It never ceases to amaze us what new fangled flavours every mooncake season brings, for the Mid-Autumn festival.
Our slowly expanding waistlines are the only reason we’re holding back on having more mooncakes right now; we’ve spared you the calories by trying over a dozen brands on your behalf, to bring you the best of these fun new flavours (you’re very welcome).
Our pick: Chocolate Salted Caramel Glaze Banana and Walnuts snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
We’ve waxed lyrical more than a few times about this brand’s fab durian mooncakes and its newest flavour does not disappoint either. We found this totally melt-in-your-mouth worthy; it’s almost like having a mini banana sundae, cased within that tiny little snowskin mooncake. There’s the cool slush and fresh fruity goodness of banana puree. And just like on a banana sundae, chunky nuts are included for that extra crunch.
Price: $49 for a box of eight. Order it online and get it from the Peony Jade mooncake stall at VivoCity Central Court.
Our pick: Calamansi Kumquat Sour Plum snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
While this hotel is best known for its durian-flavoured desserts, this unusual new flavour is worthy of the additional calories. There is no better way to say this: In terms of texture and taste, this mooncake really reminds us of sour, tangy gummies and in a good way too. It’s the chewy calamansi bits that gives it a very particular texture, paired so nicely with the fruity puree filling; this hotel’s rendition is really one of the best tangy mooncakes we’ve had this season. It’s crunchy too, thanks to the dried, chunky and sugar-poached kumquat bits.
Price: from now ‘til September 8, 2014. Get it from Goodwood Park Hotel, 22 Scotts Road. Call 6730 1867/ 1868 or order online at http://festivepromotions.goodwoodparkhotel.com.
Our pick: Pandan with Gula Melaka snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
We’ll admit it that we felt so amazed when we cut it open and it totally looked as smooth as kaya butter within. The pandan taste is strong indeed; it reminds us of those Peranakan nonya kueh, paired with the dense smooth texture of the traditional lotus paste. Happily, it was surprisingly not too sweet either, as the pulpy, chewy gula melaka at its centre added a smoky, caramelised edge to this fine treat.
Price: $55 for a box of four; $69 for the same box of four if you opt for the box adorned with jade. Get it from The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, 1 Fullerton Square. Call 6877 8178 or email fullertonshop@fullertonhotel.com for more information.
Our pick: Red dates and wolfberries snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
This mooncake presents one of what we’ll call a foodie ‘cognitive dissonance’ moment. Your brain cannot relate how it looks to how it tastes, like when something you’d expect to be sweet tastes so surprisingly savoury instead. While not unpleasant in any way, it was like eating a tau sar piah (red bean pastry) in the form of a snowskin mooncake, with just a sour tinge of pulverised red dates as chewy as dried raisins. You have to try this for yourself to see what we mean. The chestnut flavour also gets an honourable mention, for we love the smooth, nutty-sweet taste infused into the lotus paste, which gave it that perfect mix of the sweet and savoury.
Price: $68 for a box of eight; price listed excludes goods and service taxes. Get it from the St. Regis, 29 Tanglin Road, from August 1 to September 8, 2014. For more information, go to http://www.yantingrestaurant.com/midautumn.
Our pick: Milk Tea Lotus Paste with Melon Seeds baked mooncake|
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Okay we’ll be honest: Most of us on the herworldPLUS team are far from fans of the traditional baked mooncake. But this particular flavour managed to win us over with its crumbly crust and surprisingly addictive blend of milk tea with lotus paste and melon seeds. It’s not too rich or dense to keep you away from another slice either. Admittedly, the addition of milk does create that hate-it-or-love-it sentiment; a few of our colleagues found the resulting taste a tad too sweet and sticky. The rest of us however, will unabashedly give this a thumbs up!
Price: $18 per piece from Orchard Hotel, 442 Orchard Road. Call 6734 7766 or email mooncake.ohs@milleniumhotels.com
Our pick: Mini White Lotus Paste with Lemon Mandarin Truffle snowskin mooncake.
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
The most tangy part is the choco truffle centre, which some may find to be a tad too sour. Personally, it hits just the right zippy notes for me, as it takes off the sweet rich edge of milk chocolate centre. The refreshing fragrance and infusion of lemon into the lotus paste makes it less heavy on the palate too.
Price: $56 for eight pieces at Sheraton Towers Singapore Hotel, 39 Scotts Road. Call 6839 5623 or email mooncake@sheratonsingapore.com for more information.
Our pick: Green Tea Paste with Dragonball Jasmine
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
This is the box to bring home to please your folks. These large luscious snowskin mooncakes are packed with generously dense lotus paste fillings, featuring the more traditional flavours that they won’t say no too. This box of four features a fragrant and refreshing Green Tea paste with Dragonball Jasmine, followed by a rich black sesame paste snowskin mooncake made of sesame seeds finely ground to powdered finish. The Mao shan wang with Pandan mooncake will please the durian fiends, for it tastes almost like durian ice-cream, thanks to its pulpy filling.
Price: $57++ for a box of four, including the flavours reviewed here. Get it from InterContinental Singapore, 80 Middle Road or online at http://singapore.intercontinental.com/mooncakes. Call 6820 8519 / 8520 or email sinhb-festive@ihg.com for more information.
