The top 11 traditional mooncakes in Singapore
Classic fillings include white lotus, red bean and black sesame paste, while there are also exotic fillings such as foie gras and truffle oil
If “snow skin” mooncakes have become the new face of traditional pastry in Singapore, it would come as no surprise that the old-school “baked skin” varieties are also going through a facelift in the mooncake-mad Lion City.
Although there is little a pastry chef can do to change the surface beauty of these age-old delights, one would be astonished to discover how many types of fillings one can find in mooncakes these days. Originally, mooncakes were made with lotus paste and salted egg yolk and encased within a sweet pastry flavoured by golden syrup. Melon seeds were the most exotic addition in years gone by. Today the myriad of choices, from bird’s nest custard filling to charcoal skin dusted with gold powder, are just mind-boggling.
Consider Parma, Iberico and Serrano ham in a Chinese dessert. It shouldn’t be surprising as bakwa, or barbecued sweet meat, has been added to the Five Nuts – a Cantonese variety of mooncakes – to replace the rarer and more expensive Jinhua ham for some time. Now enter the French – this year the newly opened Sofitel Singapore City Centre has joined in the fray with their own interpretation that blends foie gras and truffle oil into the Five Nuts composition. And I don’t believe we have seen the end of it yet.
As some hanker for new tastes, others retain their fondness for the simple plain flavours that remind them of childhood and tradition. At this stage there isn’t a camp that seems to be getting the upper hand in this contest of old and new, but as long as the culture of meaningful practices can be extended through these sweet and surprising parcels, let a thousand mooncake flavours glow I say!
After sampling more than 40 new and classic flavours, here are some of the most outstanding interpretations of the traditional baked skin mooncakes from 11 of Singapore’s best mooncake brands.
1. Wan Hao, Marriott Singapore Tang Plaza Hotel
As a quintessentially Cantonese restaurant, Wan Hao’s baked skin mooncakes reflect traditional tastes with mostly lotus seed paste versions updated with choices of macadamia and pine nuts. The stand-out new flavours crafted by innovative chef Brian Wong this year are cempedak paste with pumpkin seed and lotus seed paste with chrysanthemum, mixed grains and Serrano ham, which we absolutely love.