I know that Mid-Autumn festival is well over and done with, I have not gone bonkers with the recent roller coaster events in my life. I just need to do a write up on my totally unexpected but extremely pleasant encounter with Rebecca, for my own records, just in case I forget all about it next year. I can’t take any chances with my diminishing by the day, memory power. It has failed me too many times in the past.
Before Rebecca, my hubby and I do not like mooncakes, and do not understand the yearly Mid-Autumn festival fuss. Somehow, we simply could not acquire its taste and found it to be sickly sweet, despite claims of it being “reduced sugar”. Even my two girls, who are true bred junkies and die-hard fans of everything sweet, do not fancy them. The closest to mooncake that they have ever eaten is “zhu zai ping”, which I learnt how to make from Florence. Two days before the festival, I blog hop and landed on Babe in the City-KL, and this dark and absolutely stunning looking mooncake, which looks more like a mini death by chocolate, was staring back at me. Its cross section looks even better, nothing like the lotus paste and its many siblings. I don’t know what gotten over me, I rang the shop, Fook Pan to order a box for my hubby and girls. Me, buying mooncakes? Must be Babe’s, “a must for bitter chocolate fans”. I have three at home.
By now, I got all excited to surpise my family with a box of chocolate moonies, baked by the originator of chocolate moonies in KL. I was devastated when Rebecca, the daughter of “the” man, told me that their mooncakes orders were closed for the year! I begged and begged till she relented, and finally gave up a box that she has saved for her own consumption. Yeah, at times I can be quite demanding and unreasonable. She casually mentioned that Butter Lotus Moonies, were her dad’s specialities as well. Not lotus paste, I told her. She convinced me that it is a must try – butter cookies skin baked with the best Australian butter, and homecooked lotus paste as filling. I was won over by the unique combo and Rebecca’s subtle but convincing selling. When I served the mooncakes to my family members after dinner, they were not interested. My hubby asked for a piece of the half eaten blueberry cheesecake in the fridge, while the girls begged for grapes. I had to coax them to at least try a piece. All three of them, grudgingly took a small piece of the chocolate moonies each. Their facial expression were hilarious, it went from pure disinterest, to surprised but unable to believe look, and finally to pure delight.
“Mummy, are you sure this is mooncake? It taste like my favourite chocolate cake, but this is with nuts in there! Yummmmy…. I like it alot! Can I please have another piece?”
Even my not much of a dessert person, hubby like it too. “It’s different. The skin is thin, filling taste good, level of sweetness was just right, and the weird lotus-paste after taste was not there!” I took a small piece after listening to his review. He was right, it was gooood… the good quality bittersweet chocolate, together with the extremely thin layer of skin (almost non-existent), gave a new meaning to mooncake eating. It changed my mindset about mooncakes. In my opinion, this is the ultimate – a jazz up version of the classic, and the BEST that I have tasted!
The butter mooncake was a winner too. “Butter cookies with filling,” according to my daughter. The butter cookie like skin, was light, not oily, only slightly crumbly, and the taste of good quality butter was apparent. The pairing of butter cookies, and lotus paste might sound weird, but it was good – you have to taste to understand what I mean. My hubby had it with a glass of Chardonnay, and he gave this two thumbs up!
With my hubby and daughters constantly behind my back, begging for more (the box of moonies did not laste long), I had no choice but to ring Rebecca…. begging, again, for more mooncakes. Her dad was so nice to obliged us. He quickly went to work and whipped out 24 boxes of mooncakes, which we shared among our family and friends. They were thrilled!!
