From pu’er with mochi to green apple with soju truffle, these mooncakes will delight adventurous palates and kick-start the festival come 21 September.
You can’t go wrong with traditional baked mooncakes with white lotus seed paste every Mid-Autumn Festival. But if you are looking for something different to spice up your celebration this year, you are in for a treat.
Hotels and restaurants have upped their game with more inspired creations, boldly going where no one else has gone before. However it can be hard to choose which mooncake to buy; not only are there so many choices available, you can’t sample them (no thanks to the pandemic). To help you make the right choice, here’s an exclusive preview to some of the more unique flavours. Early bird promos of up to 30 percent off are ongoing so order now.
Fairmont Singapore
Fairmont Singapore’s snowskin mooncakes are oldies but goodies. The Champagne Truffle and Chocolate Ganache has with a generous dose of liquor and silky chocolate goodness; the creamy Sea Salt Caramel has strong notes of caramel and a balanced sweet-savoury taste; and the Rum & Raisin is accompanied by chocolate truffle for a bold flavour. The new kid on the block is the White Rabbit Candy flavour inspired by the local childhood candy – it’s instant nostalgia with every bite.
Godiva
Ah decisions… Godiva’s 2021 mooncake collection comprises a total of seven gift boxes and one hamper filled with limited edition mooncakes and classic chocolate pieces. It’s hard to choose which one to get, or dare we say, get ’em all?
There are two new flavours – Black Truffle Apricot Milk Chocolate that’s made with real Italian black truffle and crunchy candied apricot for texture; and Lychee Oolong Tea White Chocolate where smoky oolong tea and white chocolate ganache is paired with sweet lychee pâte de fruit and crunchy wafer.
Goodwood Park Hotel
Goodwood Park Hotel offers a splendid repertoire of new creations this year, all handmade without the use of preservatives. The 2021 collection includes the new Tropicana snowskin mooncake (main picture above) featuring a refreshing combination of coconut and passion fruit puree studded with dulcet morsels of pineapple cubes and coconut flakes. The sweet tangy filling is enveloped within an eye-catching variegated snowskin of orange and white.
Then add to cart a pair of baked pastries that’s almost too cute to eat. The adorable Chicky Duo are deftly handcrafted snacks shaped into adorable chicks by the dim sum chefs from Min Jiang. Enrobed in light buttery pastry skin, the baked treats are each filled with white lotus paste and enriched with a quarter of golden salted egg yolk.
Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium
Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium may be bringing back old favourites this season, but the hotel’s Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant is offering new flavours to excite our palate too. So besides the bestselling Peranakan Durian Mini Snowskin Mooncake and Low Sugar White Lotus Seed Paste Baked Mooncake with Double Yolk, also try the Sea Salt Caramel Praline Mini Snowskin Mooncake and Green Tea Paste with Chrysanthemum Praline Mini Snowskin Mooncake to perk up your tea break.
Janice Wong Singapore
Chocolate and mooncakes are a never-fail combination – which is why Janice Wong’s collection is one that we always look forward to. This year’s flavours include her signature drip-painted Chocolate Mooncakes in Coffee & Chocolate, Caramelised Sea Salt Pecan Dark Chocolate, Peanut Butter Snickers, and Coconut Vanilla Biscoff. For the traditionalist, try the Modern Snow Skin Mooncakes created in an exclusive collaboration with Tai Sun. It comes in four flavours: Yuzu Cranberry, Mung Bean Pecan Pistachio, Coconut Pecan Baked Almond, and Gula Melaka Macadamia.
JW Marriott Singapore South Beach
Some of the most decadent mooncake offerings await with JW Marriott Singapore South Beach. All-new creations include the aromatic Green Apple with Soju Truffle, while a returning crowd pleaser is the Baked Blueberry Paste with Chia Seeds even the most health conscious individuals would approve.
Old Seng Choong
Helmed by renowned local pastry chef Daniel Tay, Old Seng Choong offers intriguing new flavours that might seem odd at first but make sense when you bite into them. They include Black Truffle Red Lotus Paste with Bakwa, Hae Bee Hiam Red Lotus Paste, and Bird Nest Pandan Gula Melaka. We recommend the first two if you are into more savoury mooncakes. Made without preservatives and artificial ingredients, all creations are lower in sugar.
Each box in teal or magenta comes decorated with adorable gilded rabbits and gold hardware, although for a top up of $10, you can get the luxe limited edition “The Black Edition”.
Pan Pacific Singapore
This year, Pan Pacific Singapore’s award-winning restaurant Hai Tien Lo is delighting us all with a line-up of low sugar, handcrafted traditional bakes including the highlight Pu Er Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake. This new option readily blends the earthy notes of pu’er tea with the fragrance of lotus paste to create a new flavour profile for the perennial confection. Prefer snowskin mooncakes? Just go with the fan favourite Mao Shan Wang Durian or returning Matcha Black Sesame.