Our pick: Green tea and cranberry snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ½
If you’ll prefer a treat that meshes the best of that sweet-sour fruitiness, do give this particular flavour a try. We found it light and refreshing, without feeling like we’d had a tad too much of sugar. The addition of dried cranberry also gives it a tangy twist.
Price: $65 for eight pieces. Get it from Mandarin Oriental, 5 Raffles Avenue. Call 6885 3081 or e-mail mosin-mooncakes@mohg.com for more information.
Our pick: Hazelnuts with Honey and Grapefruit snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ½
We found this honey and grapefruit so delightfully refreshing and without that artificial sweetness that some other snowcake mooncakes tend to be. It’s like puree honey, complemented by the fruity, slightly sour aftertaste of the grapefruit. The only drawback was that the hazelnuts within did not really add to its “mouthfeel”, as it was a bit softer and not as crunchy as hoped.
Price: $60 for a box of eight flavours including Pistachio Nuts with Osmanthus and Chinese Herbs, the reviewed Honey and Grapefruit flavour, as well as the Almonds with Custard and Longan, and the Melon Seeds with Oolong Chrysanthemum. Get it from Pan Pacific Singapore, 7 Raffles Boulevard. Call 6826 8240 or email celebrate.sin@panpacific.com for more information.
Our pick: Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut Praline and Salted Caramel Fondant chocolate mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ½
This is your pick if you’ve no qualms with substituting chocolate for mooncake. And oh, what a lusciously sweet indulgence it is. To the French chocolatier’s credit, this box truly is a chocolate dream. Each flavour contains within it a yolk-like centre, unique to each flavour. For instance, the dark chocolate and milk chocolate pieces contain a hazelnut praline mixed with salted caramel fondant, a combination that tastes as toothsome as it sounds. We were just a bit more partial to the dark chocolate, though the other Japanese green tea and white chocolate flavours are just as notable for its gummy-like centre; opt for the latter for a dash of champagne at its jelly heart.
Price: $68 for a box of eight. Get it online or at these locations in Singapore.
Our pick: Strawberry ice cream mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ½
Make no mistake, this is really chocolate-covered ice cream and not mooncake; we’ll take points off for that, unfortunately. It somewhat looks the part when you cut into it, kudos to the pretty attempts at mimicking that traditional egg yolk centre (it’s actually mango sorbet). I personally favour the strawberry flavour, for those sweet-sour tiny bits of strawberry that take the edge off the sweet ice cream filling. The taste of crunchy malt balls at its biscuity base adds to that guilty teatime appeal.
Price: From $48 for a pair of ice cream mooncakes, or $68 for one of all four flavours available. Get it from Haagen Dazs cafes in Singapore.
Our pick: Mini Coffee Baileys snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ½
This local bakery franchise makes a mean snowskin mooncake too. We love the mochi-like skin, which was springy and chewy, while its chocolate truffle centre had just a hint of Baileys, good for those who like just that dash of alcohol in their dessert. And yes, you do taste the coffee; its subtle fragrance and flavour makes it just as palatable to even the non-coffee addicts.
Price: $52.80 for a box of eight; set also includes Mini Whiskey Truffle, Mini Black Sesame Truffle and Mini Double Chocolate Truffle flavours. Get it from BreadTalk stores in Singapore.
Our pick: White Peach Bellini snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ½
This tiny thing packs an alcoholic punch, possibly the strongest of the lot on this list, thanks to its champagne-infused white chocolate truffle centre. It’s still not too overpowering and the refreshing fragrance of taste of peaches makes it such a light boozy treat, a bit like its namesake cocktail.
Price: $65 for a box of 6 alcoholic mooncakes, available from August 8 to September 9, 2014 at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, 75 Airport Boulevard (Terminal 3). Call 6823 5367 for more information.
Our pick: Mango Pomelo snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
While this is a box of hits and misses (since you can’t choose the flavours), props go to the Mango Pomelo flavour, which you can actually almost taste the pulpy, chunky mango through and through, from the skin to the puree. One minor drawback? The mango does overpower the chocolate truffle centre, which you can hardly taste in this mooncake. The Yuzu snowskin mooncake (in the same box set) will be welcomed for those who need a zestier counterpart to the endlessly sweet options around. The tangy yuzu peel bits in this makes the mooncake surprisingly quite sour and it also leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste. We’re less fond of the strawberry mooncake, which peculiarly reminded us of a strawberry jam sandwich.
Price: $52 for a box of eight pieces from the Lush mooncake box set, featuring the four Lychee, Mango Pomelo, Strawberry and Yuzu flavours. Get it from Bakerzin stores in Singapore or order it online here.
Our pick: Lychee Chocolate and Apple Lotus Paste snowskin mooncake
Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
The puree-smooth lotus paste filling wows us with its invigoratingly fresh apple flavour, which was among one of the better fruity flavours on this list. We however, had to take points off for its cloying chocolate centre, where we could taste only a hint of lychee.
Price: $50 for six pieces. Get it from Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium, 317 Outram Rd. Call 6731 7173 or email xin.sinhi@ihg.com for more information.