Identical Twin Sisters Sell CNY Charcoal Pineapple & Kueh Dadar Tarts From Home
They pivoted after stocks for their childrenswear biz were “stuck in China”.
Running a business from home isn’t easy, with some sellers getting their family members to help out. In Jennifer Ang’s case, help comes from her identical twin sister Janice. Together, the twins, 30, run an Instagram-based childrenswear biz called Little Tadpole, which they launched last November.
But for now, the sisters have temporarily pivoted to selling a range of homemade snacks like pineapple tarts. The goodies are available only for the Chinese New Year season. “The timing is just nice, because our clothing stocks are currently stuck in China due to the festive period delay, and we have always thought of making our own pineapple tarts,” Jennifer tells 8days.sg. Calling the pivot a “capsule project”, she named her new sideline Ke after the Chinese name for ‘tadpole’. It’s also the nickname she gave to her son, who’s just over a year old.
Last orders this week
Mostly homebound since the pandemic started, the twins started baking more as a hobby. “We learned how to bake from YouTube, but we have [dabbled] in baking since young because our elder sister also baked during her free time,” says Janice (left in pic).
Orders for their CNY goodies end this Thursday (Feb 4), though Jennifer is considering extending their sale period to cater to demand. On top of taking care of her baby, Jennifer also works full-time as a senior engineer in a medical device firm, while Janice is a lab technician at a petrochemical company. They usually bake over the weekend for their orders, and send the goodies out via a courier service on Mondays. “We also meet customers for self-pickup at Jurong Point,” says Jennifer.
Jennifer and Janice's pineapple tarts (3)
Everything is made from scratch
The twins make everything from scratch - including pineapple jam - in the kitchen of their Taman Jurong maisonette home, which Jennifer also shares with her husband. The baking chores are efficiently divvied up; Jennifer makes the fillings for the tarts, while Janice takes care of the dough. “Then the both of us combine everything into a ball together,” laughs Jennifer.
Same same, but different
Born via Caesarean delivery, Jennifer is older than Janice by less than a minute. While they look and dress alike, the sisters reckon they have very different personalities. Jennifer shares, “We have our own views and values. Although we’re twins, we don’t need to have the same kind of thinking. But we have the same tastebuds. If I find something too sweet, Janice will think the same too.”
Five types of CNY goodies for sale
Ke has a small but focused menu comprising five types of CNY goodies: pineapple balls in two flavours, Charcoal ($13.90 for 10-12 pcs/ $17.90 for 15-18 pcs) and Original ($10.90 for 10-12 pcs / $16.90 for 15-18 pcs), kueh dadar-style balls ($17.90), hazelnut white cookies and a Nutella-drizzled version (both $5.90 for 10 pieces).
The kueh dadar balls are flavoured with hand-squeezed fresh pandan juice and have a grated coconut and gula melaka filling, while the charcoal pineapple tarts are spiked with charcoal bamboo powder. The snacks are made with a lower-than-usual amount of sugar as Jennifer, who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her pregnancy, reckoned there were folks out there who couldn’t take overly sweet stuff.
She candidly discloses that selling CNY goodies is a lot more lucrative than running a childrenswear business. “We earn more profit from selling pineapple tarts, ’cos we reach more customers with food than kids’ clothes,” she shares.
Check out some of the goodies below:
Golden Original Pineapple Balls, $10.90 for 10-12 pcs / $16.90 for 15-18 pcs
Black Golden Charcoal Pineapple Balls, $13.90 for 10-12 pcs / $17.90 for 15-18 pcs
Kueh Dadar Balls, $17.90
Order by Feb 4 via www.instagram.com/littletadpolesg or WhatsApp 8185-6165.
PHOTOS: KELVIN CHIA
