Mid-Autumn 2012 – Mooncakes Galore

It has been 15 years since my 1st visit to Takashimaya Square (B2) for Mid-Autumn Festival. And every year without fail, I would make a trip down to sample the mooncakes before deciding which to buy. While I used to try all the traditional baked white lotus paste mooncakes, I have in recent years stick to those from hotels and well-known restaurants or bakeries. As for snowskin ones, it has to look presentable before I would give it a try. I am not a fan of crispy yam mooncakes so gave it, as well as the Hong Kong and Malaysian versions that I found too sweet and oily for my liking, a miss. Similarly for the worst mooncake I have ever tasted, which I'd rather not mention its name.

People have asked how I managed to sample so many mooncakes and still remember their taste, let alone compare which is better. More so since it was done without writing anything on the brochures collected. A spilt second decision with every bite whether the mooncake was better than the previous one(s) and the brochures would be stacked accordingly. The good ones should have the aroma of traditional baked skin (√) with a smooth (√) and not too sweet (√) white lotus paste. As most of the white lotus paste this year was a tad sweet, I have included mooncakes from brands that did not participate in Takashimaya Mooncake Fair 2012 (*).

Traditional Baked White Lotus Paste Mooncake

 

Settled for Peony Jade's Baked Premium Mother of Pearl White Lotus Paste with Macadamia Nuts & Single Yolk Mooncake but was told the early bird offer until 2 Sep was only valid at its restaurants. So went Clarke Quay (the other one is at Keppel Club) to buy as 30% discount for OCBC cardholders was too good a deal for me to miss. Wanted to buy East Ocean's Snow Skin White Lotus Paste Mooncake, neither the minis nor with egg yolk so they would be freshly made on the spot. But its promotion for a box of 9 minis at $30, instead of $41.73, was irresistible. Both Peony Jade and East Ocean claimed their mooncakes to be preservatives-free, and the latter also "made fresh daily" with "no colouring added".

New Creation Mooncake

I would try new creations if I imagine its combination to be delicious such as The Cookie Museum's Drunken Durian. A snowskin mooncake filled with 100% butter durian so that its fibre and pulp remained in the texture, I thought it went well with the aftertaste of Baileys Liqueur. While most durian offerings are snowskin versions (think Home's Favourite Pte Ltd), Garden Pastry and Cake Pte Ltd stood out with its Crispy Skin Durian (Mao Shan Wang) Mooncake. But there was neither an aroma nor a crisp in its bland crust while the filling was more durian paste than puree, with no tinge of the mostly bitter Mao Shan Wang.

Noticed many osmanthus mooncakes this year – Golden Peony by Conrad Centennial Singapore, Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant by Sheraton Towers, Paradise Group, Peach Blossoms and The Fullerton Hotel, just to name a few. Liked the nice touch but not overwhelming aroma and taste of osmanthus in Golden Peony's, with a smooth white lotus paste that was not too sweet. Did not try Peach Blossoms', which was part of its snowskin mooncakes to depict the sour, sweet, bitter and spice of life with semi-dried roselle, osmanthus, bitter gourd and spicy chocolate in white lotus paste. Instead, I tried its Traditional Baked Organic Oats, Premium Nuts and Dried Fruits Mooncake. Found it a tad sweet due to the dried fruits but full of wholesome goodness.

A recommendation for coffee lovers would be Yan Ting's White Coffee Infused Snow Skin Mooncake with Coffee Paste and Macadamia Nuts. Could smell the aroma of coffee, with a bitter-sweet coffee taste that lingered in the mouth. Another worth mentioning would be Sze Chuan Court by Fairmont Singapore's Yin Yang Delight, with the aroma of sesame seeds (black and white) in white lotus paste that was not too sweet. Also liked the mung bean taste in Park Palace's Yuzu with Mung Beans in Snowskin but somehow, the aroma of yuzu reminded me of a fizzy orange drink. Enough said and in case you are wondering, Mid-Autumn Festival 2012 falls on 30 Sep.