SINGAPORE — Two decades have passed since snow skin mooncakes made their mark on our Mid-Autumn menu.

And as customary as the snow skins have grown to be, their innovative adaptations continue to epitomise a profitable penchant for novelty that has since pervaded the Mid-Autumn Festival feast. This year, though, marks a shift in the tide.

Even as it stands, traditional baked mooncakes outsell their more delicate counterparts.

“After all, baked skin mooncakes make better gifts as they keep better and have a longer shelf life,” said chef Yong Bing Ngen, who added how few snow skin creations have been successful in sustaining that initial interest.

The chef’s low-sugar baked white lotus with double yolks has been a favoured feature at Majestic Restaurant since its debut in 2006, and it remains the restaurant’s best-selling mooncake. According to Yong, the reason lies in its skin, which is thin, and the lotus paste within stays fresh and moist even after two weeks.

Peony Jade also enjoys regular success with its traditional baked mooncakes, a success backed by the enduring allure of its Original Ex-Crown Prince flaky Teochew “orh ni” mooncake, filled with yam. “We’ve seen a 25- to 30-per-cent increase in yearly sales (for this Teochew variety) over the last five years,” shared Robert Han, group general manager of The Quayside Group, which owns Peony Jade.

And the popularity of the flaky stuff as a traditional alternative has not gone unnoticed. “This year, Feng Shui Inn is introducing flaky crust mooncakes, something that we have never done before, instead of our usual mini snowskin mooncakes,” said chef Li Kwok Kwong, Chinese head chef at Resorts World Sentosa. These are available with an organic not-too-sweet organic Japanese purple sweet potato filling, or with golden sweet potato, also from Japan.

TRADITION, RE-ARRANGED

There are no snow skin mooncakes offered by The Fullerton Hotel this year either. The culinary team will instead be banking on its Golden Custard Mini Mooncake, a three-bite baked treat that boasts a well-loved blend of salted egg yolk and custard encased in a light butter pastry.

“Our master chef Leong Chee Yeng of Jade restaurant was inspired by the steamed custard bun, a perennial favourite at our Chinese restaurant,” said Giovanni Viterale, general manager of The Fullerton Heritage, the development that includes The Fullerton Hotel Singapore and The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore. “Traditional in flavour, our new mooncake creation upholds Chinese customs while providing an element of innovation,” he added.

But just as surprising as the auspicious liberties some chefs have taken with the traditional assortment, is the number of debuts this year. It has taken Putien restaurant 13 years and one talented employee to debut a worthy example.

It’s not a chef’s recipe, but a version by one of its first employees, 58-year-old Leng Ah Eng. Leng is now a junior manager at its Kitchener Road flagship restaurant, and just like the ones she would make for her colleagues every year, the Putien mooncakes feature layers of dough rolled in alternating fashion over a generous filling of yam and sweet potato, then deep-fried (not baked) to a delicate crisp.

TAKING ROOT

This is not to say that the commonly baked traditional mooncakes lack a creative face. After 10 years in Singapore and repeated requests from loyal customers, Din Tai Fung has also debuted its first mooncakes. Available in two distinct flavours with white lotus paste as a base ingredient, it is also an opportunity to feature Songshan pineapple paste, a feted ingredient from Taiwan that the brand has showcased before.

“As the moon cakes were launched as a customer-oriented initiative, we were inspired to try and weave the well-loved pineapple filling into our moon cakes,” a spokesperson shared. The other confection blends white lotus paste with salted egg yolk paste (made with only a quarter of a yolk) paired with pine seeds and orange peel.

For something more sumptuously wistful, the Breadtalk Group has also reintroduced Thye Moh Chan’s famed mooncakes after acquiring the business just last year. Unlike the Cantonese baked skin versions, these sweet-salty Teochew varieties are characterised by a flaky skin, similar to the brand’s flagship pastries, but larger and with salted egg yolks added. The line-up also includes a Mid-Autumn durian variant that the 70-year-old brand is known for.

“Yuan Yang, though, which comprises savoury mung bean paste, fried shallots, white sesame, spicy pork floss and salted egg yolks is one of the new flavours that we’ve introduced at Thye Moh Chan and this, the first Mid-Autumn collection for the brand under the BreadTalk Group,” a spokesperson said. “We’ve retained the traditional flavours of Thye Moh Chan’s products to introduce this heritage brand and products to more customers. But at the same time, introducing new flavours is important to create more interest and appeal to a wider group of customers.”

TIME TO TEA OFF

Speaking of growing an audience, over at TWG Tea, an anticipated confluence with a foreign touch is growing increasingly popular for its well-received Mid-Autumn delights. “I believe that there has been little experimentation with the traditional mooncake because the word ‘traditional’ by definition implies a certain respect for long-established recipes,” said its executive pastry chef Philippe Langlois. “But as a Frenchman, I did not grow up celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I do not have any nostalgic attachment to any particular flavours or textures.”

This is sometimes a good thing. Langlois’ snow skin desserts in disguise celebrate a more global palate, with a focus on European pastry-making ideas, more than it tries to epitomise a marriage of compromise. “TWG Tea preserves the essence of the traditional mooncake, only adding a bright and vibrant appeal that will engage customers of all ages and all origins,” Langlois contended.

Fittingly, all its mooncakes are infused with tea, featuring select blends from the brand’s range. This marks a clear integration of tradition, but his creations are far from predictable.

Earning its place in this year’s Longevity Tea Collection of eight new creations, The Moonlight is an aptly named baked variety that boasts a golden brown crust encasing white lotus paste infused with the vintage Pu-Erh 1993 tea and sesame paste at its heart. The Pagoda, on the other hand, is a baked chocolate brown crust with bursts of cranberries in lotus paste infused with malty notes of Chocolate Tea.

Chef’s personal pick of this season’s crop? “It has to be the Brothers Club Tea infused Dragon Mooncake with its baked golden crust, accent of nuts and a secret heart of buttery peanut paste,” he conceived.

To be sure, that is one way to keep a classic current.