One of the holidays celebrated in China during the fall is called the Mid-Autumn Festival or “Zhong qiu jie.” I have celebrated many of them in China, and one thing I can always count on is there being many moon cakes sold, served, and given as gifts. So, have you seen a moon cake?
I think you can tall from the photograph above how they got their name! Moon cakes come in two main styles: one has a very flaky white exterior, and the other has a golden exterior with a beautiful design. The filling within the cake can have many different exotic flavors.
The ones I like the best are strawberry and fig. I have also had some that were made with pecans, and another type with peanuts that was quite tasty as well, but that is about my limit of the ones I have enjoyed. I have had various ones with filled with some type of cream filling in either white, pink, or violet. Honestly, I have no idea what is in some of the moon cakes — but they are still a beautiful gift to receive!
The moon cakes above were for sale at a local street market. I am not sure what fillings they had, but they looked delicious that rainy morning!
As you can see, the moon cakes can come in different colors and packaging. The Chinese are wonderful hosts, so they enjoy giving the foreigners moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
If you are ever around China during the “Zhong qiu jie,” you simply must try a moon cake. It is one of the great traditions of China, and 1.4 billion people can’t be wrong!