New flavors add more delight to mooncakes

The Peninsula Beijing gave its new handcrafted egg custard mooncake collection an artistic touch by inviting a paper-cut artist to showcase the craft at the launch event on Aug 6.
Executive Chinese Chef Fred Shi and Head of Dim Sum Deng Jianbiao at the Huang Ting restaurant of the hotel have re-imagined the classic Mid-Autumn Festival delights with three exclusive editions: heart-shaped egg custard mooncakes, pineapple mooncakes and durian mooncakes.
"The Peninsula Beijing's ever-popular egg custard mooncakes are lovingly crafted using a secret recipe first used in 1986 by the chefs of (the) Spring moon (restaurant) at The Peninsula Hong Kong," the hotel said. "The Peninsula Beijing has inherited these refined skills of traditional mooncake making and replaced the traditional lotus seed paste and egg yolk filling with a signature creamy egg custard."
For this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Shi and Deng have handcrafted the egg custard mooncakes and added a tropical twist with pineapple and durian flavors.
"The delightful durian and pineapple mooncakes are made with fresh, soft fruit pulp. The delicate fruit filling and rich egg custard blend perfectly to produce a tantalizing festive combination," the hotel said.
The heart-shaped egg custard mooncakes are presented in specially made gift boxes. A hexagonal pattern embellishes the box. When opened, delicate light and shadows flow through it, reflecting the moonlight in a hexagonal shape.
The hexagonal design is inspired by an ancient Chinese architectural motif that signifies wealth and prosperity, according to the hotel.
The Peninsula Beijing invited Yi Le, a Beijing-based paper-cut artist, to the launch event to share the charm of the UNESCO intangible heritage craft.
Yi, who began learning paper-cutting at the age of 6, said each one of his works "came from the heart".
"Paper-cuts are expressed through lines and hollows," he said. "Each hollow is like a window to the heart and each line is filled with faith."
Yi draws inspiration for his works mainly from the real world. He adds creativity and novelty to the ancient art by moving away from traditional motifs such as fish and magpies and focusing on things from everyday life.
During the event, Yi created paper-cut works inspired by lotus flowers and the Chinese characters for the words "peninsula" and "mid-autumn".


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