(16 Sep 2013) Chinese bakeries are at their busiest preparing traditional "mooncakes" to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival.
They are a big part of the event and, according to customs, the more egg yolks you find inside one, the more fortunate you will be.
STORYLINE:
Traditionally held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the Autumn Moon Festival is the biggest Chinese festival after New Year.
Celebration events have already got underway in America, including here in San Francisco.
"This is time to celebrate and enjoy the fruit of your labour," says US Senator Leland Yee.
The ancient Chinese observed that the movement of the moon had a close relationship with changes of the seasons and agricultural production.
To express their thanks to the moon and celebrate the harvest, they offered a sacrifice to the moon on autumn days.
The mooncake has become the modern day sacrifice, people make an offering of them and eat them in celebration.
In the past, they have taken up to four weeks to make - now automation has speeded up the process considerably.
The mooncakes are golden brown pastries stamped with intricate patterns and packed with bean paste, egg yolks, lotus seeds and sugar.
More elaborate versions of mooncakes contain four egg yolks which represent the four phases of the moon.
Besides lotus seed paste, other traditional fillings include red bean paste and black bean paste.
But nowadays, mooncakes can be filled with everything from dates, nuts, and fruit to Chinese sausages.
More exotic creations include green tea.
And big companies have caught on to mooncake madness, with the likes of Haagen-Dazs and Godiva now offering their own take on the traditional treat.
Henry Chen has been making them for thirty years at his Dragon City Bakery in San Francisco.
It is his busiest time of the year and he ships them all over the US.
He says there is an art to producing the perfect cake.
"When it comes out of the oven, the mooncake's dough tastes crispy, the paste is soft, the yolk is like powder," he says.
Before going into the oven, egg yolk is brushed on the tops of the mooncakes which are then baked for 20 minutes.
Sharon Alston is trying a mooncake for the first time - and seems impressed.
"It's good. I like it," she says.
"It's not overly sweet, and I like that. It doesn't taste like it's filled with sugar. It actually has a lot of richness and depth to it."
The round-shape of the cakes is inspired by the Chinese pronunciation of unity, "tuan yuan," with "yuan" meaning round.
The traditional round mooncakes represent unity, one of the most important themes during the autumn festival.
If you're lucky, they'll also contain as many as four yolks.
The more yolks contained in your mooncake, the more fortune supposedly coming your way.
But be warned, each cake contains up to a thousand calories.
The Chinese Moon Festival falls on 19 September 2013.
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