New Fall 2019 Mooncakes at TWG
I was invited to taste the new Fall 2019 mooncakes at TWG Tea Canada in observance of the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival – a traditional Chinese celebration during the fall season which is liken to American Thanksgiving.
During the fall season the Chinese usually present mooncakes as gifts in beautiful boxes and enjoy them together with family. The traditional mooncake is a round shaped pastry filled with a sweet lotus-seed paste and a preserved egg yolk, it’s partly sweet and partly savory.
Left: Traditional mooncakes feature preserved egg yolk encased inside lotus-seed paste. Right: 2 mooncake and Moon Route Tea tin gift set. Retails for $95
Artisan Mooncakes Made Locally
The mooncakes at TWG Tea Canada take an adventurous departure from the traditional ones with the introduction of different flavours like strawberry, peach, matcha and lemon to name a few, and different textures like chocolate chips, cherries, roasted melon seeds and more.
Snowy mooncakes are a more modern phenomenon. Instead of the regular baked pastry crust, the outside of the mooncake is encased with pillowy skin made from a glutinous rice. I think they are so extremely attractive. One interesting fact about these snow skinned mooncakes is that they were so delicate and could not be shipped from Singapore. Making them previously unavailable to TWG clients in Vancouver until the company opened their own kitchen locally.
Constellation mooncake features the traditional egg yolk and melon seeds while the Jewel Mooncake is filled with chocolate chips and crumble with a chocolate crust.
My Picks in the 2019 Mooncake Collection
Of the 8 new mooncakes, The Constellation moon cake is the most traditional one with an egg yolk center. The Jewel mooncake next to it has a firmer chocolate crust with melty chocolate chips on the inside (I believe it was warmed a bit upon serving). This is a good choice for chocolate lovers but I prefer to go with something a bit more exotic like the ones shown below.
The Harvest Mooncake with a black crust is one of my favorites because of the tangy strawberry center. I liked the texture of the firmer crust against the soft lotus filling infused with Mistral Tea that has hints of lemongrass.
Amongst the snowskin mooncakes, I liked the orange coloured one called Blossom. It has a peach confit center and interesting texture due to the addition of rice puffs.
Harvest Mooncake with strawberry paste heart. Blossom and Pure snowskin mooncake Serenity mooncake has a tangy lemon lotus cream center and the Illumination mooncake has a orange lotus cream heart.
New Moon Route Tea Blend
We tasted each of the 8 new mooncakes and the respective TWG teas that they were infused with. Tea-wise, the one to pay attention to is the signature tea from this year’s Mooncake collection called Moon Route Tea. It is a blend of green tea and red fruits. Upon opening the can, I can immediately smell the sweet tarty scent of strawberries. After steeping, the tea smells like a very delicate perfume. It has become one of my all time favorite teas. It’s light, fragrant and not tart.
I have had the opportunity to visit the TWG Tea Canada on many occasions for dinner and afternoon tea but this was my first time trying their unique mooncake creations. Every time I visit, I am impressed with their creative vision in infusing their luxurious teas into foods like macarons, cakes, and even savoury dishes. Now, even mooncakes can be added onto that list.
TWG Tea Mooncake Gift Sets
Mooncakes and tea are beautifully packaged in the following gifts sets:
$95 for a set of two mooncakes and a tin of Moon Route Tea
$80 for a set of four mooncakes
$20 for an individual mooncake
They are available from August 9th, 2019 to September 2019.
The quality of TWG teas and their tea infused edible creations are always top-notch. I would not hesitate to recommend these exquisite mooncakes or the new Moon Route tea for gift giving or personal enjoyment this Fall Harvest season.
XOXO,
Mimi
All drinks and food were complimentary. All opinions are my own.
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