2014 Lunar New Year Bakes #1 - Cheesy Pineapple Roll and Black Gold

Chinese Lunar New Year is less than two weeks from now and you can see lot of festive goodies available in either supermarkets, bakery shops and even most of the households are busy with making their own expertise of bakes. Every year for my household, we only make pineapple tarts/rolls because they are our favourite and also when compared to the rest of the new year bakes (such as love letter, almond cookies, kueh balu, kueh lapis and etc) this is consider the most easiest with the help of ready-made pineapple paste.

Celebrate Luna New Year With Tai Sun Nuts and Goodies

With Chinese Luna New Year getting closer, I believe everyone is busying with a list of  "must buy" ingredients, goodies, tidbits and etc in order to prepare and feed the guests who are coming over for new year house visiting.  This year, thanks to Tai Sun and 20twentypr for the early New Year goodies which definitely come in handy for us due to it's wide selections of snacks for our guests.

The snacks are packed neatly inside this traditional bamboo basket which resemble those olden day (60s) food carrier or sort of like our modern picnic basket. And this unique basket is sure a keeper for me as my kid already hint for a picnic date with it soon on one of the weekend.

Macadamia Delight @ S$11.80 per jar (300g)
Rolled Pineapple Tarts @ S$10.80 per jar (380g)

Inside the bamboo basket, there are two tubs of Chinese New Year cookies from NOYA (under Tai Sun (Lim Kee) Food Industries too) such as Macadamia Delight and Rolled Pineapple Tarts which you can read more about them at my review post on NOYA products HERE.

Apart from the NOYA Chinese New Year cookies, there are also Roasted Cashew Nuts and Hei Bee Hiam Spring Rolls which are two of the popular snacks among guests.

On top of that, there are also some varieties of broad beans (satay and wasabi flavour) which are a great source of dietary fibre that helps to promote a healthy digestive system. For your information:- 100g of broad beans give you more fibre than eating 4 apples or 10 carrots.

Other than broad beans, Tai Sun also have other nuts products like roasted peanuts, cashew, almond and etc for your to select too. 

But if you are looking for something more towards nature flavour, perhaps Nature's Wonders which has a premium range of nuts and dried fruits might suits your preference. Their products comes with good source of dietary fibre as well as rich in protein. Furthermore Nature's Wonders products are naturally trans fat free with no added salt which makes it a healthy and high energy snack that helps you on the go!

So for this coming Chinese New Year if you are looking for some nuts or snacks to stock up for your guests perhaps you could take look at Tai Sun, NOYA or Nature's Wonders range in leading supermarkets too.

Crystal Jade Chinese New Year Specialties 2012

Chinese New Year is around the corner and I am sure everyone is busying with sending auspicious gifts and hampers to business partners, relatives, friends and etc. And last week while at the mist of our spring cleaning, I received a big surprised from Crystal Jade. I was quite shock when the deliveryman hand over a big bag to me as I was not inform before hand on this "surprised".

At first I thought the big box might be "Yu Sheng - 鱼生" since the packaging is more or less quite similar but after removing the cover we are all excited about the assorted flavour of the steamed cakes inside the "Eternal Bliss Gift Set". As you can see above, isn't it look gorgeous as a gift set for Chinese New Year!

Inside the bag there is also this Fortune Bo Lo Pineapple Tart  - 旺上旺菠箩黄梨挞 that comes in a floral design rectangle box with 2 individual sealed packets contain 8 tarts each. To be honest this is our first time trying Bo Lo Pineapple Tarts which is a signature pastry from Crystal Jade My Bread that comes with a combination inspired from the famous Hong Kong "Bo Lo Bao(菠蘿包)". Each bite you would be surprised by it's hint of sweet crispy crust on top which follows by generous amount of tasty pineapple jam fillings. Indeed our family finds it very special compared to the usual buttery taste pineapple tarts that we used to eat.

This Fortune Bo Lo Pineapple Tarts comes is 4 different packaging ranging from S$14.80 - S$30.80. The twin packet shown above is known as "Double Happiness Pack" priced at S$16.80. (more details HERE)

If you still can't decide on what to get during Chinese New Year gathering for your Potluck dishes or tea-snack to impressive your guest especially the elderly. I suggest you could consider getting this Eternal Bliss Gift Set - 五福临门(S$37.80). This set consists of both sweet(water chestnut cake, pandan aloe vera cake, glutinous rice cake) and savoury cake (carrot cake, yam cake) which represent auspicious meaning during Chinese New Year.

And if you ever tried their Dim Sum served at Crystal Jade Kitchen, I am sure you would love these delicious carrot/yam cake which is so soft, flavorsome and made with generous amount of ingredients.

