In season: Not your traditional mooncakes

Forget macarons - well, not entirely but long enough to celebrate this mid-autumn festival with wonderful mooncakes. Hey, that's what Pierre Herme is doing. The famous French pastry chef who is renowned for his light and airy macarons is celebrating the mid-autumn festival with the debut of two limited-edition mooncakes.

Now before you go hunting for these mooncakes, they are specifically created for Hong Kong customers.

Pierre Herme pays homage to the time-honoured delights with specially packaged luxury gift boxes available in three colours.

The first flavour, Mooncake Plenitude, is a delightful mooncake topped with a delicate chocolate disk signifying a full moon and new moon. Inspired by traditional mooncake recipes, the prized egg yolk is replaced with a soft caramel centre. It is covered in pure origin dark chocolate from Mexico, a balance to the sweetness of the caramel inside.

The Mooncake Ouvre-Toi is modelled after Pierre Herme's signature bonbon de chocolat. Ouvre-Toi is a combination of praline and sesame nougatine. The rich, exotic blend of sesame and praline aromas complement the flavours of the chocolate ganache that binds the crunchy layers. Covered in pure origin Mexican dark chocolate, the mooncake is topped with a crescent-shaped chocolate disk to signify the moon's changing phases.

Both mooncakes will be available at Pierre Herme Paris boutiques in Hong Kong from mid-August.

The return of Musang King mooncake

If you don't fancy flying all the way to Hong Kong to get your hands on some delectable mooncakes, Hilton Kuala Lumpur has you covered.

Chynna restaurant introduces its signature snow skin mooncake - the Fiery Phoenix. The signature mooncake features the exciting blend of sun-dried scallop and dried shrimp flavours, combined with the piquant sensation of cili padi and tomyum paste. This interesting burst of flavours is delicately encased in a thin and light snow skin layer.

Back by popular demand is the Heavenly Gold mooncake inspired by the king of all durians, the Musang King.

A delicate snowskin envelopes the delicious durian filling - durian lovers will be delighted to know that a whole Musang King durian is used to make only two Heavenly Gold mooncakes.

Available until Sept 30, the mooncakes can be purchased at Chynna, Level 5, Hilton Kuala Lumpur or at the mooncake booth at the hotel lobby. The hotel is also offering a Mooncake High-Tea.

Traditional meets modern

Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur's Tao Chinese Cuisine introduces the bamboo charcoal skin mooncake - a new take on the classic baked skin mooncake series. With the aromatic combination of assorted nuts, this mooncake has a distinctive charcoal crust. Another addition to this traditional baked skin series is the scarlet snow skin in pandan and salted egg bean paste.

Complementing the series is the mini snow skin mooncakes featuring red prawn durian mooncake with egg cream, tiramisu paste with assorted honey nuts, and mini chestnut with diced hawthorn and pineapple paste. Also available is the mini peanut butter snow skin with Japanese purple potato paste and yam omachi.

These handmade mooncakes are available at Tao Chinese Cuisine until Sept 27.