Food

OUT OF THIS WORLD MOONCAKES

Courtesy of Pierre Hermé. Assorted Mooncakes, created by Chef Pierre Hermé.

MOONCAKES

We’re over the moon for the most beautiful mooncakes being offered this season by top chefs who are taking them to new astronomical gastronomical heights!

Mooncakes, treats traditionally eaten during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節), have been shared by friends and families for thousands of years, to celebrate the beauty and glory of the full harvest moon. The festival, along with its mooncake delicacies, is now celebrated in Asian communities around the world.

Typically round pastries, with thin flaky crusts, traditional mooncakes are filled with red bean or lotus seed paste surrounding whole golden salted duck egg yolks, which symbolize the full moon. They are usually given as a token of appreciation and a way to strengthen relationships.

Traditional mooncakes have imprints on top, including symbols of the moon, "longevity" or "harmony," with hints of the filling inside. Some have images of Lady Chang'e (the mythical moon goddess), flowers, or a rabbit (symbol of the moon). During the Ming Revolution, mooncakes contained hidden messages.

While traditional fillings are lovely, and numerous variations now abound across different regions of China, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, contemporary mooncakes have sweet and savory concoctions seemingly as numerous as there are stars in the sky!

We’ve gathered some particularly beautiful mooncakes from the most talented award-winning chefs that we could find. Some will even ship their lunar lusciousness right to your door! Check out the amazing mooncakes from Pierre Hermé, Mott 32, Lung King Heen, Coco at The Mira, Duddell’s, Shang Palace and more below.

Beautiful yellow, pink, green, and orange glazed mooncakes, created by Chef Pierre Chef Pierre Hermé.

1. PIERRE HERMÉ -- PARIS

Pierre Hermé offers a beautiful collection of 4 mooncakes. Each is a decadent treasure.

Sensation Mooncake is filled with flaky almond praline and roasted slivered almonds. Mathilda Mooncake adds delightful lemon zest to the almond filling to represent the new moon. Infiniment Praline Noisette Mooncake is filled with smooth and crunchy hazelnut praline. And Ouvre-Toi Mooncake is filled with toasted sesame praline and sesame nougatine. They are all enrobed in luscious glossy dark Mexican chocolate.

A gift box filled with 4 delicious mooncakes from Hong Kong restaurant Mott 32.

2. MOTT 32 -- HONG KONG

Mott 32, a Chinese fine dining restaurant in Hong Kong, partnered with Pierre Hermé to create mooncakes filled with perfect ingredient pairings, with fascinating combinations including cumin, cinnamon, almond, jasmine, and kumquat. Duck fat replaces butter in some of the pastry casings. Innovative pipettes accompanying these special mooncakes inject sauces into their centers. You can order them here.

Three realistic looking mooncakes, in white, silver and gold, from Coco at The Mira pastry shop in Hong Kong.

3. COCO AT THE MIRA -- HONG KONG

Coco at The Mira Executive pastry chef Jean-Marc Gaucher’s mooncakes really look like the moon! These cosmic moon-shaped cratered spheres are made of the best chocolate, hand-brushed with edible iridescent colors.

Realistic looking mooncakes, in blue, silver, and, chocolate from Coco at The Mira pastry shop in Hong Kong.

Flavours include green tea and white chocolate with white sesame, Earl Grey tea with milk chocolate and Japanese sudachi citrus fruit, and lapsang souchong black tea with dark chocolate and crunchy chocolate pearls. They mimic the Earth’s moon, Jupiter’s Callisto moon, and Saturn’s Titan moon.

Three beautiful mooncakes with traditional Chinese symbols imprinted on top sit in a brown earthen bowl on a burgundy velvet cloth, from Duddell’s Michelin starred restaurant in Hong Kong.

4. DUDDELL’S -- HONG KONG

Duddell’s, a Two Michelin starred restaurant collaborated with Hong Kong-based painter Cheng Ting-ting to create a limited-edition mooncake gift box. It is filled with Executive Chef Siu Hin-Chi’s delicate and delicious cream custard mooncakes.

A display of mooncakes, some sliced in half to show their fillings, sit in front of their special gift box from Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hong Kong.

5. LUNG KING HEEN AT FOUR SEASONS -- HONG KONG

Michelin three-star restaurant Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons Hong Kong goes over the top with handcrafted truffle and egg mooncakes. Chunky pieces of black truffle and white truffle oil are mixed with white lotus seed paste and feature a traditional salted egg yolk in the center, all wrapped in flaky buttery pastry.

A display of mooncakes, some sliced in half to show their fillings, sit in front of their special gift box from Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hong Kong.

This year, Executive Chef Chan Yan Tak developed mooncakes filled with red bean paste & crushed hazelnut; white lotus seed paste, preserved egg & pickled ginger; five nuts & glazed ham; and cream custard with toasted pine nuts. The cakes are elegantly presented in a gift box newly designed by the locally renowned designer Alan Chan.

