Mid-Autumn Mooncakes
September 27th, 2020
The Mid-Autumn Festival is Thursday — the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival dates back as far as 3,000 years and began as a form of moon worship. These days, the festival celebrates the autumn harvest and families gather together to dine, light lanterns and share mooncakes.
Mid-Autumn Festival Mooncakes
Mooncakes are available throughout China and Southeast Asia — often beautifully packaged in elegant boxes — in the weeks leading up to the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. They’re round like the moon, stamped with intricate designs on top and come in all kinds of flavors like sesame, green tea, lotus seed, mango and even durian. The outside shell is either pastry or “snowskin” — a soft, delicate wrap made of glutinous rice similar to Japanese mochi.
Mooncakes aren’t overly sweet but they are surprisingly dense and heavy, often with a second flavor hidden inside. Cut a mooncake in half and you’ll see a second moon in the middle.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
Kelly
Photos of the Day: Adding a bit of light to the darkness as we get through the pandemic together. This series features travel photos from my archives, shared with you while staying close to home.
Excellent suggestion, I should be able to find some in Toronto, tempted to try all tastes, hmm, except maybe the durian …
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Oh, I hope you do find and try some! They’re traditionally and typically not as sweet as the cakes we make here in the west. Let me know if you come across the durian flavor! 🙂
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Impressive looking but I have to say I’d almost certainly prefer chocolate 🙂 🙂
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Right? I never did find a chocolate flavored mooncake, unfortunately. So odd! Would be perfect dusted with some powdered sugar. 🙂
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One of my favorite holidays back in China ~ and I enjoyed the mooncakes quite a bit. Thanks for bringing back the memories 🙂
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Oh, sweet memories! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Randall. Hope you’re doing well.
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What an interesting celebration of the moon, harvest, etc. or does it really matter? Any time you can get colorful, tasty cakes with a design on top and a moon in the middle, it’s special!!! Happy Moon Day to you!
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Ha ha, totally agree! Cake any day or every day is fine with me. 🙂 Happy Moon Day to you, too!
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I’ve not seen such coloured mooncakes here before. Thank you for sharing these!
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Aren’t they cool? Thanks for reading, Lingo in Transit! 🙂
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Delicious and each one is a work of art in itself.
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Yes! A little feast for the eyes.
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Never heard of them – very fun! I love the effort some people put into their treats: I am too lazy!
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Agreed! I’d rather eat than make them! 🙂
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It’s funny how you say mooncakes are not overly sweet, but I guess that’s because Indonesian sweets and desserts (which my palates are more accustomed to) are generally less sweet than those from the US. I remember one time when we were in Nepal, James found Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and told me to try it. I was so shocked by how sweet it was — probably twice as sweet as those one would typically find in Indonesia. However, I do love mooncakes, especially those with egg yolk at the center. It’s sweet and savory at the same time.
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Oooh, Peanut Butter Cups! A favorite! 🙂 Yes, they are very sweet and especially compared to mooncakes. Everything on this side of the world is over-sweetened. It probably all started with Coca-Cola and has resulted in diabetes and obesity epidemics. It’s a sad part of our western diet. Even peanut butter! The kind in the stores is laden with sugar, so we buy raw peanuts and make our own. Hope you’re enjoying some mooncakes today, Bama!
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I’ve never heard of mooncakes before, but they look and sound tasty. I love how vibrant and colourful they are.
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Aren’t they cool? In my opinion, they look better than they taste. Traditional cakes have a salted egg yolk in the center. (I forgot to mention that.) An interesting culinary tradition to try! 🙂 Thanks for your comment.
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These look delicious! I wish they were as popular here in the UK
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Yes, they are beautiful little treats! Thanks for reading. 🙂
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