Mid-Autumn Festival: These mooncakes from an artisanal bakery offer a refreshing take on traditional favourites

What do you do if you enjoy traditional snacks and pastries but your tastebuds prefer the path less eaten, especially with the Mid-Autumn Festival around the corner? As someone who’s always open to new takes on perennial favourites, I was over the moon (bad pun intended) to have recently sampled mooncakes from artisanal bakery La Levain.

While there will always be a place for traditional mooncakes, La Levain’s Cantonese Mooncake and Liqueur Truffle Snow Skin Mooncake sets offer something different for more curious palettes.

CANTONESE MOONCAKE SET

The former contains four mooncakes: Maple with Valrhona Dulce De Leche, Chocolate with Hokkaido Milk and Mochi, White Lotus with Yolk and Uji Matcha with Valrhona Yuzu Chocolate.

It’s true that you eat with your eyes first, because the combination of rich colours and highlighted details of each mooncake offered an opulent preview of the culinary adventure that awaited. I could go on, but I’ll let the following picture speak for itself:

My tastebuds were spoilt for choice, but the Uji Matcha with Valrhona Yuzu Chocolate and Chocolate with Hokkaido Milk and Mochi stood out for me. Matcha and Yuzu-infused Valrhona chocolate might seem like strange bedfellows – get the proportions wrong and one ingredient can overpower other elements of the mooncake. But the flavours and proportions blended well, with the slight earthiness from the Matcha balanced by the tangy chocolate and smooth, delicate  texture.

The Hokkaido Milk and Mochi mooncake was a triple-layered treat of tastes and textures. You bite into the chocolate, hit the next Hokkaido milk layer then savour the soft mochi centre.

LIQUER TRUFFLE SNOW SKIN MOONCAKE SET

The Liqueur Truffle Snow Skin Mooncake set contains eight mooncakes, consisting of two sets of four flavours – Boozy Apricot Passion Fruit Truffle (Orange), Boozy Raspberry Truffle (Pink) and Boozy Yuzu Pomme Truffle (Yellow). Teetotallers can enjoy the non-alcoholic Strawberry Lime Popping Candy Mooncake (Green).

Choosing your favourite from this delectable quartet of snow skin mooncakes isn’t the work of a moment – each mooncake is that good. My absolute favourite turned out to be the only non-alcoholic offering, the Strawberry Lime Popping Candy.

The invigorating lime ganache was complemented by the candy, sparking nostalgic childhood memories of eating Pop Rocks.

Admittedly, it’s probably the most “un-foodie” reason for liking something, but that’s what spoke to me the most. And sometimes, like when you’re reunited with loved ones around the dining table, the memories a dish evokes are just as important as its taste and texture.

MOONCAKES GALORE

If you’re looking to pre-order mooncakes for the mid-autumn festival, La Levain is one of 25 online-exclusive brands and eight exclusive listings that are currently available for pre-order in Shopee’s Mooncake Fair 2024. Additional discounts are available on Aug 19 and 20 thanks to stackable vouchers.

Other brands include the likes of Parkroyal, Shangri-La, Andaz and for durian aficionados – Fourseasons Durian and Ginthye.

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Prices are accurate as of the time of publication.