In 2005, Choa Oi Lin, a teacher-turned-housewife, was looking for a good recipe to bake that pastry for Chinese New Year.
'I trawled the Net and baking books, and made countless trips to the supermarket to buy ingredients,' says the now 34-year-old.
'When I was finally satisfied with the recipe, I made the tarts and my family and friends loved them,' says the mother of five-year-old twins.
She went on to bake other cookies. Her mother suggested she publish her recipes and her husband, a naval officer, was supportive.
But when she had no success with the publishers she contacted, Choa set up her own publishing company, Boost Prints, in July last year. 'It really was very hard in the beginning and I still had to take care of the household and my children.'
For example, she did not even know where to get an ISBN number, a 10-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally, for her book.
Her first cookbook, Delicious Asian Sweet Treats, was published in November last year. She did the layout and took pictures on her own.
'It was such a joyous moment when the books arrived at my doorstep. I asked my family over for dinner that evening and we sat around looking through them,' she says.
Her second cookbook, Delicious Asian Baked Treats, was published in June this year.
She spent about $9,000 to publish both books and says she has not covered her initial costs but both her books have been selling well.
Timing helped in persuading stores to stock her first book whose cover showed pineapple tarts. It was published just before Chinese New Year and her pitch was that it was perfect for the festive season.
Currently, she is working on a third book and instructional DVDs on baking and cooking. She is also working with another baker to publish the latter's recipes.
'After my first book, I knew I couldn't just stop at that. I feel that my books have been successful and I've gotten very good feedback,' says the cheery baker.
