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Mooncakes are usually paired with gourmet teas to balance the sweetness of the rich bean and nut filled cakes much the way you would pair wine and cheese.
Mooncakes are made by hand using traditional wood molds with intricate patterns.
One of the secrets to making the best mooncakes is the rolled fillings that are inserted into the middle of the cakes -- that's where the most interesting new flavors can be developed.
This ancient tradition is celebrated in much of the world today, and mooncakes are the center of attention
Every bite is a foodie adventure that melds tradition with innovation. New flavors include Green Tea, Winter melon, Taro, Lemon Ginger, Red Bean with Mixed Nuts and Pina Colada.” - Victoria Wu, Co-Owner of Cakes By Happy EateryMANASSAS, VA, UNITED STATES, September 17, 2024 /EINPresswire / -- Mid-Autumn Festival is a cultural tradition which traces its roots back over 3,000 years to ancient China, and the connection to mooncakes is almost as old.
The festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, marking the first autumn full moon and the peak harvest season, typically aligning between September/October -- this year it happens to be today, September 17th.
Families come together to observe the moon's symbolic presence, offer gratitude for the bountiful harvest, enjoy great food, and pray for prosperity and reunion of the whole family. People present mooncakes to relatives and friends to express love, connection, and best wishes. The festival is celebrated under varying names in several East and Southeast Asian countries that have varying degrees of historic Chinese cultural influence and sizeable communities of ethnic Chinese.
Cakes by Happy Eatery Co-Owner Emily Wu-Rorrer appeared on Fox 5 in Washington, DC to share mooncakes tips and receipts, and demonstrate the process of how they are made in celebration of today's holiday:
“We grew up helping our parents make mooncakes every first full moon of the fall,” remembers Victoria Wu, one of two sisters who took over the family's popular bakery and café, Cakes by Happy Eatery, that is a staple in the Manassas, Virginia.“Fall Festival was about making our own mooncakes and gathering as a family.”
Mooncakes are typically round golden crust pastries that represent the shape of the moon; adorned with many intricate designs, they also feature a wide variety of sweet fillings to symbolize completeness and togetherness. The hand motion of shaping a mooncake is similar to making a dumpling, but involve several more steps and a lot of precision.
"Mooncakes are all about the taste, texture and are usually enjoyed with a strong hot cup of tea," says Wu. "More traditional flavors are inspired by sweet beans, nuts, and dried fruits creating the red beans, lotus paste, winter melon, candied pineapples, and mixed nut fillings."
Some mooncakes, in addition to the filling, have a salted yolk in the middle to represent the moon. The addition of the salted yolk enhances the mooncake's filling and adds a notable contrast to the pastry's sweetness, and balances the sweet and savory combination. Modern flavors include matcha, black sesame, mocha, and more to cater to changing tastes. The most common type of mooncake is the Cantonese-style characterized by its lotus-like shape with a decorative pattern atop. Each mooncake is filled and rolled into a round ball, pressed into a decorative wood carved mold, and then knocked in a paddle motion to release a perfectly embossed piece of art that has a floral pattern, shape, or Chinese characters symbolizing good-luck, longevity, harmony, or prosperity.
"Every bite is a foodie adventure that melds tradition with innovation," says Wu. "The trendier new flavors include Green Tea, Winter melon, Taro, Lemon Ginger, Red Bean with Mixed Nuts, which brings together two classic mooncake flavors: Black Sesame and Pina Colada.”
Other modern flavors the Wu sisters have seen include chocolate, truffles, foie gras and ice cream. There are also different styles and designs of mooncakes depending on the region and country using varying types of pastry crusts from baked golden brown to think, flaky layers or the colorful no-baked snow skin versions.
“In Chinese culture, mooncakes are the traditional dessert for the festival just like pies are for American Thanksgiving,” says Wu. She also says that mooncakes have been a part of the festival since the Ming dynasty.
For more information about mooncakes and Mid-Autumn Festival, go to
About Cakes by Happy Eatery
Known regionally for their inventive, fabulous, and versatile creations in the kitchen, Cakes by Happy Eatery was founded in 1984 by Woei and Fu-Mei Wu and have been Manassas since 2009. Two of their daughters – Victoria and Emily –operate the business today and have since 2000, although their mother Fu-Mei
still comes in almost every day and is still the defacto matriarch. The sisters create and design custom cakes and dessert bars that showcase every kind of special occasion, event or season, producing pieces of art that taste incredibly delicious. Their full-service bakery includes an onsite café for dining throughout the day and operate a thriving catering business featuring cakes are baked from scratch daily and never frozen (besides ice cream cakes) by a team of very talented bakers and pastry chefs.
Victoria and Emily are both regularly featured guests and dessert experts on NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS affiliates in the Virginia/Maryland/DC area and are known for showcasing cutting-edge trends and creative recipes and presentation designs. For further information go to
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