Life.Culture.Discovery.

Mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong that are one-of-a-kind, from coffee hazelnut to sweet potato mochi

Mooncakes have evolved lately, sometimes in bizarre directions. These varieties from independent producers in Hong Kong are one-of-a-kind – but not weird

Tea, coffee and nuts feature, along with new takes on the popular egg custard and red bean fillings, in our selection from eight mooncake makers

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Patisserie La Lune assorted mooncakes. Ubiquitous around Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong, mooncakes come in many flavours these days.

Published: 8:15am, 3 Sep 2022Updated: 3:06pm, 7 Sep 2022

Growing up with traditional mooncakes containing white lotus paste and double salted egg yolk has made me a staunch advocate for these hefty, sticky treats.

While it’s become fashionable of late to hate on mooncakes and decry their nutritional value – strangely, we seldom say the same about sugary hot cross buns or buttery galettes des rois – I have doubled down on my undying support for this decadent aspect of Chinese culture and history.

Every year in Hong Kong, five-star hotels and luxury brands play a game of one-upmanship, with increasingly fancy – and expensive – boxes of mooncakes.

Let’s also not forget the string of bizarre fillings we’ve seen in recent times, like beef Wellington, caviar and mashed potato, and crunchy cookie, in monstrosities masquerading as “mooncakes” by virtue of their vaguely lunar shape. With all this going on, it’s good to know there are smaller, independent producers out there who are creating one-of-a-kind mooncakes that have a real wow factor and are well worth a try.

Creo by Brentwood’s Earl Grey tea mooncakes. Photo: Creo by Brentwood

1. Creo by Brentwood

Flavours: manuka honey egg custard; Earl Grey tea; coffee lava custard.