Pineapple Tarts - A must have for CNY!

Made 8 pineapples this year, next year I think I need 12. I have only a little jam left in the fridge and will make some extras for home. I think my customers get more supply than my family and I do this year. Haha...

Pineapple tart making involves a lot of effort and man-hour, unless you buy ready made jam. Homemade jam is always fresher and purer. The jam consist of pineapples and sugar and nothing more. No additives, no preservatives and definitely no jelly added to give the mass.

Cupcakes for Chinese New Year

Here are the CNY cupcakes again. It took me longer time to prepare three boxes of the CNY cupcakes, much longer than I would expect, so I didn't really have the energy and time to take that many pictures of the cupcakes.

The best of Chinese New Year

The year of the Ox is here!

I've been baking pineapple tarts and pineapple tarts for the pass one week since I was back from the trip. I am really glad that the pineapple tarts I made were not too bad and they do have their fans, but we are facing a short supply at home. There have been some increase in orders hence not enough pineapple jam. No, I can't get pineapples in the market as you know, pineapples are actually one of the popular or shall I say must have items for CNY. Besides, making pineapple jam takes hours and I'm not about to spend so much more time in cooking up more.

Pineapple tart has always been something that reminds me of CNY. Used to. Now a days, I can actually bake them whenever I like instead of waiting for CNY. Anyways, I decided to limit pineapple tart baking to only CNY and Hari Raya.

Mandarin oranges also give me the feel of CNY a lot. We used to have cartons and cartons of oranges in the house and they will be gone before the end of CNY. I used to have a lot of visitors, relatives and friends to the house. Lately, CNY has been quite peaceful, with only those few relatives visiting and since we are now very weight conscious, we actually don't eat as much as last time.

And yes, we will always have one or two "kat chai" trees in the house (tangerine). Loads of red decorations, lighting and all types of cookies.

One of the major topic nearing CNY I notice is actually traffic condition. Me being a KL girl had never needed to experience travelling hours to get back to hometown. But I've colleagues and friends around me who'd told me how many hours they spent in the jam just to get back to home for the reunion dinner.

CNY is actually about reunion; about the feeling of togetherness and closeness when each member of the family takes a break from their duties and lives, to be back to where their roots is for this special moment to celebrate a better year to come.

It's not about how much money you give your parents, it's more of how much time you can spend with them (for those who stay away from their family). It's most of the time not about how much wealth we have (of course we want loads of wealth lah) but it's more of how healthy we can live. So, take good care of yourself and your health k.

On this special occasion, I wish you happily and safely united with your loved ones. May you have a super fit year of the Ox with great success, good health, loads of wealth and total prosperity! Have a great celebration and Gong Xi Fa Chai!

White Chocolate Lychee Cheesecake

Baked this recently for an office birthday celebration. The cheesecake is rich due to the white chocolate. Mascaporne cheese gave it a lighter taste compared with full cream cheese.

I was at the supermarket shopping for the cake ingredient and since it was near Chinese New Year, one big section of the shelf was taken over by can lychee display. I thought lychee could very well go with the cheese, hence this white chocolate lychee cheesecake.

I love the taste and it was really well received. Got some marks for being some what creative too. :)

The base was still oreo biscuit which is delicious and it is an all time favorite.

Decorated with some fruits. I would have to work on a more creative decoration in the future. And too bad I only managed to have two tiny pieces.