Back By Popular Demand: Sauternes Moon Cakes

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Last year, Kowloon Shangri-la introduced the Sauternes Custard Mini Moon Cakes, which were hugely successful. They are being brought back by popular demand this year and will come in a custom-made limited-edition flower-shaped porcelain box.

 

These Sauternes moon cakes are co-created by the Head Chef of Shang Palace, Mok Kit Keung, and Jeannie Cho Lee MW with the mindset of presenting a new crossover experience to consumers. Being the first moon cakes that incorporate Sauternes wine into the custard filling, this new product successfully wrote a new chapter in the Mid-Autumn Festival traditions.

 

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Working with Jeannie on moon cakes for the second year, we wondered if Chef Mok made any adjustments to the recipe this time. He said, “The skin of this year’s Sauternes moon cakes are slightly different from last year’s. To elevate the sensational gourmet experience, I, along with our Pastry Chef Wins Hung, have reformulated the recipe to make the skin softer in texture so that they can more accurately match the silky and smooth custard filling.”

 

In terms of what wine to pair up with the Sauternes Moon Cakes, Chef Mok suggested the 1998 Chateau Guiraud as its sweetness and finesse enhances the silkiness and floral flavor of the moon cakes.

 

Every year when the Mid-Autumn Festival is upon Hong Kong, residents of the city are bombarded with advertisements of moon cakes. It is quite apparent that the market is becoming more and more competitive with bakeries coming up with new flavors each year.

 

Too many choices can possibly create a problem for consumers to decide what moon cakes to purchase. That is why some consumers are avoiding the ‘overchoice’ problem by taking moon-cake-making classes so they can create moon cakes of their own – it’s fun and makes the gift more personal. If you are attempting to make Sauternes custard moon cakes at home this year, here’s a little tip from Chef Mok: “The portion of wine added to the moon cake is key. If too much wine is added, more water will then have to be added accordingly to balance it out so that it will not affect the texture of the moon cakes filling.”

 

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Besides the Sauternes Moon Cakes, Chef Mok unveiled a new innovative creation for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival: Chiu-Chow Moon Cakes made with Pandan leaves, yam paste and salty egg yolk. Exclusively presented by Shang Palace, this is the first-ever concoction in Hong Kong that infuses refreshing Pandan fragrance into Chiu-Chow-styled puff pastry skin. He commented, “I wanted to give a new twist of flavor to the traditional Chiu-Chow moon cakes, and hopefully our guests will enjoy my new creation as much as they did with the Sauternes moon cakes last year!”

 

Click here to view the full range of moon cakes offered by Kowloon Shangri-la this year.