles Hotel Mooncakes

My all time favourite is the Champagne Truffle Mooncake from Raffles Hotel. This is quite possibly one of the best mooncakes in Singapore!

Royal China Restaurant
1 Beach Road
#03-09 Raffles Hotel
Tel: +65 6338 3363

Raffles Hotel Mooncake Booth
1 Beach Road
North Bridge Road Entrance

Besides the popular Takashimaya Mooncake fair, there are also mooncake fairs at various shopping malls like Vivocity, Ion Orchard, IMM, Jurong Point, NEX, Century Square, Suntec City and Junction 8. This is the best way to satisfy your mooncake cravings. Unleash the inner aunty-mentality in you, and try all the samples at the mooncake fairs!

Some people like traditional mooncakes, while others prefer snowskin mooncake, no matter what it is, I hope you are eating it. Have a good Mid-Autumn Festival!