Chuseok, sometimes called Korean Thanksgiving, is South Korea's biggest harvest festival. In 2026 it falls on 25 September, part of a three-day public holiday from 24 to 26 September. For Sydney's Korean-Australian families, the date still matters even without a public holiday here. Extended family gathers, food is shared, and ancestors are honoured. Dessert doesn't always follow tradition exactly, and that's where a modern egg-free cake fits into a very old celebration.
Num Num's Bakery makes every cake, in every one of its 15 flavours, 100% eggless as standard, from either Harris Park or Riverstone. We're not a Korean bakery and we don't make songpyeon, the traditional half-moon rice cake at the centre of Chuseok. What we do make is a reliable, egg-free celebration cake. It sits comfortably alongside a family's own traditional spread, for the parts of the gathering built around modern celebration rather than ancestral ritual. Read more about how the bakery started on our About page.
- Chuseok 2026 falls on 25 September; all 15 flavours are 100% eggless.
- We make Western-style cakes, not songpyeon or ancestral-rite tteok.
- Greater Sydney is home to 50,702 Korean-born residents (2021 Census).
- Order 48 hours ahead via WhatsApp at +61 425 697 725.
What Is Chuseok, and Why Does It Matter to Sydney's Korean Community?
Chuseok is a three-day harvest festival held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Families in Korea travel home, share a feast, and perform charye, a table-setting ancestral rite offering rice, fruit, and songpyeon to departed relatives. It is one of the two biggest holidays on the Korean calendar, alongside Lunar New Year. Greater Sydney was home to 50,702 people born in South Korea at the 2021 Census. That figure comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census QuickStats for Greater Sydney. It's roughly half of the 102,096 Korea-born residents counted nationwide.
Most of that community sits in a well-known corridor: Eastwood, Epping, Carlingford, and Strathfield, all suburbs Num Num's Bakery already bakes for regularly. Chuseok in Sydney rarely involves a public holiday or a day off work, so gatherings often shift to the nearest weekend. That flexibility is part of what makes a cake ordered ahead of time so useful. The date can move, but the cake still needs to be ready.
Cross-referencing the two ABS QuickStats pages shows almost exactly half of Australia's Korean-born population lives in Greater Sydney. That's 50,702 of 102,096 people, or 49.7%. That's a heavier metro concentration than several other festival communities we've written about. It helps explain why Chuseok-adjacent orders cluster so tightly around a handful of north-west and inner-west suburbs.
When Is Chuseok in 2026, and How Do Sydney Families Mark the Holiday?
Chuseok 2026 runs from Thursday 24 September to Saturday 26 September, with the festival day itself falling on the middle day, 25 September. In Korea, that means a public holiday and mass domestic travel. In Sydney, there's no public holiday attached, so most Korean-Australian families move their gathering to whichever weekend sits closest to the date instead.
A typical Sydney Chuseok gathering brings together three or four generations for a shared meal. It's usually held at the home of the eldest family member. Songpyeon-making is often a group activity, with grandparents teaching grandchildren how to shape and steam the rice cakes. Games, family photos, and a relaxed afternoon of eating follow the more formal parts of the day.
What a Modern Sydney Chuseok Table Often Includes.
- Songpyeon — half-moon rice cakes filled with sesame, chestnut, or sweet bean, made at home or bought from a Korean grocer.
- Japchae and jeon — stir-fried glass noodles and pan-fried savoury pancakes, staples at almost every Korean gathering.
- Fresh fruit — Korean pear and persimmon, both traditionally part of a harvest table.
- A shared celebration cake — a common addition for the younger generation, often chosen because it's egg-free and easy for everyone to eat.
See our guide to Mid-Autumn Festival cakes in Sydney for a related look. It covers how another lunar-calendar harvest celebration handles the same modern-versus-traditional dessert question. The two festivals fall around a similar time of year.
Does Num Num's Bakery Make Traditional Korean Rice Cakes for Chuseok?
No, and we want to be direct about that. Num Num's Bakery does not make songpyeon or any other traditional Korean tteok. We do not attempt to replicate charye-sang, the ancestral-rite food offering set out during Chuseok. We are a 100% eggless Western-style cake bakery. Our cakes are not a substitute for songpyeon and were never designed to be one.
We've had a handful of customers ask, quite reasonably, whether we could make a cake shaped like a songpyeon for Chuseok. We're honest with them: we don't have the rice-flour technique or steaming equipment that traditional tteok requires. Attempting a decorative imitation would risk trivialising something that carries real ancestral significance for the family ordering it. What we offer instead is a genuine, well-made eggless cake for the parts of the day built around modern celebration.
Under the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) framework, eggs sit alongside milk, tree nuts, and six other substances as a priority allergen. That's the standard our kitchen is built around: no egg is stored, prepared, or handled on-site, in any recipe. It says nothing about kosher, halal, or any other certification. It also says nothing about traditional Korean baking methods — it's simply the allergen framework behind our own eggless claim.
What Cake Flavours and Designs Work for a Chuseok Family Gathering?
From our internal order data, White Forest, Chocolate, and Butterscotch are the flavours most often chosen for autumn family celebrations. Their lighter cream-based finish likely pairs well with a heavier savoury Chuseok spread rather than competing with it. Any of our 15 eggless flavours can be custom-decorated for the occasion. Vanilla and Tiramisu are frequent second choices for smaller, adult-focused gatherings.
Design Ideas for a Chuseok Celebration Cake.
- Autumn leaf finish: a simple gold and burgundy buttercream palette that echoes the harvest season without borrowing any traditional Korean symbol.
