Do their flavours live up to their fancy names? Find out in our reviews of these baked and snowskin delights, assessed according to creativity and quality of presentation, ingredients and flavours.
TEXT: MANDY LIM BEITLER
PHOTOS: W SINGAPORE – SENTOSA COVE; SI CHUAN DOU HUA; CHERRY GARDEN; SHANGRI-LA SINGAPORE; JADE RESTAURANT; XIN CUISINE CHINESE RESTAURANT; PAUL SINGAPORE; MDM LING BAKERY; FORBIDDEN; CROWNE PLAZA CHANGI AIRPORT
It’s a tradition to eat mooncakes during the Mid-autumn Festival, which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, and falls on 29 September this year. The event sees people attending “moon viewing” (the moon is apparently brightest during this time) parties in lantern-lit gardens, where they sip tea and savour mooncakes. These pastries are shaped like the full moon, to symbolise reunion.
Restaurants and bakeries are getting increasingly creative in their choice of mooncake fillings, which — beyond the traditional lotus paste — may incorporate local twists and premium ingredients such as truffles. To help you narrow it down, we sampled a variety of baked and snowskin mooncakes and classified them according to creativity, quality of ingredients, presentation, and most importantly, taste. Here are our top picks for 2023.
BAKED MOONCAKES
For the health conscious: Bi Luo Chun Tea Lotus Seed Paste from Si Chuan Dou Hua (Halal-certified)
Recognising that Singaporeans are becoming increasingly health-conscious, Si Chuan Dou Hua is offering low-sugar mooncakes this year. Furthermore, your purchase backs a good cause. Besides working with Extraordinary People (a charity that supports individuals with special needs) for the design of the mooncake gift box and fabric bag, the restaurant also hires differently-abled persons to help assemble the boxes. Tea connoisseurs won’t be disappointed by the new Bi Luo Chun Tea Lotus Seed Paste mooncake. The lotus paste is elevated with a generous infusion of the world-famous biluochun green tea from Suzhou, China, which results in a subtle floral finish with a slightly gritty texture.
From $36 for a box of two.
For the discerning: Yam with Black Sesame and Shredded Coconut from Shang Palace
Shangri-La Singapore has been a go-to for generations of mooncake connoisseurs as well as young couples looking to impress their in-laws. As it turns out, it’s not just the hotel’s more traditional mooncakes that boast refined presentation and taste. Take, for example, this new addition to its baked collection, which is presented in an elegant three-tier jewellery box in a choice of three colours. The golden-brown pastry skin makes a great first impression too — it’s delicately thin and distinctly aromatic. Inside, moist yet not gooey yam paste is studded with coarsely-shredded coconut that provides texture and depth of flavour. Finally, a layer of black sesame paste in the centre lends a pleasantly nutty note.
From $84 for four.
For the adventurous: Assam Tea with Lemon, Mung Bean and Raisin from Jade Restaurant
This year, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore presents its Jade Signatures Tea Series baked mooncakes in an elongated red or teal gift box adorned with peony and peacock motifs. There’s also the option to purchase a cannister of TWG Fullerton Grand Tea in matching colours to pair with your mooncakes. The standout in this series of four flavours — which include Tie Guan Yin with Orange and Apricot; Green Tea with Multigrain Brown Sugar and Hongyu Black Tea with Pomelo, Red Date and Pine Nut — is the Assam Tea with Lemon, Mung Bean and Raisin. While its combination of ingredients may seem unusual, they translate into a well-balanced and nuanced flavour profile. Under the wafer-thin baked skin is a silky-smooth paste that boasts top notes of a full-bodied assam tea, peppered with a dash of bright tamarind and citrus flavours, while raisin bits add a pleasant bite and subtle sweetness.
$86 for four (25 per cent off till 18 September for selected credit cards).
For truffle fans: Low-Sugar Chestnut with Cashew Nuts and Truffle from Cherry Garden
Mooncakes most commonly feature lotus seed or red bean paste as the main ingredient. This year, Mandarin Oriental Singapore’s Cantonese restaurant Cherry Garden bucks the trend by introducing a new baked creation made from chestnut paste with reduced sugar instead. These are packed in individual tins, which are housed in matching ivory or red trinket boxes embellished with floral embroidery. A distinctive aroma of truffles (of the fungi, not chocolate variety) emanates from the golden-brown pastry as soon as its packaging is unwrapped. This rich ingredient lifts — instead of overpowers — the otherwise dense and earthy chestnut paste, which gets its crunch from the inclusion of coarsely-chopped cashew nuts.
From $48 for two. HomeTeamNS members enjoy 35 per cent off all mooncakes from Mandarin Oriental Singapore. Other flavours include the Snow Skin Lychee Pineapple with Pine Nuts and the Baked Oriental Beauty Tea with Ginger Red Date.
For fashionistas: Lychee White Lotus Paste from W Singapore – Sentosa Cove
True to form, W Singapore – Sentosa Cove’s foray into mooncakes delivers the standard of style we’ve come to expect from this luxury resort. The treats are packaged in embossed mooncake-shaped handbags designed with a gold-tone turn-lock, top handle and detachable strap. Aesthetics aside, the mooncakes seem a tad too small to justify their price, which leans towards the higher end, and their red-hued baked skin is a little thick. While the lychee white lotus paste is fragrant and smooth, it could do with the addition of melon seeds for textural contrast.
From $118 for a box of four.
