TASTE OF TRADITION

With the Mid-autumn festival upon us, Annabel Tan handpicks the best mooncakes to gift and indulge in this season.

REGENT SINGAPORE

Following a new Regent Singapore tradition that started last year, each of the hotel’s dining outlets creates mooncakes with its own unique spin. Basilico’s Executive Chef Angelo Ciccone paired quintessentially Italian ingredients like luscious Amarena cherries from Bologna with Sicilian pistachios and sweet dried figs in the delightful Pistachio, Fig and Amarena Cherry Snowskin Mooncake. Over at award-winning bar Manhattan, Head Bartender Sophia Kang looked to the bar’s impressive collection of dark rums to put together a bright, tropical combination of Plantation Rum, Spiced Coconut and Yuzu in the Macapuno Mooncake that complements some after-dinner drinks. Apart from the new flavours, bestsellers like the Signature Black Sesame Paste by Summer Palace’s Dim Sum Chef Leong Kwok Sing make a return, featuring a jetblack filling of nutty, finely ground black sesame wrapped in pillowy pearlescent skin. The eight snowskin mooncake flavours are all minis, and are available in individual flavours as boxes of eight, or as an assortment box with all eight flavours.

To order, call +65 6725 3283, email takeregenthome@regentsingapore. com.sg or purchase online at regenthotels.com

GOODWOOD PARK HOTEL

In celebration of its 120th anniversary this year, Goodwood Park Hotel is marking the occasion in a big way with a limited-edition, 16.5cm-wide baked mooncake containing 12 sumptuous salted egg yolks – each representing a decade of the hotel’s history – in a lavish white lotus seed paste. The 120th Anniversary Mooncake is available in limited quantities and comes in a gold and red gift box adorned with intricate floral motifs that’s sure to make an impression. The hotel is known for its decadent durian delicacies, and this year’s snowskin mooncake collection features flavours like D24, Mao Shan Wang Durian as well as Black Thorn Durian.

To order, call +65 6730 1868, email mooncake@ goodwoodparkhotel.com or purchase online at goodwoodparkfestive.oddle.me

THE PINE GARDEN

Founded in 1984, traditional boutique bakery The Pine Garden prides itself on using top quality ingredients and no preservatives in its handmade mooncakes. These include the four flavours of mooncakes debuting this year, including one that contrasts a chewy mochi middle with smooth black sesame paste. The Biluochun Tea with Guava Mooncake is also new, and blends Biluochun green tea with guava lotus paste studded with dried guava bits for a fragrant and fruity treat. Both flavours are available in baked and snowskin versions. The other two new baked mooncake flavours are the sweet and fragrant Cempedak Paste with One Yolk as well as Brown Sugar Multi-grain Lotus Paste, which adds a hint of caramelised sweetness to the classic favourite.

To order, call +65 6457 6159, email enquiries@ pgcake.com, or purchase online at pgcake.com

JW MARRIOTT SINGAPORE SOUTH BEACH

The handcrafted mooncakes from Cantonese restaurant Madame Fan at JW Marriott Singapore South Beach are an elegant extension of the restaurant’s modern take on traditional cuisine. Classic flavours stay true to their roots but are elevated with a delicate twist, like the signature Baked Single Yolk Lychee Lotus Paste Mooncake made with velvety white lotus paste that is encased within golden brown pastry, enhanced with the light floral fragrance of lychee. Tea lovers will enjoy the Baked Pu Er with Chia Seeds Mooncake for its earthy aroma, while familiar favourites like the Double Yolk Lotus Paste and Premium Mixed Nuts are also exquisitely executed.

To order, call +65 6818 1908, email jw.sinjw.festive@marriott.com or purchase online at jwmarriott.oddle.me