Mid-Autumn Festival kicks off soon with mooncakes and lanterns

The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is a Chinese holiday celebrating and giving thanks for the autumn harvest. It falls on the day when the full moon looks to be the biggest and brightest and lands on Sept. 25 this year.

Leading up to that day, people set up food offerings for deities in their homes, including a variety of fruit, such as pomelos and oranges. They celebrate by coming together to eat mooncakes, play games and light lanterns.

Other cultures celebrate the holiday with their own customs, too — in Korea, they call it Chuseok, or ‘Autumn eve’. Traditional Korean food is shared by families, such as jeon (savory pancakes) and galbijjim (braised short ribs).

What are mooncakes?

Traditional Cantonese mooncakes are considered a delicacy. The pastries use a thick dough that contains lard or another type of fat. Lye and maltose syrup give it its signature chewy texture. Mooncakes contain different fillings, with the most common ones being lotus seed paste or red bean paste. They are pressed into round molds with various decorative patterns, and the tops are brushed with egg wash before being baked, giving the cakes a beautifully golden and lacquered finish. Whole salted egg yolks are added to some fillings to symbolize luck. And double-yolk mooncakes symbolize double the luck.

Mooncakes aren’t cloyingly sweet like most desserts, but are still a bit sweet and very dense. Although the cakes are small and look to be one serving, they are typically served in small wedges and shared by multiple people.

Sweet Hut offers snowskin mooncakes in a variety of flavors. (Candy Hom for the AJC)

Other mooncake fillings include more fruity options, or even chocolate and matcha. And some varieties use a glutinous rice flour dough that is similar to mochi, called snowskin mooncakes. The aptly named pastry is known for its translucent appearance, enabling it to show the colorful fillings inside.

More recently, jelly mooncakes have become the new trend, offering diversity and competition. These are marketed as healthier, or as a fat-free alternative to the calorie-laden versions.

Where to get mooncakes in Atlanta

If you want to support some local bakeries, check out Manalo’s Bakery, a local Filipino American pop-up offering mooncakes filled with ube, ube nut and halo halo (coconut, ube and red bean). They are offering preorders online, with pickup available from Sept. 24-26.

Vegan and gluten-free mooncakes from Love It Gluten Free Bakery are available at various farmers markets through the end of September. (Courtesy of Taising Chen)

Another local pop-up bakery is offering a gluten-free, vegan version of the delicacy. Love It Gluten Free is featuring a couple different ones - lotus seed mooncake and red bean with mochi mooncake from now until the end of September. Love It Gluten Free pops up at Tucker Farmers Market, Peachtree Road Farmers Market and Avondale Estates Farmers Market.

Family Baking in Chamblee’s iconic Atlanta Chinatown is also offering mooncakes this holiday. Some flavors include red bean, mung bean, chocolate, pineapple and durian. Vegan mooncakes are also available, with similar fillings. All mooncakes are around $3 and change.

A traditional lotus paste mooncake from Family Baking in Chamblee. (Courtesy of Instagram user @atlantalikealocal)

Sweet Hut Bakery, which has several locations in metro Atlanta, is offering traditional mooncakes with various fillings such as red bean and lotus seed. They are also offering snow mooncakes, with different fillings such as lychee, chocolate or matcha, among others.

Snowskin mooncakes on display at Sweet Hut Bakery in Kennesaw come in flavors such as lychee, chocolate and mango. (Candy Hom for the AJC)

Supermarkets and wholesalers are getting in on the festivities as well. You can purchase mooncakes at various Asian grocery stores, such as several metro Atlanta locations of Super H Mart and City Farmers Market, Great Wall Supermarket in Duluth and Hong Kong Supermarket in Norcross. Costco is selling Cantonese-style mooncakes at their Kennesaw, Duluth and Alpharetta locations.

Upcoming moon festivities in Atlanta

The two-day Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival at Chinatown Plaza in Chamblee will feature arts and crafts, music and food. (Courtesy of Andrew Blooms)

Blooms Emporium is hosting a Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival Market. Spearheaded by local artist Andrew Blooms, the event will feature vendors, live music, art, food, a lantern lighting and mooncakes. These festivals have been helping revitalize the plaza by drawing in new customers. Admission is free.

4:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. Sept. 26 and 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Sept. 27. Free. Chinatown Plaza, 5383 New Peachtree Road, Chamblee, located in the courtyard. chinatownatl.com/events