In the canon of traditional Chinese desserts, the mooncake is the most decadent and storied of them all. Golden-baked, round in shape, and filled with sweet lotus seed paste encasing salted duck egg yolks representing the moon. For centuries, these rich delicacies have been served during Mid-Autumn Festival — on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month when a full moon emerges at night — as a ritual offering to the mythical moon goddess of immortality, Chang E. They were a favourite of Empress Dowager Cixi and, as folklore goes, an essential tool of the Ming revolutionaries, who used them to smuggle secret messages while overthrowing the Mongolian rulers of China at the end of the Yuan dynasty.

Today, mooncakes remain an essential part of Chinese culture, lavishly packaged and shared with family and friends as a symbol of completeness and reunion. While time-honoured recipes hold strong to tradition, these days you’ll find mooncakes of every variety.

Ahead, we round up the best mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong.

The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

The Ritz-Carlton is swinging open the Mid-Autumn Festival this year with a host of luxurious mooncakes. Discover the ‘Delights of Hong Kong’ set of eight delectable egg custard treats, with charming box art inspired by ink printing detailing some of the city’s iconic landmarks. No mooncake is complete without a hot drink to accompany it: Tin Lung Heen, the Ritz’s double-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant, has also launched its mooncake gift set, which comes with five packs of exquisite black tea. Spread the cheer by gifting your loved ones one of the Ritz’s mooncake hampers, packed with goodies ranging from seasonal fruits to Australian abalone.

HK$458-6,888 at ritzcarltonhkshop.com

The House Collective

The House Collective’s ‘Moonlit Discoveries’ series takes you on a journey to four cities – Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu. Open up the travel journal-inspired boxes to find eight mini mooncakes packed inside, bursting with a range of flavours: these span the classics, such as lotus seed paste with egg yolks or vegan red bean paste garnished with mandarin peel, to coffee with sea-salted caramel and even parma ham.

HK$528 for the Moonlit Discoveries box set at thehousecollective.com

The Landmark Mandarin Oriental

Celebrate Mid-Autumn in style with The Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s new Mooncake Bento Box. The sleek double-tiered container is adorned with a traditionally inspired wrapper band, its designs resembling flowers and the beauty of the full moon. The bento box carries six milky custard mooncakes but can be sustainably reused as your very own lunchbox, or returned to the hotel in return for a glass of champagne or a mocktail.

HK$458 for the Mooncake Bento Box at landmark.mandarinorientalshop.com

Island Shangri-La

Island Shangri-La returns with brand-new additions to its sumptuous mooncake collection. Its newest venture – velvety Musang King durian lava mooncakes- promises a luscious experience for the tastebuds, whilst the Summer Palace Luna Mochi Mooncakes are packed with different textures of pistachio and taro. Sustainability is at the heart of the Shangri-La’s gift sets, with the possibility of the Tangerine Peel set being repurposed into an elegant jewellery box – whichever you choose, it’ll be a feast for the eyes.

HK$408-9,999 at boutique.shangri-la.com

Yat Tung Heen, Eaton Hotel