It’s the time of the year again when the city’s top hotels pull out all the stops to create luxurious, boozy, sometimes whacky but delicious mooncakes to ring in the Mid-Autumn festivities. Here are the mooncake offerings from eight hotels listed in the MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2018.
Goodwood Park Hotel
Goodwood Park Hotel, which is famed for its annual durian promotion, is putting its love for the king of fruit in black and white. New this year is its Mao Shan Wang and Black Thorn Durian snowskin mooncakes that are wrapped in black and white snowskin (left).
The Mao Shan Wang durian mooncake, which is stuffed with bittersweet pulp, looks ethereal in white while the sought-after Black Thorn durian filling is aptly packed in a jet black parcel that is sprinkled with gold flakes.
Another new addition to the hotel’s snowskin mooncake selection is the kiwi dragonfruit manuka honey mooncake, which has tangy kiwi puree and dragonfruit cubes infused with manuka honey.
Mandarin Oriental Singapore
The hotel’s MICHELIN Plate Cantonese restaurant Cherry Garden has turned to snazzy cocktails from its sister bar MO Bar for booze-filled inspiration for Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mother of Dragon mooncake is fashioned after the cocktail of the same name. The purple mooncake is stuffed with lotus paste spiked with a concentrated cocktail essence that has been distilled from a rotary evaporator, and candied dragonfruit. A new addition to the baked mooncake selection is the mixed nuts with dried tangerine that features white melon seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, almonds and macadamia nuts.
Pan Pacific Singapore
The hotel’s Cantonese restaurant Hai Tien Lo has rolled out four new flavours of snowskin mooncake with innovative combinations. The Gianduja and Yuzu mooncake is a cross between the bitter notes of Cacao Barry dark chocolate and the zestiness from the Japanese citrus fruit. The Earl Grey and Cherry mooncake is packed with Morello cherry puree and bergamot-tinged Earl Grey tea leaves, dried cranberries and dark Araguani and Bahibe milk chocolate. Fans of the piña colada cocktail will love the tropical-inspired coconut and pineapple mooncake, and fruit lovers can dig into the passionfruit and mango mooncake.
JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach
Fans of the traditional baked mooncakes are not left out in the cold. Madame Fan at JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach, which is helmed by celebrity chef Alan Yau, is debuting two new baked mooncake flavours this year. One of them is the Blueberry mooncake that boasts a tangy sweetness and acidity from the superfood. The other is the Premium Mixed Nuts mooncake, which is a nutty mix of pecans and almonds studded in cinnamon-perfumed lotus paste.
Shang Palace offers both traditional baked mooncakes and sweet snowskin treats in new flavours like kaya with white chocolate and yuzu with sake, but really, the mooncake not to be missed is chef Mok Kit Keung’s Hong Kong-style baked custard mooncakes with bird’s nest. Back this year as a signature limited edition, the Mini Baked Custard With Bird’s Nest mooncakes are best enjoyed slowly warmed in the oven for a rich, creamy mouthfeel and jelly-like bird’s nest.
Regent Singapore
The hotel has collaborated with each of its four dining outlets to come up with a unique flavour of mooncake to tickle the tastebuds. From Italian establishment Basilico, the Truffle Carbonara snowskin mooncake takes the cake with aromatic black truffle paired with cream cheese for a savoury-sweet creation. The Yuzu Strawberry Cheesecake mooncake from Tea Lounge’s award-winning pastry chef melds the fresh flavours of yuzu and strawberries while Manhattan has selected a barrel-aged Hanky Panky blend comprising Fords Gin, Cocchi di Torino and Fernet Branca bitters for a boozy, dark chocolate-based mooncake. One-MICHELIN-starred Summer Palace went back to basics with its Osmanthus Tea And Purple Cauliflower snowskin mooncake and Sugar-free Pandan Custard.
The St. Regis
Making their debut at The St. Regis this year are three new flavours of snowskin mooncakes: the Chendol Paste With Melon Seeds features an aromatic coconut and gula melaka-flavoured filling inspired by the local dessert; the Taro Paste With Salted Egg Yolk Truffle And Almond Flakes is both sweet and savoury, while the fragrant tea-infused Royal Milk Tea Paste With Oolong Tea Truffle Snowskin Mooncake carries an intriguing touch of bitterness from the Oolong tea truffle core. A returning favourite is the Pure “Mao Shan Wang” Durian Snowskin Mooncake made with a generous filling of pure durian puree for fans of the King Of Fruits.
InterContinental Singapore
MICHELIN Plate restaurant Man Fu Yuan at the InterContinental Singapore’s new collection of snowskin mooncakes shines a spotlight on premium German teahouse Ronnefeldt’s ambrosial teas. Made in the restaurant’s signature rose shape moulds, the mooncakes come in flavours like Irish whiskey cream infused with Assam tea, refreshing sencha blended with mango and citrus, peppermint tea with chia seeds and peach tea imbued with the floral scents of rose and hibiscus.
