Week 4: Desserts for the Chinese New Year

Almond cookies

Getting back from Santa Monica led to another short week, however it was time to get ready for the lunar new year! So I dove into the ol' cookbook collection for some Asian-inspired bakes to round out the celebration menu. I find that it's somewhat challenging to come up with desserts for Chinese New Year for two basic reasons: 1. Chinese cuisine does not really involve desserts, unless you count fresh fruit; and 2. There are so many types of dumplings and other traditional dishes for the new year that require significant prep work.

Green tea and fresh fruit cake

I settled on some almond cookies since they could be done a few days in advance and would keep well. And they'd be easy to send home with folks after dinner, thus helping to alleviate the leftover situation. (Gotta think ahead, folks!) But, as Julia Child said, "a party without cake is just a meeting." So, of course, a cake needed to be made. I decided on the green tea cream and fresh fruit cake from Pichet Ong's fabulous cookbook. I'd made this cake once before, after the first season of the GBBS (which was the 5th season of the GBBO*) aired and I was inspired to try some colored cake patterns. Geometry and green tea polka dots - what's not to love?! Learned my lesson about dragonfruit previously (pretty, but a little bland) and decided on mangoes and papaya as the fruit. Yum. I'm particularly partial to this cake because it's a modernized version of the celebration cakes of my childhood - two layers of sponge cake with whipped cream frosting and canned peaches. Happy to say that the sweet treats were crowd-pleasers, and it was very lovely to spend an evening surrounded by good friends.

*Apparently the second season of the GBBS was the 4th season of the GBBO?! Whaaaa?