Try Yauatcha’s Mid-Autumn Festival moon cakes

The summer holidays are coming to an end and it’s time to get ready for the Mid-Autumn Festival. And Yauatcha, London’s Chinese dim sum tea house, has everything you need. Also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, the festival is the second most important date in the Chinese calendar, after the Lunar New Year, which is dedicated to the moon and a bountiful harvest. The festival is usually celebrated with moon watching, family banquets and delicious mooncakes. This year, Yauatcha has baked its own limited edition mooncakes in three delicious flavours that you can enjoy while celebrating in the restaurant or at home.

Try Yauatcha’s Mid-Autumn Festival moon cakes

The Mid-Autumn Festival, like many Chinese customs, has a long history. It began with worshipping the moon and thanking it for a bountiful harvest in that year and the years to come. However, the custom of eating mooncakes during this time has a much deeper history than just being a tasty treat. According to historical records, the first mooncake was introduced during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, General Lijing, under the command of Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, led his troops to victory against the Turks. As a token of his appreciation, a Tibetan merchant offered the emperor some round cakes, which quickly became popular and were given the name “mooncakes.”

These delicious confections also helped to overthrow the government in the 13th century. The Mongols succeeded in invading China, and Kublai Khan founded the Yuan Dynasty. The new rule was repressive, and many Chinese were closely guarded and forced to forgo their own food and wine. Liu Bowen, a rebel leader, decided to plan an uprising during the Mid-Autumn Festival and distributed mooncakes to the Chinese residents under the pretense of wishing the Mongol emperor a long life. Since Mongols did not eat mooncakes, a hidden message was placed inside each pastry: “Attack the Mongols on the 15th day of the 8th month.” This simple plan worked, and the Mongols were overthrown.

This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 17, and to celebrate, Yauchata has created three packaged interpretations of the traditional pies: Traditional Baked Egg Custard features a classic Cantonese custard filling encased in a golden brown pastry crust; Snowskin Earl Grey has an Earl Grey and white chocolate shell with a mango cream filling encased in a snowskin pastry; and Snowskin Musang King Durian celebrates the unusual sweet and savoury fruit with an undertaste of caramel, vanilla and almonds, also wrapped in a white snowskin pastry. All are available until September 24.

To get into the full spirit of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the windows and pastry counters of Yauatcha branches in Soho and City will be decorated with illustrations to mark the occasion in a festive way.