Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon and what that means to most of us would be…mooncakes! There are sooo many choices out there and while it is physically impossible for us to taste them all, we managed to try out four brands of mooncakes to give you a review that we hope is able to help you wheedle down your choices.

If you have about 20 minutes to spare, do watch our video review below. If you’d like a bit more information about the mooncakes we tried, then do read on…and we promise to keep our review as short and sweet as possible! Please note that our written review is by alphabetical order.

Aroma Truffle & Co.

Aroma Truffle has come up with their Black Winter Truffle MSW mooncakes and unlike the previous year, they’ve come up with a slight twist. There are 2 types of skin – Black Truffle Charcoal and White Mochi. All durians used are premium Mao Shan Wang durians from Pahang. What we found really interesting is how they’ve incorporated the truffle in two ways.

The black skinned mooncake has the truffle in the snowskin while the white mochi version has the truffle incorporated into the filling. As such, each type of mooncake has almost the same flavour profiles but the smells and aromas hit you at different rates and points of the bite.

We never thought of pairing truffle with durians until Aroma Truffle enlightened us. The thickness of of the skins are perrrrfect and the durian fillings delicious. So so so good!

Their Black Winter Truffle MSW Mooncakes can be purchased via their website https://aromatruffle.com for S$78 for a box of 4.

Janice Wong Singapore

The Modern Snowskin Mooncakes are an exclusive collaboration with homegrown nuts and snacks company, Tai Sun. Featuring their well-loved Nature’s Wonders premium range of dried fruits and nuts, these innovative creations are part of Tai Sun’s 55th anniversary celebrations that aim to promote the support and demand for local businesses.

Flavour	Review
Yuzu Cranberry	It wasn’t as tangy and zesty as expected. The overall taste was a bit doughy although we liked the bits of cranberry inside.
Mung Bean Pecan Pistachio	The mung bean filling was very nice and wasn’t too sweet. Loved the crunch and nutty flavours from the pecan and pistachio as well.
Coconut Pecan Baked Almond	The coconut taste was very subtle but similar to the other mooncakes, this wasn’t too sweet and the crunch from the nuts are always welcomed.
Gula Melaka Macadamia	This was the sweetest of the snowskin mooncakes but that said, it wasn’t overly sweet. It is expected since there’s Gula Melaka in there and because of that, this mooncake has a slight coconut taste which goes very well with the macadamia nuts.

“We wanted to go back to comforting flavours with a twist,” said Chef Janice. “In a turbulent year, we wanted to bring back some comfort and joy to our guests during this auspicious occasion.”

Janice Wong Singapore’s signature drip painted Chocolate Mooncakes (S$98 for a box of eight) returns this year, offering a delectable range of new and familiar flavours for fans. All chocolate mooncakes are set on a base of chocolate sponge and can be stored frozen for up to two months, so you can save them for a hankering later on…if you can resist!

Flavour	Review
Coffee & Chocolate	Coffee always pairs well with chocolate and this particular mooncake reminds us of walking into a coffeeshop and having a waft of fresh coffee hitting you in the face. Perfect balance of sweet and bitterness.
Caramelised Sea Salt Pecan Dark Chocolate	This mooncake had a bit of a gritty or rather, crystallised texture which is probably from the pecan and caramelised sea salt. However, besides the texture, the main flavour profile is the dark chocolate.
Peanut Butter Snickers	If you’re looking for a more refined and less sugary version of the Snickers bar, then this hits the spot. Yum!
Coconut Vanilla Biscoff	Couldn’t really taste the coconut although the crunchy biscoff together with the vanilla ganache made this the sweetest chocolate mooncake of the lot.

All the above mentioned mooncakes as well as the Traditional Baked Mooncakes can be purchased online at https://janicewong.online/. Early-bird specials are available where purchases from 1st to 20th September will enjoy 10% off.

ONE°15 Marina Cove

ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove Singapore’s award-winning Cantonese restaurant, WOK°15 Kitchen, has unveiled a luxurious range of flavours for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival.

