Mooncakes

mooncakes traditional Chinese ‘cakes’ consisting of a pastry shell with a sweetened filling, made specially for the Autumn Moon Festival. They are usually round, to symbolize the roundness of the moon, and are made with a special mould which imprints a chrysanthemum pattern and Chinese characters on them.

Mooncakes have various fillings such as a purée of red azuki bean paste or brown date paste. Along the Yangtze River and in the south the filling is lotus seed paste with whole preserved duck egg yolks, which represent the moon itself.