#mooncake fair

[buffetlicious]

It is the time of the year when many of the hotels, restaurants, bakeries and home bakers are busy churning out creative mooncakes 🥮 (月饼) flavours and unique packaging to capture the hearts and wallets of fickle minded Singaporeans. While various mooncake fairs are popping up around towns in Singapore, but none are as big and grand as the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration 2025 by Takashimaya (髙島屋). This year, it is open to the public from 4 Sep to 6 Oct 2025. With over 50 different brands both online and in-store, the fair is sure to attract thousands of customers from all over the island. I will be surveying the various stores and bringing you the goodies on offer.

Alternatively, you can head down to Takashimaya Square, Basement 2 to mingle with the crowds, browse and then decide for yourself. While you are there, check out the beautifully crafted Mooncakes 🥮 (月饼) in stylish designer boxes or even bags. Be sure to try out the many free mooncake samples that comes in baked, fried, snowskin and even dessert styles.

[buffetlicious]

As in previous year, Mdm Ling Bakery booth occupied a prominent space next to the main entrance. New this year are the Weaving Reunions and Weaving Moments Bags 👜 featuring a beautifully woven texture, symbolizing the bonds we hold dear, and the heartfelt stories shared each Mid-Autumn. If bags are not your thing, the Botanic Reverie Blue Tin adorned with a vivid array of flowers in full bloom against a soft, inviting background, captures the spirit of Mid-Autumn where family bonds flourish and love is in full bloom.

Or grab hold of the SG60 Game Box with Traditional and Assorted Signature Mooncake. Each set contains four mooncakes, transformable game board, tokens and dice. If functionality is what you are looking for then go for the Elegance Reunion Pink Turntable with mooncakes. Adorned with vibrant flowers on a serene background, this turntable can gracefully display and serve four mid-autumn mooncakes. 🥮

Selected images and video courtesy of Mdm Ling Bakery.

[buffetlicious]

Swatow Seafood Restaurant (汕头海鲜) is renowned for their Teochew food and Teochew style seafood in Singapore. Take a look at their Teochew crispy mooncakes and you will know why. Not only are these mooncakes crispy and flaky, they are also beautifully crafted with bold colours. Doesn’t this cheeky red and green Flaky Teochew Summer Breeze 🍉 Pure White Lotus with Single Yolk (夏日西瓜蛋黄酥) mooncake reminded you of the juicy and sweet watermelon? A playful twist on tradition, perfect for gifting or indulging.

Petite in size but rich in flavours, this bold purple and white Swatow Teochew Delight Mini Flaky Orh Nee Yam Paste (汕头潮州经典迷你香芋) mooncake features crisp, flaky pastry wrapped around velvety yam paste. A delightful bite-sized treat that blends tradition and indulgence in perfect harmony.

This Flaky Teochew “Yuan Yang” Black Sesame & Bean Paste with Single Yolk (潮州酥皮单黄鸳鸯豆沙) mooncake features a harmonious blend of smooth black sesame and black bean paste, offering a subtle sweetness with earthy depth. A single salted egg yolk nestled within adds a rich, savoury contrast, making each bite a balanced and satisfying Mid-Autumn treat.

They didn’t have as much baked mooncake variety as their competitors. The Baked Jade Pandan Mooncake with Single Yolk (单黄翡翠月饼) features a fragrant pandan-infused lotus paste with a vibrant green hue, encasing a rich salted egg yolk at its center. Wrapped in a golden baked crust, this mooncake 🥮 offers a harmonious blend of floral aroma, creamy sweetness, and savoury depth.

The Baked White Lotus Paste Mooncake with Double Yolk (双黄纯白莲蓉月饼) boasts a silky-smooth white lotus seed paste paired with two rich, golden salted egg yolks, all encased in a beautifully baked, fragrant crust. This indulgent treat offers a perfect balance of sweetness and savory richness, symbolizing prosperity and reunion.

The Teochew Baked Mixed Nuts Mooncake (潮式五仁月饼) is a traditional delight featuring a golden, fragrant pastry crust filled with a rich medley of premium nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. Packed with wholesome textures and lightly sweetened, it offers a satisfying crunch in every bite - a festive favorite that showcases both craftsmanship and nutrition.

Selected images courtesy of Swatow Seafood Restaurant.

[buffetlicious]

During the olden days, Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) in Singapore is more about praying to the ancestors and deities than eating mooncakes. Maybe because there are no fanciful mooncakes varieties or eye-catching packaging to tempt us. More truthfully is that most of the populations are not financially well off to really celebrate unlike for Chinese New Year.