Flavour	Review
Lady Ipsahan	At first, we thought that the red berries in the filling was cranberry but it is actually raspberry paté de fruits. The rest of filling is lychee bavarois and all encased in a delicate layer of lychee snow skin. We love this mooncake! It is fruity and refreshing but not in a citrusy way.
Yuzu Lotus	The base is a creamy lotus paste with bursts of zesty yuzu jelly and crunchy lotus seeds wrapped in a lemon-scented snowskin. Another winner! The filling has the distinctive tang of yuzu without it being over powering and then you get texture from the lotus seeds. Two thumbs up!
Grand Marnier Chocolate	Grand Mariner and chocolate come together in this mooncake with dark chocolate ganache, chocolate pearls (we’re calling it rice crispy balls) and subtle hints of orange peel encased in a bittersweet cacao snowskin. This reminds us more of a brownie than a mooncake and be warned…it crumbles A LOT when cut. That said, the bitterness of the chocolate is so rich and then it slowly mellows out to a sweetness that makes this really delicious.
Premium Mao Shan Wang	This is 100% pure luscious Mao Shan Wang durian wrapped in a charcoal snowskin. The durian is really delicious and creamy but the only disappointment was the skin, which was slightly spongy and kinda spoilt the whole thing.

The Snowskin Mooncakes set includes all the above flavours for S$88+. If you’re a traditionalist, ONE°15 Marina also has the all-time favourite White Lotus Paste with Double Yolk (S$68+ for a box of 4). Also available is the Snowskin and White Lotus Set (S$68+) which contains 1 Lady Ipsahan, 1 Grand Marnier Chocolate and 2 White Lotus Paste.

For more information or to order, please visit their website http://www.one15marina.com/shop/festive-specials.

Pine Garden

Pine Garden has been around almost as long as this writer (hahaha) and since 1984, it is an old-school bakery that has innovated to come up with products that perpetuate a truly Singaporean heritage and we can see that from the latest flavours coming out this year.

Flavour	Review	Price
Black Sesame Paste with Mochi	If you like the various black sesame desserts, then you’ll enjoy this mooncake! The chewy mochi centre definitely makes it more interesting in terms of texture!	S$19.40/pc
Baked Long Jing Tea with Kanten Pearls	Mooncakes are often paired with tea and with this creation, you can have both tea and mooncake in a bite! The Longjing tea used in this mooncake is very fragrant and we absolutely love the Kanten pearls that give it that chewy bite.	S$21.40/pc
Baked Pandan Jade with Coconut Dodol	We loved the texture of the coconut dodol in the centre and the pandan jade reminded us of kaya. Very decadent sounding but the overall mooncake is surprisingly not too sweet and we love the play on traditional sweets!	S$18.80/pc
Snowskin Red Bean Rose Melon Seed	Besides lotus paste, red bean is often used in traditional mooncakes but Pine Garden decided to give it a twist by giving it a floral rose note. We totally approve! The floral smells and flavour reminds us of the Bandung drink while the melon seeds add a certain crunch. Oh…and did we mention that the red bean paste is soooo smooth?	S$19.40/pc
Snowskin Gula Melaka with Coconut Mochi	We love how Pine Garden has reimagined this classic pairing of Gula Melaka with coconut cream into a mooncake. The coconut mochi in the middle is actually a bit stiffer than the plain one (from the Black Sesame Paste mooncake) but Pine Garden has really nailed it on the flavour. The coconut centre blends so well with the Gula Melaka paste and it does remind one of the traditional dessert.	S$21.40/pc

All mooncakes can be purchased online on their website https://www.pgcake.com/category//mid-autumn-mooncakes-21. You can mix and match the mooncakes and every order of 4 pieces of mooncakes will be packed in a premium box.

 

We’d like to thank Aroma Truffle & Co., Janice Wong Singapore, ONE°15 Marina and Pine Garden for giving us the mooncakes to taste test!

Wishing everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn!!

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Images: Janice Wong Singapore, ONE°15 Marina, Pine Garden and Tai Sun