Other than pastries and cakes from Crystal Jade My Bread, there are other Chinese New Year proudcts such as "Peng Cai - 盆菜", "Yu Sheng - 鱼生", "Pagoda of Eight Treasures - 开运八宝塔", "Buddha Jumps over the Wall - 佛跳墙" and etc which is available at different Crystal Jade outlet. (Detail HERE)

Above shows the "Golden Abalone Treasure Pot - 金装鲍鱼盆菜" at a promotion price of S$408.80(10 pax) or S$248.80(6 pax) available from now till 06 Feb 2012.

Glutinous Rice is another auspicious dish to have during Chinese New Year and this year Crystal Jade has come out with this NEW "Pagoda of Eight Treasures - 开运八宝塔" for S$88.80. There are 8 "treasures" arranged neatly on bamboo basket such as:- Fried Glutinous Rice, Preserved Sausage, Preserved Liver Sausage, Deep-fried Chicken Fillet, Fried Quail Egg, Marinated Octopus, Sauteed French Bean and Sauteed Shrimp with Mushroom.

All the Chinese New Year goodies are available for Promotion Price from 05 Jan - 22 January, 25 Jan - 06 February at selected Crystal Jade Outlets. More details and full promotion booklet can be found HERE.

Lastly I would like to thanks Crystal Jade and Linea Communications for the Fortune Bo Lo Pineapple Tarts and Eternal Bliss Gift Set.

Usher In the Lunar New Year with PrimaDeli

This year we excited to be able to try out different types of Pineapple Tarts/Cakes from well-known bakeries in Singapore and Taiwan(read more HERE). Despite of their origin each product has it's own unique taste and packaging which are eye catching for consumers.

Here we have PrimaDeli which is a Singapore’s first home-grown bakery franchise and the longest-running Singapore food franchise since it was launched in 1992. They have many bakery outlets located in major business, shopping and residential areas serving a wide range of top quality pastries, buns, breads and cakes.

Fortune Pineapple Tarts are specially shaped like a pineapple to symbolise prosperity and good luck which you could purchase as gift sets or add on accessories for Chinese New Year decorations. These "Fortune Pineapples" are individually wrapped to retain its freshness before packed in auspicious gorgeous red organza bag priced at S$1.60 each.

And after consuming you could still recycle the organza bag by filling it with some dried scented flowers to act as decorative item or air refresher in the toilet or car.

Since Pineapple Tarts are the most auspicious gift due to it's name ("Ong Lai - 旺来" which mean luck come) and taste which is well received by most of the people. So for a more presentable gift set perhaps you could consider either this Divine Pineapple Tarts at S$14.80 per tin(16 pieces) or Pillow Pineapple Tarts with the same price.

Personally I preferred their Divine Pineapple Tart which has a melt in mouth buttery pastry plus generous amount of their sweet and sour pineapple fillings which are just to hard to resists from popping them one by one. And other than these pineapple tarts, PrimaDeli also have others Chinese New Year goodies available at their outlets which you could take a look at their on-line leaflet HERE.

Ya Kun Handmade Kaya Cookies

Ya Kun Kaya Toast(亚坤) is a well-known "kopitiam" style kind of chain cafes established island wide in Singapore and varies part of Asia such as Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Philippines. And as the name suggests, Ya Kun sells kaya toast, bottled kaya, soft boiled eggs, local Singapore-style coffee/tea plus some other varieties of toasts and beverages too.

If you are regular customers who often patrons Ya Kun I am sure you would have notice their lovely "heart shaped" Kaya cookies which is available in most of their outlet selling at S$2.50/pack (80g each).

Ya Kun Handmade Kaya cookies are the new addition to the Ya Kun merchandise line where each cookie is made using Ya Kun’s authentic specially formulated kaya. And for your information both their Kaya and cookies recipes does not contain any preservatives, artificial coloring and artificial flavoring.

We love their Kaya Butter Cookies with is soft, buttery and munching with hint of kaya fragrance which makes it unique and great for tea time among family and friends.

This new year, Ya Kun has its Chinese New Year edition to encourage family sharing time and bonding over a heartwarming tin of their kaya cookies. Each tin is priced at S$16.80 (about 45 cookies per tin) or you could get 2 tins for S$30.20 at most of their selected outlets.

Although there are 3 different flavours (kaya, cereal and pistachio) of the kaya cookies available from their usual 80g packs which are selling at most of their outlets. But the Chinese New Year version is only available Kaya Butter or Kaya Pistachio flavours.

For our family who prefer butter cookies over nuts, we tends to prefer the above more than this Kaya Pistachio Cookies. But as you could see if you are loves, especially Pistachio which is well-liked by most of the people during Chinese New Year due to it's name in Mandarin - "开心果 - Pistachio Nuts"(translate as Happy Nuts). For this pistachio version, you could taste more on the nutty flavour rather than buttery taste and it tends to be a little bit harder when bite compared the Kaya Butter Cookies above.

In addition, with minimum spending of S$8.00 in a single receipt, customers will be entitled to a limited edition of their exclusively designed Ang Pow(red packets) set (10 pieces).

