Let us walk you through the evolution of mooncake!
The Mid-Autumn festival is one of the most celebrated festive tradition in the Chinese community. Happening on September 13th this year, depending on the neighborhood you live in, streets are usually lit up with lanterns, candles, and you would see families hanging out together at their car porch, enjoying their mooncakes while sipping a good ol’ Chinese tea.
The star cuisine of Mid-Autumn festival- mooncake, which is also known as “reunion cakes”, is a symbol of family, harmony, and love since centuries ago. With an array of options available in the market, such as the Suzhou Style (savoury and flaky), Cantonese Style, Teowchew Style (flaky), and many more, we Malaysians always have a hard time choosing our favourites!
Over the years, we’ve seen the evolution of mooncakes, and how the traditional patisserie level up the art of mooncake since history. From ice cream mooncake to hands-down whacky flavours, here are 6 ways on how the traditional mooncakes have evolved and innovated with a modern twist:
1. From traditional skin, to snow skin, to ice cream mooncakes?!
As if the traditional variants of mooncakes hadn’t given people a hard time choosing, mooncakes manufacturers have continued innovating and introduced the snow skin mooncakes. Usually served cold, these mooncakes are said to be a healthier alternative due to its non-baked nature. Definitely one of our personal favourites!
The mooncake madness doesn’t stop here; ice cream brands who sees a silver lining from this festival of the moon, jumped into the bandwagon and created ice cream mooncakes that really got dessert lovers screaming over ice cream with a very valid reason!
2. Single yolk or double yolk? Let’s make that 4!
There are two types of mooncake-eaters: those who remove the salted egg yolk and puts it aside, and those who eats the salted egg yolk that comes inside the mooncake. Salted egg yolk fans see salted egg yolk as a must-have requirement while making purchasing decisions, and today, mooncakes are even said to contain up to 4 salted egg yolks! Did you know? Salted egg yolks in mooncakes are said to represent the moon! Say what?
3. Going all health-conscious
Photo courtesy of TWO Gastronome
While these delicious goodies are irresistible, we cannot deny that it is highly packed with calories! With the healthy lifestyle rising up as a trend today, those who are health-conscious have been picky with their mooncakes, hence, sugar-free and preservative-free mooncake options are introduced to the rising demand.
Speaking of which, we stumble upon this local bakery called the TWO Gastronome (whom by the way has been around for 60 years producing top-notch traditional Chinese pastries) and their newly released One Bite Mooncake™. Not only it’s only 3 cm in diameter, their One Bite Mooncake™ allows you to indulge in the yummy flavours of traditional mooncakes but guilt-free. In other words, you can snack on more variety of flavours without blowing your diet!
Guilty pleasure, sans guilt!
4. It’s all about the packaging
Photo courtesy of TWO Gastronome
Some may say: “Do not judge a book by its cover”, but when it comes to mooncakes, we all know that we’re totally judging it based on their packaging! A beautiful mooncake box goes a long way especially when we’re presenting it as gifts to our loved ones.
Taking TWO Gastronome’s One Bite Mooncake™ packaging as a reference, it does give you that “fly me to the moon” vibes with their futuristic design that is also 100% Instagram-worthy!
5. Tradition with a fusion twist
Photo courtesy of TWO Gastronome
Mooncake manufacturers today have also localize their offerings to something that we all love! From durian to boba mooncakes, as outrageous as it sounds, we won’t be surprised to see locals still lining up for these all-time favourite mooncakes!
TWO Gastronome’s One Bite Mooncake™, on the other hand, will instantaneously whisk your tastebuds to Japan with these local-favourite flavours, including Japanese Miso, Okinawan Purple Potato, and Nishio Matcha. Your tastebuds will surely thank you for these palatable mooncakes – especially if you’re someone who loves fusion flavours!
6. (Bite) size does matter
Photo courtesy of TWO Gastronome
TWO Gastronome’s 3cm One Bite Mooncake™ is the modern day mooncake! Spanning comfortably within the comfort of your fingertips, some may see it as cute as a button, but these bite-sized mooncakes will have you craving for more because one is always never enough! Looks like our gadgets aren’t the only thing shrinking in size, this re-imagined mooncake will be your new favourite, hands-down!
The best part? You can now enjoy your favourite mooncakes, guilt-free! Somebody get me a box now!
Can’t wait to get your hands on a box of these delicious, futuristic, bite-sized mooncakes? Here’s how you can make your purchase!
TWO Gastronome’s One Bite Mooncake™ will be your best company this mid-Autumn Festival! Make your orders now at TWO Gastronome’s website here, and you can enjoy free shipping with a minimum order of 5 boxes of mooncakes! Alternatively, you can also check out their Instagram for more deets!
What’s your favourite modern-day mooncake? Let us know in the comments!
Header image credits: Photo courtesy of TWO Gastronome