- Family photo topper: a printed edible topper using a recent family photo, popular for multi-generational gatherings.
- Fruit-topped design: fresh Korean pear or persimmon slices arranged on top, tying the cake visually to the rest of the harvest table.
- Simple, unthemed cake: plenty of families just want a well-made cake in a favourite flavour, with no festival branding at all.
Send a reference photo via WhatsApp for any custom design and we'll quote against it directly. Browse the full range on the Our Cakes page before you message us. A shortlist of two or three flavours makes the conversation faster.
How Are Korean-Australian Families in Sydney Blending Tradition and Modern Celebration?
Of Greater Sydney's Korean-born residents, 56.9% held Australian citizenship at the 2021 Census, according to the same ABS Census QuickStats data. That's a community with deep local roots, not a recent or transient one. It shows in how Chuseok gets celebrated here. The ancestral rite stays intact, but everything built around it — the venue, the guest list, the dessert — adapts to Sydney life.
From our own order history, late September brings a small but noticeable rise in celebration cake orders. Most come from customers in the Eastwood, Epping, Carlingford, and Strathfield area. That's true even though Chuseok isn't a public holiday here. Most of those orders arrive the week before the weekend closest to the festival date, not on the exact day itself. That timing matches how Sydney families actually schedule the gathering.
That pattern isn't unique to Chuseok. We see something similar around Lunar New Year and other lunar-calendar festivals. The traditional date and the actual family gathering don't always land on the same day in Sydney. A cake ordered a few days ahead fits that flexibility better than a same-day order ever could. It's ready to collect whenever the family settles on a date.
How Do You Order a Custom Eggless Cake for Chuseok in Sydney?
From our experience taking festival orders across Sydney, the process for a Chuseok cake is the same as for any other celebration. It's quick, WhatsApp-based, and confirmed in writing before you collect. It usually takes under five minutes to lock in flavour, size, and pick-up date.
- Browse the flavours: Check the Our Cakes page for the full menu with photos, then shortlist two or three options.
- Send a reference image: Message us on WhatsApp at +61 425 697 725 with your flavour and size. Add a design reference if you have one, plus your preferred pick-up date.
- Give at least 48 hours notice: Every cake is made fresh to order. For custom designs booked during the Chuseok weekend itself, 5-7 days notice is safer.
- Confirm and collect: We'll confirm your order by WhatsApp. Collect from either Harris Park or Riverstone, whichever suits your route on the day.
Not sure what size to order? The Order Online page has a full sizing guide. For a multi-generational gathering of 15-20 guests, an 8-inch round is often enough. A 10-inch suits larger extended-family tables better. Full location details, including opening hours for both shops, are on the Locations page.
Message us on WhatsApp with your flavour, size, and pick-up date. 48 hours is all we need for most orders, more if it's the exact Chuseok weekend. We'll confirm in writing before you collect.
What Other Sydney Festivals Does Num Num's Bakery Cater For?
Chuseok is one of dozens of festivals across Sydney's multicultural calendar that we bake for. Because every cake is egg-free by default, families from any tradition can order without needing to explain or justify a dietary requirement first. We regularly bake for the Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival communities, alongside dozens of other festival and milestone occasions throughout the year.
For Sydney's Korean community, we already bake often for households across Eastwood and Strathfield. Both suburbs are closely tied to the community's Sydney footprint. If your celebration isn't listed on our blog yet, message us directly. We've almost certainly catered something similar before. We're always happy to talk through a design that respects the occasion, without overstating what our kitchen can do.
What we've learned running one eggless kitchen across every one of these festivals is that the underlying request rarely changes. A host wants a cake that looks right for the occasion and tastes as good as anything from a conventional bakery. It shouldn't force an awkward conversation with a guest about what's actually in it. Chuseok orders follow that same pattern. The harvest colours and family customs change from house to house. The need for a trustworthy, truly egg-free dessert stays the same.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Num Num's Bakery make cakes for Chuseok celebrations in Sydney?
Yes. We make custom celebration cakes in any of 15 eggless flavours, suitable for a Chuseok family gathering, from either Harris Park or Riverstone. Order via WhatsApp at +61 425 697 725 with at least 48 hours notice, more around the late-September holiday weekend.
Does Num Num's Bakery make traditional Korean rice cakes like songpyeon for Chuseok?
No. We make Western-style eggless celebration cakes, not songpyeon or any traditional Korean tteok, and we don't attempt to replicate ancestral-rite charye-sang offerings. Our cakes are a modern, egg-free addition to the family table, alongside your own traditional Chuseok food, not a substitute for it.
What cake flavours suit a Chuseok family gathering?
White Forest, Chocolate, and Butterscotch are popular choices for autumn family gatherings, though any of our 15 eggless flavours works well. Many customers choose a lighter cream-based flavour deliberately, so it sits comfortably alongside a heavier traditional Chuseok spread rather than competing with it.
How much notice do I need for a custom Chuseok cake?
A minimum of 48 hours for a standard order. Chuseok falls on 25 September in 2026, within a three-day period many Sydney families still gather around on the nearest weekend, so we recommend 5-7 days notice for custom-decorated designs booked during that window.
Does Num Num's Bakery deliver Chuseok cakes across Sydney?
We're currently pick-up only, from either Harris Park or Riverstone. Families across Greater Sydney, including the Eastwood, Epping, Carlingford, and Strathfield corridor, regularly collect custom festival cakes, so plan your pick-up time around your own travel and the day's traffic.
15 flavours, 100% eggless, made fresh to your order. Pick up from Harris Park or Riverstone. WhatsApp us at least 48 hours before your gathering.