Singapore’s yearly mooncake frenzy is well under way, ahead of the Midautumn Festival on 13th September this year. In this post, we share our 5 picks of traditionally baked mooncakes – some classic, some with a twist or two, all of them practical and delicious. We’re featuring snowskins next, so watch out for that too!

If you’re intending to celebrate the occasion around that date, now would be a perfect time to lock in those mooncake purchases. Many of our mooncake merchants use QX Quick, Qxpress’ quick delivery service that sends urgent or perishable goods to you within an allocated 2-hour window. This also means that there are limited time slots per day that get snapped up quickly. Getting your mooncakes early lets you select a delivery slot that comfortably suits your schedule, rather than having to make time for it at the last minute. Alternatively, some listings also include options for picking up your purchase directly from a store or designated collection point.

With that out of the way, here are our picks!

Duria Emerald Heart Durian mooncake

If you’re punching straight for decadence, this tiny piece of heaven will likely do the trick for you. Featuring a runny core of Mao Shan Wang durian pureĆ©, encased in an inner layer of fragrant pandan paste, these one-of-a-kind mooncakes will capture the heart of any durian lover.

Extra points to Malaysian manufacturer Duria for ensuring Halal certification, and one heck of a shelf life (12 months from manufacture date!).

Old Seng Choong traditional mooncakes

If you’re looking to keep it simple, Old Seng Choong’s range of traditional mooncakes are your answer. Crafted by founder and pastry chef Daniel Tay, Old Seng Choong’s Four Heavenly Kings set embodies classic mooncake flavours, with quintessential ingredients like lotus seed pastes, melon seeds, and salted egg yolks (who could ever forget the salted egg yolks?).

One mooncake does take it up a notch by combining red lotus seed paste with bak kwa. Unusual, for sure, but not too wildly off-the-charts we think.

Gin Thye Bamboo Charcoal Green Tea Paste mooncake

Traditional techniques with a slight twist of flavours. That’s what premier traditional bakery Gin Thye offers in this mooncake – “pure green tea paste” sealed within a baked skin of bamboo charcoal powder. Both of these main ingredients boast a kilo ton of health benefits, including antioxidants which are known to guard against multiple types of cancer (see also: scandalised exclamations of choy! and/or daai gat lai see!).

Just tell your parents or your granny that it’s very good for health lah.

Gin Thye Pure White Lotus Paste (with less sugar!) mooncake

If by now you haven’t already figured why mooncakes taste so dang good, it’s because they don’t exactly rank high on the list of healthy foods, with the massive amounts of sugar and oil used in its production. Gin Thye’s pure lotus paste mooncakes are, according to them, “lighter and less sweet”. Perfect for those watching their sugar intake or diet.

Swatow Teochew Crispy Orh Nee mooncake

Alternatively, to throw all caution of health to the wind (YOLO right), indulge in some old timey Teochew goodness with their unique take on mooncakes – rich yam paste surrounded by flaky pastry. Because what do we say to the god of dieting?

Next Monday I sumpah start.