A gold gift box and white platter of Honey Chocolate Mooncakes from Shang Palace, in Singapore. A dish of honeycomb and honey server sits alongside.

6. SHANG PALACE -- SINGAPORE

Shang Palace at the Shangri La,Hotel, in Singapore, offers their luxurious Honey Chocolate Mooncake Collection featuring 4 flavors: Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate with Salted Toffee, White Chocolate Passion Fruit with Mango, and Roasted Sicilian Pistachio. They are sweetened with fragrant raw unprocessed Leatherwood Honey which originates from the pristine rainforests of the Tarkine region in Tasmania, where some of the world’s cleanest air and water are found.

Not only do the Shang Palace mooncakes look and taste divine, but the honey boosts your immune system, to set you up for a healthy winter.

Three beautiful vegan mooncakes, from The Cakery, in Hong Kong, sit on table with dried fruits and nuts.

7. THE CAKERY -- HONG KONG

The Cakery fills their gluten-free vegan mooncakes with superfoods! Four flavors, include black sesame, red date, fig & orange, and osmanthus & matcha.

Four Häagen-Dazs ice cream mooncakes, shaped like roses, in pastel orange, pink, purple, and raspberry, sit on table next to real flowers.

8. HÄAGEN-DAZS

If you’re looking for a more casual, yet still beautiful Mid-Autumn Festival treat, check out the new Häagen-Dazs “rainbow collection” of ice cream mooncakes, covered in pastel colored mochi, shaped like roses. There are 9 flavors to each set, including chocolate, summer berries and cream, vanilla, strawberry, strawberry cheesecake, blueberry, cookies and cream, caramel biscuit and cream, and yuzu citrus and cream with mango purée.

Two beautiful mooncakes imprinted with traditional Chinese symbols sit on ceramic platter with chestnuts and red beans. From Kowloon Shangri La Liao Gong in Shanghai.

9. KOWLOON SHANGRI-LA LIAO GONG -- SHANGHAI

Xiang Gong chef Mo Master and Tan Wan Chef Kojima Koch created a beautiful new mooncake for the Kowloon Shangri-La Liao Gong. The Yucheng Green Tea Robe Mooncake is made with Yuzhi green tea, red beans, and chestnuts, with green tea icing.

Three mooncakes, with Chinese symbols imprinted, sit on reflective table scattered with pink rose petals to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. From Man Ho restaurant in Hong Kong.

10. MAN HO -- HONG KONG

Man Ho’s executive chef Jayson Tang delights us with mini mooncakes, filled with red bean paste and preserved egg yolk, and flavored with brown sugar, rose. He also offers a more traditional mooncake of white lotus seed paste, ginger and double egg yolks. They all come in an elaborate box, making them very beautiful Mid-Autumn Festival gifts..

A whole mooncake and a mooncake sliced open to reveal its filling of white lotus seed paste and preserved egg yolks from Lung King Heen restaurant at the Four Seasons Hong Kong.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

Three mooncakes from Lung King Heen restaurant at Four Seasons Hong Kong are sliced open to reveal their different fillings. A branch of blooming white flowers sits alongside.

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Pink, yellow, green and chocolate glazed mooncakes from Pierre Hermé sit on a black slate surface.

IMAGE CREDITS:

Image: Courtesy of Pierre Hermé. Assorted Mooncakes, created by Chef Pierre Hermé.
Image: Courtesy of Pierre Hermé. Assorted Mooncakes, created by Chef Pierre Hermé.
Image: Courtesy of Mott 32 & Pierre Hermé. Assorted Mooncakes, created by Executive Chef Lee Man Sing & Pierre Hermé.
Image: Courtesy of Coco at The Mira. Mooncakes by Executive Pastry Chef Jean-Marc Gaucher.
Image: Courtesy of Coco at The Mira. Mooncakes by Executive Pastry Chef Jean-Marc Gaucher.
Image: Courtesy of Duddell’s. Mooncakes.
Image: Courtesy of Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hong Kong. Truffle & Egg Mooncakes.
Image: Courtesy of Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hong Kong. Mooncakes.
Image: Courtesy of Shang Palace. Honey Chocolate Mooncakes Collection.
Image: Courtesy of The Cakery. Vegan Mooncakes.
Image: Courtesy of Häagen-Dazs. Rainbow collection ice cream mooncakes.
Image: Courtesy of Kowloon Shangri-La Liao Gong. The Yucheng Green Tea Robe Mooncake.
Image: Courtesy of Man Ho at Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel. Mini Mooncakes by Executive Chef Jayson Tang.
Image: Courtesy of Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hong Kong. “White lotus seed paste and egg yolk mooncakes.”
Image: Courtesy of Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hong Kong. “An assortment of mooncakes.”
Image: by BN App - Download now!
Image: Courtesy of Pierre Hermé. Assorted Mooncakes, created by Chef Pierre Hermé.