Parkroyal Collection Pickering, Singapore
Best enjoyed alongside a piping hot cuppa, Parkroyal Collection Pickering, Singapore’s 2021 line-up of mooncakes presents traditional flavours with a modern twist. Just think Pu’er with Mochi, Lychee with Wolfberries and even the signature Charcoal Black Sesame Paste with Melon Seeds and Gold Dust. And these are all packed in an elegant two-tiered mooncake box, complete with a built-in bluetooth speaker and gorgeous floral designs—a showstopping gift set for sure.
Raffles Hotel Singapore
Snowskin mooncake lovers, this is probably for you. Raffles Hotel’s collection features a delightful range of flavours but it’s the two new creations we love: Yunnan Dark Brown Sugar and Rum Truffle, and Da Li Rose and Strawberry Chocolate Snow-Skin Mooncakes. In the former, the caramelised brown sugar is blended with rum and candied winter melon to create a decadent, earthy aftertaste. The latter takes inspiration from chef Jereme Leung’s signature Da Li Rose Petal Ice Cream served at yì by Jereme Leung, where its aromatic fragrance permeates the sweet treat alongside fruity notes of strawberry chocolate.
Regent Singapore
Regent Singapore’s got some of the most unique creations this Mid-Autumn Festival, and that’s saying a lot. Taste the entire range when you select Regent’s Snowskin Collection; that includes Basilico’s new, zesty Amalfi Limoncello & Basil mini mooncake and Summer Palace’s Goji Berries with Osmanthus & Dried Strawberries flavour.
Royal Durian
This has to be one of the most dramatic mooncake gift boxes we’ve seen. Open the box and a plume of dry-ice smoke billows from the inside. The lighted interior gradually reveals eight durian snowskin mooncakes against a star-filled night sky.
It’s all worth the Insta-worthy presentation, because the durian mooncakes taste just as heavenly. Each piece is made with 100 percent hand-peeled pure Mao Shan Wang from Pahang, Malaysia. Due to the laborious production, the mooncakes are available in limited quantities. If you can’t get your hands on them, visit Royal Durian’s one and only Mao Shan Wang specialty store in Jurong for your durian fix.
Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro
The award-winning culinary team at Michelin-starred Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro pays homage to the flavours of autumn and Japanese culture with the new Japanese Pumpkin and Sakura Petals with Low Sugar White Lotus Paste mooncake. Each bite is all pleasure and less guilt where Japanese pumpkin is embedded with a fragrant smattering of sakura petals alongside reduced sugar white lotus paste for a delicate and nuanced flavour.
Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant
Elegantly tucked into a regal red and blue floral bag – complete with bamboo handle – are Si Chuan Dou Hua’s mooncakes. Among the classic White Lotus Single and Double is the new Lychee Paste with Rose that has gentle floral tones accompanied by the sweet scent of fresh lychees. What’s even better is that the entire collection is lower in sugar compared to typical mooncakes.
The Marmalade Pantry
Besides the Double Yolk with White Lotus Paste and Baked Charcoal with Black Sesame and Macadamia Nuts, the Limited Edition Mooncake Collection 2021 by The Marmalade Pantry has two new baked flavours. The Pandan Kaya Melon Seeds is a celebration of our Southeast Asian heritage with pandan and kaya paste and melon seeds, while the Classic Earl Grey Infused Lotus Paste elevates tradition with the comforting flavour of milled Earl Grey tea leaves.
The most unique part? It’s actually the limited edition bags that the mooncakes are packaged in. Each gift set comes with a stylish bag in woven rattan webbing and scarlet red PVC leather – a modern take on traditional elements of Asian design – so you “carry” on the celebrations well beyond the Mid-Autumn Festival season.
Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel
Handcrafted by the hotel’s award-winning Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant, the Golden Black Truffle Baked Mooncake with San Daniele Ham, Single Yolk & Pistachios is certainly one of the most unusual offerings seen this year. Taste-wise however, it does not disappoint. It’s a medley of sweet and savoury alongside the delightful crunch from pistachios. We suggest getting the Wan Hao Premium Gift Set that includes these gold-dusted baked mooncakes and a 375ml bottle of Laurent-Perrier Brut Champagne.
Also new and limited is the Rose Bird’s Nest with Golden Custard Paste snowskin mooncake. Each piece is made with collagen-filled bird’s nest infused with a rose floral aroma that balances well with the sweetness of golden custard. The eight-piece set is encased in a floral “tingkat” box.