SNOWSKIN MOONCAKES
For dessert enthusiasts: Mini Snowskin Cheesecake from Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant
Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant at Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium never fails to pique our interest with their novel snowskin mooncake creations. And being cheesecake aficionados, we were naturally intrigued by this sweet treat inspired by the classic New York cheesecake. Each pastel yellow snowskin mooncake is filled with white lotus paste that encases a cream cheese praline. Though the latter isn’t quite cheesy enough, it blends well with the fragrant snowskin and smooth lotus paste and has a melt-in-your-mouth quality. It’s worth purchasing in a gift set of six assorted flavours as the perfect after-dinner dessert to share — or not.
From $76 for six.
For those seeking the familiar: Peanut Butter Snow from PAUL Singapore
French bakery and brasserie PAUL Singapore is known for familiar yet delicious snowskin mooncake flavours such as mango, chocolate and pistachio. These are presented in a striking red tin and thermal carrier to ensure that they stay chilled. Our favourite variant in the assortment of four flavours — a creamy combination of slightly savoury peanut butter and sweet lotus paste — is particularly addictive and was wolfed down in seconds. The peanut butter, which fills a chocolate truffle in the centre, is reminiscent of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and just as moreish.
$72 for four.
For the young at heart: Popping Candy Truffle with Dragon Fruit Lotus Paste from Mdm Ling Bakery (Halal-certified)
Founded by millennials, Mdm Ling Bakery is known for its wallet-friendly, quality bakes that marry old-school recipes and local flavours with irreverent surprises, which is evident in its range of mooncakes. Not least in its new Snowskin Fruity Truffle Mooncakes collection, with variants that include the Yuzu Truffle with Mung Bean Paste, Lychee Truffle with Mung Bean Paste, and Peach and Passion Fruit Truffle with Dragon Fruit Lotus Paste packed in a floral tin. Of the four flavours in each set, the Popping Candy Truffle with Dragon Fruit Lotus Paste is a standout, with its semi-sweet, mildly citrus filling that doesn’t crowd the palate. Those who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s — as well as kids — will get a kick out of the mooncake’s bubblegum pink-and-blue truffle filling that contains popping candy. A fun treat, if not slightly gimmicky.
$76 for four.
For durian lovers: Superfood Snowskin Durian Mooncakes from FORBIDDEN (Halal-certified)
Snowskin mooncakes are meant to be stored in the freezer and slightly thawed (not for too long, or they will get gooey) before consumption to ensure optimal texture and freshness — as per instruction from the various restaurants — and this one is no exception. Though cutting into these treats takes a bit of effort, the reward is a rich ice-cream-like dessert that offers true melt-in-the-mouth decadence for any durian lover. According to FORBIDDEN, the fruit are sourced directly from the hills of Raub in Pahang, Malaysia. Each classic metal tin contains two varieties: Mao Shan Wang durian encased in acai-infused snowskin and coconut snowskin filled with D24 durian. The rich, bittersweet notes of the durian fillings really shine after 15 minutes of thawing, which also makes for the ideal snowskin texture. Though neither “superfood” flavour left much of an impression, the pulpy fillings sure hit the spot.
From $95 for four (up to 25 per cent off).
For those with a penchant for local flair: “Ondeh Ondeh” Pandan Gula Melaka with Grated Coconut from Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
Having been named World’s Best Airport Hotel in 2023, it’s no surprise that Crowne Plaza Changi Airport chose to reference its identity in its mooncake box design. Featuring laser-cut orchid motifs and gold-tone airplane-shaped drawer knobs, the midnight blue trinket box holds a quartet of assorted snowskin mooncakes. These include the Teochew Orh Nee Taro Lotus with Ginkgo Nuts, Pulut Hitam Roasted Dark Glutinous Rice with Coconut Cream, and Black Sesame Paste with Peanut Crunch and Gold Dust. Rounding off the four is our top pick, the Ondeh Ondeh Pandan Gula Melaka with Grated Coconut, which shines with its chewy snowskin in a banana-yellow shade, and conceals a moist lotus paste whose green hue comes from pandan extract. Grated coconut steeped in gula melaka perfectly recreates the flavours of its namesake traditional kueh.
$80 for four (up to 40 per cent off).
IN CONCLUSION…
It was a true struggle to determine my favourite mooncakes among those that made it to this top 10 list. But at the end of the day, it is Crowne Plaza Changi Airport’s “Ondeh Ondeh” Pandan Gula Melaka with Grated Coconut and Assam Tea with Lemon, and the Mung Bean and Raisin from Jade Restaurant at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore that made the most lasting impressions in the snowskin and baked mooncake categories respectively. Even though they feature innovative combinations of ingredients, both manage to retain the essential traditional flavours — definitely worth the extra calories!
More mooncake deals for HomeTeamNS members
Goodwood Park Hotel Singapore – Try their new Pineapple with Custard snowskin mooncake, sample their signature durian creations, or delight your kids with the adorable Bunnies Tubbies. HomeTeamNS members enjoy 20 per cent off a minimum of $100 worth of mooncakes.
Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant – Savour healthier choices including the all-new Immunity Boosting Orange Mooncake With Orange Peel And Pine Nuts, which is available in both baked and snowskin varieties. HomeTeamNS members enjoy up to 30 per cent off online mooncake orders.
Golden Moments – This durian mooncake specialist is offering a one-for-one promotion on its premium snowskin mooncake selection. HomeTeamNS members enjoy an additional 5 per cent discount on top of existing online deals.
Like our stories? Subscribe to our Frontline Digital newsletters now! Simply download the HomeTeamNS Mobile App and update your communication preference to ‘Receive Digital Frontline Magazine’, through the app settings.
