Mooncake Festival, where's my lantern?

Soon it will be Mooncake festival again, this is a Chinese Mid Autumn Festival to celebrate the Lunar moon and the Moon Goddess.

For me, I love this festival as it reminds me of my childhood days of eating mooncakes and walking around the neighbourhood parading our lighted lanterns. I have such fond memories of choosing which lantern to buy. In Malaysia, shops sells the lanterns prior to festival. Of course it is not as big an event as the Festival of Lanterns during Chinese New Year but still a lot of fun to be had for the kiddies. I remember that I had a fish shaped lantern, dragon shaped ones were most popular. We would walked around the neigbourhood at dusk lighting up the streets with our lanterns and stopping to admire each other lanterns.

For the grownups, they get to exchange, gift each other mooncakes to friends and family. Mooncake is a delicacy eaten, cut in wedges with a cup of chinese tea. It is like a pastry cake filled with fillings of various dense paste like lotus, red bean or sesame. There's usually a yolk inside to symbolise the moon.

My parents usually offer our guest mooncakes to eat when they visit. I think it much more fun for the kids really. We get to stay up late and run around showing off our lanterns. Of course, there's always tears when somebody's lantern goes up in flames. Hahhahaa, this happens a lot in the old days. Nowadays you can buy the battery operated tealight for your lantern, it will save your lantern from going up in flames if you knocked over the candle inside.

Okay, I digress... I don't have a mooncake recipe, so this post is just a food porn, but I am sure if you google it and have the mould for the pastry, you'll be able to make one or two yourself. Since I am in Regional country area, sigh.....I opted for online shopping and found an Asian grocer that sells mooncake. I bought some and here are the photos of the mooncake, I will have to see about catching a pic of the moon next ;) Wishing for a telephoto superzoom lens next... hint hint Moon Goddess..;)