2 Traditions in 1: Baker Creates Folksy Dong Ho Paintings on Delicious Mooncakes

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Thuy Duong quit her white-collar job and runs her baking business. Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

Thuy Duong, of HCMC, reportedly quit her white-collar job to pursue her passion for baking and drawing. She is now running her own baking business and opens baking classes.

According to Zing News, Duong has earlier hand-painted floral patterns onto mooncake’s crust and received positive feedback from customers and Internet users as she posted them on social media.

Duong's mooncakes with floral decoration. Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

This year, as the Full Moon festival draws near, she decides to take it up a notch by replicating famous folk paintings onto the cakes, including Dong Ho folk paintings, or famous artworks of Vietnamese painters such as Mai Trung Thu, Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Thanh Binh.

“A delicious cake must be both tasty and visually appealing. I want to breathe a new life into the traditional moon cakes which normally feature the same old decorative patterns,” Duong said. “They will have the same delicious taste but a new appearance.”

It takes Duong around 10 minutes for simple decoration. More complicated ones, such as the recreation of Dong Ho paintings might spend her several hours to finish.

“Re-sketching the Dong Ho paintings is really challenging as they have hundreds of small details to paint. However, sketching the portraits by Mai Trung Thứ is no less difficult as it requires the ability to present the charming presence of the models,” she told VNS.

Dong Ho folk paintings are nicely drawn on the crust. Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

The special moon cakes both fulfill Duong’s passion for baking and drawing and earn her some money during the pandemic time. Each moon cake weighing 150g is sold at VND 180,000 – 200,000 (US$ 8 – 8.7) and can be used within a week.

Many people have placed orders for the unique-looking mooncakes. Duong said she had to limit the number of orders as she couldn’t meet the demands of every customer.

Instead, the baker encourages anyone who wants to challenge themselves to join any of her online baking classes, which range from basic to advanced levels, including the painting course.

“However, for people who want to master their painting skill, I suggest they attend fine art classes because it is very supportive for cake painting,” she added.

Familiar sights in Vietnam are also painted. Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

Intricate paintings like these might take Duong several hours to finish. Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong

Duong reportedly plans to attend baking courses in South Korea and China to learn about other baking techniques that she can apply to my new products in the future.

A café and patisserie offering her own artisanal cakes are also among the future plans of the experimental baking queen, according to VNS.

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