The Year's Most Creative Beijing Mooncakes That You Won't Want to Regift

“Would you like a mooncake?”

“Not really.”

And thus starts the re-gifting orgy that is Mid-Autumn Festival, Sep 24 this year, a time for soaking up the full moon above while you dodge the mysterious and overly-boxed cakes below. Filled with fruit, nuts, meat – or best yet – dry and salted egg yolk seemingly first laid 20 years ago, it’s not farfetched to say that this season’s snack of choice, mooncakes (月饼 yuèbǐng), are a divisive treat and a brick-like hurdle in the way to not get an early start on your pudgy Christmas bod. For the uninitiated, mooncakes are something to be approached cautiously, studied, and then shoved back in a box until next autumn rolls around. But that’s not always the case.

That's because the masterful minds of China’s culinary scenes have cottoned onto the fact that we don’t actually want to eat half our daily calorific allowance in one mouthful, instead refining these pleated rocks into something more akin to a delicate treat, with the flavors to match. The range of options this year demonstrates just how far mooncake technology has come and you'd be hard-pressed not to find one that has you eagerly awaiting next year's celebrations.
 

For the vegans

Tribe
Eight per box in four flavors
RMB 188

Tribe’s handmade and vegan mooncakes have a veritably less pastry-heavy shell than those commonly found being re-gifted across China come Mid-Autumn Festival. However, what they lack in immortality they make up for in gooey, shelf-life goodness. The gelatinous outer casing gives way to sweet and natural fillings that are blended in a way so as not to completely lose their original texture. In this case, red bean and cranberry make for a light marriage that may just for the first time in your life have you searching for the next cake.

Conclusion: Light, flavorsome, and obviously natural, just don't expect them to last till next year.

Order here.
 

For the big kids

Oreo
Six per box in four flavors
RMB 118

Long heralded in America as the only foodstuff that could make milk palpable, Oreos have been a staple in China's supermarkets since 1996, before milk was even invented here. Though their inclusion into the market at that time was less than successful, it is said Oreos are China's bestselling biscuit, though we can't attest to having ever seen anyone actually eat one. The brand's newest attempt to break into the market, 22 years on, is a melding of chocolate, milk, strawberry, and cream flavors into a handy box of kid-friendly mooncakes. And you know what, the results aren't terrible. The milk version is especially pleasant for its smooth crust and a rich chocolate ball in the center. The strawberry variety is also surprisingly fragrant in a way that hints that it did once come into contact with a real strawberry, though the taste proves less convincing than that initial scent suggests.

Conclusion: A good treat for the kids at home perhaps but don't expect much respect if you gift these to your boss.

Order here.
 

For the health nuts

Shang Yue Mooncake
Eight per box
RMB 188

Healthy may just be the last word to come to mind while you're chewing on an object with the consistency of lead, but Beijing's resident bodybuilder Hailie Song has gone out of her way to change that. Using a homemade recipe that includes whole wheat flour, vegetable oil, and six different types of nuts, Song hopes that her mooncakes can appeal to athletes who may otherwise be wary of overdoing it when they're not pumping iron. The end result is a cake that is quite truthful to the original without the ensuing guilt.

Conclusion: Ripped people need to eat cake too and this super-tailored variety is just the ticket.

Order via WeChat ID: hailiesong921 or pick up from BActive Sanlitun
 

For the seriously fancy

TRB
Six flavors per box
RMB 328

Receiving TRB's specially crafted portable hard-cased box of mooncakes is like being gifted a key into a secret club. Unfastening the metal clasp and gently pulling apart the magnetized box, you half expect an explosion of light to blind you, reflected off of the gold boxes within. But that's just the beginning. After all, one of the six flavors included is blueberries with Dom Perignon – a fragrant and beautifully colored purple cake sculpted to the restaurant's logo, the sumptuous blueberries giving way to the slight signature dryness of Champagne at the back of the throat. One issue though: although advertised to be gluten-free, it was later discovered that they do in fact contain wheat flour.

Conclusion: The skillful combination of East meets West flavors (cheese and black sesame variations also make an appearance) means that it's unlikely that whoever you gift these to will be quick to forget the favor.

Order here (three days notice needed).
 

For the cutting-edge

The 3D Printing Company
Six per box in three flavors
RMB 279

The 3D Printing Company has well and truly revamped the stodgy mooncake for modern customers, making theirs using – you guessed it – 3D printing technology. The result is a smooth almondy base with an encrusted macaron in the top, adding crunch as well as a hint of sweet apple and mango flavor. Each cake is also adorned with a dancing printed rabbit insignia, representing Yutu, the sole companion of the Goddess of the Moon Chang'e. The colors are suitably autumnal and the combination of textures makes for a mooncake that is filling but without the usual heft – now that's science!

Conclusion: Unique and stylish, these techy bites may utilize modern technology but the end result is downplayed and unlike any other mooncake you'll try this year.

Order here.
 

READ: Lunar Lessons: Ten Things You Didn't Know About The Mid-Autumn Festival
 

Photos: 3D Printing Company, Joey Guo, courtesy of the vendors