Lastly I would like to thank Grace from Ya Kun Kaya Toast for these wonderful Chinese New Year Kaya Cookies. For more latest connection on Ya Kun products and promotions you could also follow them on their facebook page HERE.

Pineapple Cakes from SunnyHills, Taiwan

Other than Bak Kwa(BBQ Pork), the next popular item on Chinese New Year goodies list I am sure would be the "well-known" pineapple tarts/pineapple cakes/pineapple rolls that either top or wrapped with generous amount of golden pineapple jam.

On Tuesday afternoon while we were busying with the spring clean at home I received some complimentary Pineapple Cakes from "SunnyHills(微热山丘) which is air-flown from Taiwan. Same as last year (read more) the SunnyHills distributor Mr Damian is kind to send us some samples to try out their products so that we could justify whether the products is still up to our expectation as compared to last year.

These pineapple cakes are made from fresh ingredients that do not contain any preservatives or colourings. From the photos you could see that each brick-shaped pineapple cake is individually packed and sealed to maintain it's freshness till the expiry date.

For ingredients wise it is made with premium New Zealand butter, Japanese gourmet flour and the healthiest plump yolked eggs sourced from their local farm in Taiwan. And these pineapple fillings are so natural that the cakes carry the flavour of the seasons with mellow sweetness in the spring harvest and zestier tang in fall.

As you can see from the above being inspired by the Year of the Dragon, the collection also features artwork depicting the auspicious Chinese dragon in the full glory of the Dragon Dance which believes to bring good luck. This traditional dragon dance artwork can be found on each bag and box label features all four of SunnyHills founders wishing all their customers "Wang Lai(Prosperity Arrives) for the year of the Dragon".

To make gifting even more personalized, SunnyHills' Festive Sets are available in option of:-

~ Box of 10 @ S$25.00 nett
~ Box of 15 @ S$37.50 nett
~ Box of 20 @ S$50.00 nett

* Orders above S$200.00 are entitled to a 10% discount. For more information, please refer to their ordering website HERE.

If you are working or shopping around City Hall area, perhaps you would like to drop by their outlet at Raffles Hotel to personally try out some samples of their pineapple cakes as well as get to know more about their products too.

SunnyHills 微热山丘

Raffles Hotel Arcade
#03-05 325
North Bridge Road
Singapore 188719
Ordering Hotline: 8522 9605
Website: www.sunnyhills.com.sg

Operating Hours:
Sunday And Monday: 11.00am - 6.00pm
Tuesday to Saturday: 11.00am - 8.00pm

NOYA Traditional Chinese New Year Cookies

Every year about a moth before Chinese New Year you would be able to see a lot of these so-called Chinese New Year cookies at bakeries, supermarkets and etc. This year we are delighted to receive some early New Year goodies from NOYA (Tai Sun (Lim Kee) Food Industries) which we could try out some of their products that are on sales at major local supermarkets such as Cold Storage, FairPrice, Giant and etc. 

Traditional Pineapple Tarts (380g | S$10.80/jar) with good balance of base and golden pineapple jam on top. We love the taste of the pineapple jam which is not too sweet and without those commercial artificial taste.

Rolled Pineapple Tarts (380g | S$10.80/jar) with good proportion of pastry to fillings and each is coated with golden glazed layer to enhance the buttery taste of the tarts. If to make a choice between the two types of Pineapple Tarts, my vote would goes to the one with pineapple jam on top of the pastry as I felt it taste much better compared to the rolled type.

Personally I love those round Almond cookies from Hong Kong or certain pastry shop whereby the cookie will melt in your mouth when eaten. But this Almond Delights (300g, | S$10.80/jar) from NOYA was rather special with a after taste of sweet and salty mixture that makes you crave for more. And for your information this is also one of NOYA bestselling signature cookies which made from Tai Sun's premium USA Almond.

This Macadamia Delights (300g | S$11.80/jar) has a slight crunch on the outside and a lovely creamy texture inside which made from top-quality of macadamias nuts from Australia. Furthermore the few of us who had tried all comes to a conclusion that this cookie has a very special taste which is quite similar to Horlicks .

The Kueh Bangkek (250g | S$6.50/jar) on the other hand was rather a bit disappointed for my taste as I was expecting something more fragrance with those melt-in-mouth texture. Although it has a light pandan fragrant but I think the taste could be better in order to bring out that traditional taste.

Traditional Jade Delights (300g | S$8.90/jar)  are actually green peas cookies in pale green colour which resembles Jade. I love the nutty and buttery flavour which comes with hint of salty taste lingering in your mouth.

Ah-Ma Love Letters (400g | S$11.80/tin) comes in those old school tin can and each piece of the Love Letters are made with traditional recipe using cane sugar. Although they are light and flake but to us we think it still lack of some coconut fragrance.

Lastly I would like to thank Esther from Tai Sun who sent us these lovely NOYA traditional Chinese New Year Cookies.