Mandarin Orchard unveils mooncake collection for Mid-Autumn 2016

Source: Mandarin Orchard. The new packaging.

The Mandarin Orchard's recent Fly Me to the Moon event was the perfect platform to showcase for the hotel's 2016 Mid-Autumn promotion, which features one new mooncake flavour as well as all the traditional favourites and popular signatures, plus sumptuous new packaging.

Each traditional mooncake will be packaged in individual baby blue boxes and presented as a set of four in a larger custom-designed box for the perfect gift to business associates. The larger box features an embossed chrysanthemum at the bottom left corner and the Mandarin Orchard emblem at the top right.

The hotel has maintained its recipes for the classic Baked Mooncake with Single/Double Yolk and White Lotus Paste (单/双黄白莲蓉月饼). For the health conscious, a low-sugar variety is available: the Baked Mooncake with Macadamia Nuts and Low Sugar White Lotus Paste (低糖夏果白莲蓉月饼). The Baked Mooncake with Azuki Red Bean Paste and Pine Nuts (日本红豆沙松子月饼) is also available this year.

The Mini Snow Skin Salted Egg Custard with Manuka Honey Corn mooncake (迷你冰皮奶黄麦卢卡蜜玉米月饼) debuts this year. The salted egg custard has a subtle taste that is beautifully balanced with the sweetness of the corn and Manuka honey. Fusion snowskin flavours introduced last year, which feature fruit and chocolate as well as lemongrass, will be back this year.

For more traditional snowskin flavours, consider the Mini Snow Skin Yam and Yam Paste Mooncake (迷你冰皮芋头月饼) or the Mini Snow Skin Green Tea Paste with Azuki Red Bean Mooncake (迷你冰皮绿茶与日本红豆月饼.

Source: Mandarin Orchard. The Baked Mooncake with Azuki Red Bean Paste and Pine Nuts (日本红豆沙松子月饼).

Source: Mandarin Orchard. The the Baked Mooncake with Macadamia Nuts and Low Sugar White Lotus Paste (低糖夏果白莲蓉月饼).

Source: Mandarin Orchard. The Mini Snow Skin Yam and Yam Paste Mooncake (迷你冰皮芋头月饼).

Source: Mandarin Orchard. The Mini Snow Skin Green Tea Paste with Azuki Red Bean Mooncake (迷你冰皮绿茶与日本红豆月饼.

Source: Mandarin Orchard. The mini snowskin mooncake with salted egg custard and manuka honey corn is absolutely delicious, good cold or at room temperature, and the hands-down winner for me. Do note that the salted part of the salted egg custard is quite subtle.  Manuka honey can also be bitter at times but the combination is perfect here.

Tea Forte's teabags are in an iconic pyramid shape, with a 'tea leaf' at the top as a holder. The teas can be drunk hot, iced, or blended with other beverages, cocktail shaker-style.

Tea Forte has recommended pairings between its premium teas and the Mandarin Orchard's mooncakes. The company produces black, green, herbal, white and oolong teas, and suggests its Jasmine Green flavour, for instance, to complement the baked mooncake with single or double yolk and white lotus paste. Jasmine Green consists of rare Yin Hao green tea combined with jasmine blossoms.

Other pairings include:
Sencha - premium tea leaves picked in early spring, usually only for the Japanese market - or White Ginger Pear - Pai Mu Tan (white peony, or 白牡丹) tea leaves from the chai cha varietal blended with pears and ginger - to go with the baked mooncake with macadamia nuts and low sugar white lotus paste. White Ginger Pear is in the top two bestsellers for Tea Forte, the other being its Iced Ginger Pear blend.

Sencha is also suggested for the mooncakes with a Japanese component, such as the baked mooncake with Azuki red bean paste and pine nuts, but also for the mini snowskin mooncake with yam and yam paste. Cherry Marzipan, on the other hand, was recommended for the mini snowskin mooncake containing green tea paste and Azuki red beans. The tea is a special reserve green tea which Tea Forte describes as "with the tart-sweet lushness of acerola cherries and the depth of nutty toasted almond".

The event was also a showcase of the versatility of the events team. Chinese, Japanese and fusion cuisines paired with different mooncakes to emphasise the origins of various flavour combinations. The mooncakes with Azuki beans, for instance, were featured next to a live sushi and sashimi preparation station, while the traditional Chinese mooncakes were framed by live music, Chinese calligraphy and freshly prepared Sarawak kolo noodles. A fusion dish specially created for the event was the highlight for the fusion-style mooncakes, involving elements from various flavours, including a martini glass, eggs poached just so, and foam infused with meat.

Traditional Chinese music accompaniment got guests into the mood.

The Chinese section was the largest, and featured a Chinese calligrapher who wrote the Chinese names with a Chinese brush for guests as requested, in traditional Chinese.

Fusion food-inspired cocktail bites were displayed in one room on a table strewn with rose petals.

Nibbles on the left - scallop tartare, lightheartedly reformed in the shape and size of a scallop - a complete surprise to the palate. On the right, a skewered stack of vegetables cut into the shape of sakura, topped with a candied black bean, named 'sweet potato yuzu miso'.

Interested?

Available from 1 August to 15 September, the mooncake collection features five baked mooncakes - sold in fours - as well as five mini snowskin flavours - sold in eights. The Mandarin Orchard has curated two assortments as well, one for baked mooncakes and the other for the snowskin mini mooncakes.

DBS/POSB credit card holders will receive 25% discount for purchases during the early bird period between 1 and 15 August and 20% discount thereafter. All other credit card holders enjoy 20% and 15% off respectively. Discounts are only available at the hotel’s Festive Counter, which will open from 11 August. Customers visiting the Mandarin Orchard before the 11th can pick up the mooncakes at Level 35, Shisen Hanten.

Order through +65 6831 6320. Prices range from S$65 for a box of eight mini snowskin mooncakes, to up to S$75 for a box of baked mooncakes. All prices include GST. Delivery is free to a single destination for a minimum purchase of 50 boxes; it costs S$60 per destination otherwise.

The mooncakes will retail at the following locations:

11 August to 15 September, 11am to 7pm: Mandarin Orchard Singapore, 333 Orchard Road, Festive Counter, level 1  
13 August to 15 September, 10am to 9.30pm: Takashimaya mall, Basement 2
29 August to 15 September, 10am to 8pm: Raffles Exchange Link
29 August to 14 September, 10am to 9.30pm: Bishan Junction 8 mall, Atrium at level 2
29 August to 14 September, 10am to 9.30pm: IMM mall, Atrium at level 1
31 August to 14 September, 10am to 9.30pm: Tampines Mall, Atrium at level 1
2 September to 15 September, 10am to 9.30pm: Tiong Bahru Plaza mall

Read the WorkSmart Asia post about Peach Blossom's mooncake offer for 2016
 
posted from Bloggeroid