Moonstruck
Modern mooncake flavours run the gamut from smoked duck to blueberry with vintage hua diao wine.
Snowskin "Stunned-Like-Vegetable" Mooncake S$72
Peony Jade
Tel: 6659 4159
Shaped like small balloons, these mooncakes bear a resemblance to the Japanese character, Gudetama, the lazy egg. Only 300 pieces are made, and each is filled with salted dark Valrhona chocolate, feuilletine and milk rocher. The less messy way to eat them is to cut into quarters, but it is more fun to poke a hole in the skin, and squirt the chocolate out.
Premium White Lotus Paste with Wild Cordycep, Pearl Powder and Red Bean Custard Mooncake S$88
Feng Shui Inn, Resorts World Sentosa
Tel: 6577 6599
Feng Shui Inn's executive chef Li Kwok Kwong wants to show that mooncakes can have anti-ageing properties and are not merely calorie-laden sweets. His Premium White Lotus Paste with Wild Cordycep, Pearl Powder and Red Bean Custard Mooncake is filled with a silky white lotus paste infused with luxurious pearl powder, nourishing wild cordycep and a red bean custard paste in the centre. The mooncake has a slight bitter taste due to the cordycep.
Honey Chocolate Collection S$88
Shang Palace, Shangri-La Hotel Orange Grove Road
Tel: 6213 4398
Chocolate lovers have pastry chef Herve Potus to thank for creating the Honey Chocolate Collection. Choose from dark chocolate; milk chocolate and salted toffee; white chocolate passion fruit with mango; and roasted Sicilian pistachio. Each mooncake comes with a chocolate shell infused with a creamy mousse-like filling, with a dense and luscious Tasmanian honey centre within.
Macaron Lunar S$19
Antoinette
Tel: 6293 3121
An original creation by chef Pang Kok Keong, the Macaron Lunar is a cross between the classic French pastry and the traditional mooncake. A smooth and creamy premium low sugar white lotus paste encases the salted egg yolk, sandwiched between baked macaron shells for an immaculate blend of sweet and salty pleasure all at once.
Smoked Duck with Assorted Nuts and Lime S$72
Jiang Nan Chun, Four Seasons Hotel
Tel: 6831 7220
Smoked duck in a mooncake? You read that right. Jiang Nan Chun is famed for its wood-smoked ducks, and shreds of the bird have made their way into the mooncake. The duck is mixed with the wuren nuts, which creates a mix of textures, as you get both the crunch of the nuts and the tenderness of the duck.
Tutti Fruitti Collection S$54
Tung Lok
Tel: 9088 8008
Durian mooncakes are a dime a dozen. Tung Lok's version comes mixed with chestnut bits that give that added crunch in each bite. Other flavours in its Tutti Frutti Collection include Jackfruit with Pomelo, where bits of jackfruit are mixed in the lotus paste. In addition, tiny bits of pomelo give that citrusy jolt.
Purple Sweet Potato with Water Chestnut and Salted Yam Paste Snow Skin Mooncake S$75
Yan Ting, St Regis Singapore
Tel: 6341 9643
Most mooncakes tend to be cloyingly sweet but not this. There is a slight sweetness from the sweet potato, balanced out with the saltiness from the yam paste. What makes this a winner are the juicy water chestnut chunks, which add another dimension.
Mini Custard Lava with Vanilla S$72
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
Tel: 6434 5286
Inspired by the immense popularity of salted egg yolk pastries locally, the Mini Custard Lava with Vanilla was created to be an offshoot of the traditional baked mooncake. The mooncake is a delectable and fragrant combination of salted egg yolk and vanilla. Best savoured warm by microwaving it for five seconds to elicit the smooth, molten texture of the custard filling.
Mini Blueberry with Vintage Hua Diao Wine (Low Sugar) S$68
Hua Ting, Orchard Hotel
Tel: 6739 6577
This could well be the most innovative mooncake flavour - blueberry with hua diao wine. These purple morsels come packed with sweet and tartness of blueberries, infused with the heady perfume of vintage Hua Diao. Being a low-sugar option lets it win plus points too.
Mini Snow Skin Salted Egg Custard with Manuka Honey Corn S$65
Mandarin Orchard Singapore
Tel: 6831 6320
Corn in a mooncake is not something you would expect, but funnily it works well. The corn is blended in with a salted egg yolk custard with a little manuka honey. The result is a perfect balance of sweet and salty with bite.
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