On the other hand, children look forward to this day when parents bring them to mom and pop shops to select their Lanterns (灯笼). During my childhood time, we only had lanterns made of foldable printed paper or transparent coloured glass paper. The illumination is via candlelight, and we all know that open flame and paper do not mix so the lantern 🏮 sometime goes up in flame if the candle is not secured properly.

Modern Lanterns (灯笼) are now typically made from cloth, plastic or both. They come in all sorts of shapes, from animals, dinosaurs, birds, sea creatures, fantasy creatures to anime characters. Unlike traditional paper lanterns 🏮 which are handmade, and hand drawn, the plastic ones can be easily manufactured en masse and are powered with LEDs and batteries. Somehow, I still find the act of lighting candles and carrying the lanterns in the evening brings back nostalgic sentimental, not that I still play with one though. 😄

[buffetlicious]

Held annually, the Takashimaya (髙島屋) Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration 2024 is the largest mooncake fair in Singapore. It is open to the public from 15 Aug to 17 Sep 2024. With over 60 different brands both online and in-store, the fair attracts thousands of customers or would-be buyers from all over Singapore. As per last year, I will bring you some of the highlights of the fair.

[buffetlicious]

Let’s start off with Mdm Ling Bakery as it occupies the booth right next to the main entrance. This year, they married traditional kueh lapis with the mid-autumn’s dessert, calling it Kueh Lapis Mooncake. Each set of intricately designed Peranakan-inspired gift box comes with one flavour each of Belgium Chocolate, Mango, Original and Pandan.

Another interesting item is the Floral Radiance Mooncake Tin which you get to choose from assorted baked mooncakes with different fillings like Traditional White Lotus with Melon Seeds, Belgian Double Chocolate, Black Sesame Peanut Butter, Emerald Pandan Golden Yolk and Red Dates Longan. Or better still, choose the Elegant Reunion Mooncake Turntable with Tea Set bundle and have mooncake while sipping the tea.

Selected images from Mdm Ling Bakery.

[buffetlicious]

Next up, Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay with their Blossoms Pavilion Box or Celestial Lantern Box. A collection of Peach Blossoms' mooncakes, exquisitely crafted with flavours like Charcoal Peach Long Jing with Okinawa Brown Sugar Mochi, Mung Bean & Red Bean Symphony, Single Yolk with White Lotus Paste, and Double Yolk with White Lotus Paste.

Hailing all the way from oversea is Hong Kong MX Mooncakes (香港美心月饼). Their mooncakes comes in traditional square or rectangle tin boxes except for this MX “MINIONS” Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake with Egg Yolk (美心 ”迷你兵团系列” 蛋黄莲蓉月饼). A new themed mooncake set collaborating with the legendary Minions yet again for the coming festival season inspired by Twin-lens Reflex camera. The gift set features Fan favorite Minions – Bob, Dave, Kevin, and Stuart on the package. When the light is switched on and the handle turned, you will see the Minions projected on the screen with mischievous poses!

As the deep-fried/baked Teochew and no-bake snowskin mooncakes have a short shelf life, we typically will also buy a box of traditional baked mooncakes to offer to our ancestors and deities on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节). As per last year, sis bought the White Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake with Egg Yolk (美心蛋黄白莲蓉月饼) at S$68 for a box of 4s mooncakes.

Selected imaged courtesy of Parkroyal Collection and Hong Kong MX Mooncakes.

[buffetlicious]

Peony Jade (玉河畔) always has this gorgeous showcase with colourful and intricately crafted mooncakes. I am particularly drawn to the limited edition Over the Full Moon (嫦娥奔月) with the beautiful blue, pink and yellow blossoms. They comes in Taro Pengat Mochi Gula Melaka De Lave with Pulut Hitam Flaky Pastry Mooncake (芋泥麻糬黑糯米“流心”椰糖酥皮月饼) and Lotus Ginger Century Egg Mousse Flaky Pastry Mooncake (皮蛋酥月饼).

They also have daily made Teochew Flaky “Orh Ni” Mooncake with Double Egg Yolks (前皇冠酒店潮洲酥皮双黃芋泥月饼) which they claimed to have come from the original Ex-Crown Prince Hotel creator and team. There is also other variation like the one with Premium Golden Pumpkin. For baked items, they have a series of reduced sugar mooncakes to choose from.

Selected images and video courtesy of Peony Jade.