Mooncakes

Singapore is celebrating Mid Autumn Festival again. Falling on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar when the moon is to appear at its roundest. The full roundness of the moon represents an abundant harvest and family unity. Last year I posted photos of the lanterns at Gardens by the Bay. They are putting those out again this year but I wanted to do something different. Lanterns symbolize the full moon during the festival, the glow of the lanterns copying the glow of the moon, and are bought and sold in abundance now. Another must have Mid Autumn item would be the mooncake. These cakes are small, about the size of a cupcake, maybe slightly wider but not as tall, and very dense. They come in many different flavors, some of the most popular are red bean paste and lotus seed paste. Some have one to four yolks in the center and some come without yolks. They are meant to be shared with family and friends, too much to eat one by yourself...its very dense!

A few extra stalls have popped up in Chinatown to sell goods for the Mid Autumn Festival making it just a bit more crowded than usual. This stall is selling mooncakes. They vary in price, anywhere from $5.00 to $12.00 each depending on how many yolks are in the cake and what kind of filling it has. There are also very fancy mooncakes for sale going for as much as $20.00 each. Most of the nice hotels and restaurants in the area will have mooncakes for sale.

Here is another shop selling mooncakes.  Hard to see with the fruit vendor setting up in front of the cake shop. I recently took a walking tour of Chinatown and my guide said that this shop was one of the most popular for mooncakes. She was right, the line wraps around the street. 

On Temple Street in Chinatown there are a few kitchen supply shops that I like to visit when I need something in particular for my kitchen. Currently they have mooncake molds. The lady at the store asked me if I knew how to make a mooncake, I told I was going to try. She gave me a smile and a little laugh. Maybe I will just use it for decoration! 

Here is one of my mooncakes I bought today. This is a single yolk lotus seed paste mooncake. Traditionally served with Chinese tea which goes well with a sweet cake. Usually the characters for harmony and longevity and sometimes the bakery name are used in the molds for the cakes.

A single yolk lotus seed paste mooncake has on average 800 calories and 45 grams of fat. Wowser! I am done with these for the year! That would be a lot of 12km loops to run and I don't do it for the fun of it. 

Cutting it open you can see the yolk. The brown surrounding it is the lotus seed paste and the outer layer is the thin pastry shell. It is thought that mooncakes were used in the 14th century as a way of communicating a decision to overthrow the Mongols during the Yuan dynasty. Notes were placed inside the mooncakes or even in the writing on top of the mooncake as a simple riddle or puzzle. No notes in my mooncake today.

I brought home four mooncakes and they came in this nice box. My eyes were bigger than my stomach yet again. I think my friends may be getting a cake from me this year :) Especially after seeing the nutrional value, or lack thereof! 

Happy Friday!!!