Is This London’s Next Viral Dessert?

From gigantic sandwiches to cookie-stuffed croissants, there’s nothing like a new snack to get Londoners talking. But if we had to bet on the next big thing? Mooncakes. Here’s everything you need to know.

Mooncake Madness: The Story Behind Hong Kong’s Favourite Pastry

What’s the secret to a viral dessert? The kind that sweeps across TikTok and has fans queuing around the block? When it comes to Hong Kong’s beloved mooncake pastries, it really is a secret: the recipe for these delectable treats is kept under lock and key.

Well, not exactly. Mooncakes themselves are traditional Chinese treats baked in honour of the Mid-Autumn Festival (also called the Moon Festival), one of the most important holidays in the Chinese lunar calendar. Enjoyed as symbols of prosperity and good fortune, they feature a flaky crust and a sweet filling (typically made of lotus seed or red bean paste) often encasing a salted egg yolk (to represent the moon).

Mooncakes are traditionally sold from the beginning of August until the Mid-Autumn Festival passes in September (or early October, depending on the lunar calendar). And while you can buy them from many different Chinese bakeries and supermarkets, there’s a very special type of mooncake that you’ll only find in one place: The Peninsula Hotel.

Created in 1986 by The Peninsula Hong Kong, these unique treats are a twist on the classic, featuring a cookie crust and an egg custard filling (a sweeter, East-meets-West take on the traditional lotus seed paste). Ten thousand boxes of mooncakes were sold in the year they launched, and they’re now seen as the ultimate commodity each time the Mid-Autumn Festival rolls around. People really do queue around the block to buy them; in 2011, in fact, the crowd of eager customers at The Peninsula Hong Kong was so large that it famously blocked off an entire level of the hotel. 

The original recipe, formulated by master pastry chef Yip Wing Wah, is now patented and owned by the Peninsula brand – and every box of mooncakes sold by Peninsula hotels comes with a special note and QR code proving its authenticity. (According to The Peninsula London, private detectives are hired after the mooncakes are launched each year to prevent any copycat recipes from being developed and sold as dupes).

So, want to get your hands on a box of these beloved pastries? Following the recent opening of The Peninsula London, the mooncakes are now available to buy right here in the capital: you can choose from mini egg custard mooncakes (the brand’s signature flavour); chocolate egg custard mooncakes with toffee and brownie; sea salt custard with macadamia nuts; and candied kumquat and pineapple with mixed nuts. These just might be London’s next viral dessert – at least until the end of autumn.

How To Shop

The Peninsula London’s Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake collection is available at The Peninsula London Boutique and Café from now until 17 September. The collection will also be available in Selfridges UK’s London, Manchester and Birmingham locations and on the Selfridges website. Prices start from £45 for a box of four. peninsula.com