Mooncake

It's the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Chinese calendar. This month also marks the Lantern Festival and the Mooncake Festival.

Legend has it that a Chinese general invented these moon cakes as a means of passing secret messages to his troops. Some versions have the messages embedded in the sticky filling, others have them as a code based on the characters and patterns imprinted on the surface of the cake.

Traditionally moon cakes are filled with red bean paste or lotus paste, with one or more salted duck's egg yolk, and this is all encased in a pastry shell. More modern versions have this "snow skin" shell.

This one is from the Raffles Hotel, it's a particular favourite of mine - because instead of a egg yolk there is the most divine champagne truffle inside the moon cake!