Love at every bite
An investment banker takes the plunge into self-employment to do what her heart desires — baking super delicious cookies, writes Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan
At the heart of a good dish, cake, cookie or tart are quality ingredients, as well as hard work and soul. Evelyn Yeoh
OF all the cookies that landed on my desk for Hari Raya, one brand stood out. One hungry night, I popped open a white resealable bag from The Last Bite and out came its organic oatmeal and almond cookies.
I was pleasantly surprised at its texture, lightness and taste — it’s not that sweet — I polished the whole bag in one sitting. But I didn’t stop there. I looked it up on Instagram a few days later, ready to place an order because the sample portion wasn’t enough.
With only some 300 followers, I knew it was a very new venture. So I texted the contact number and that was how I came to know Evelyn Yeoh, investment bankerturned-baker who started the business because she wanted to sell quality pineapple tarts for Chinese New Year.
We had lunch a week later to talk about her year-old business and, as I found out, Yeoh, 28, is passionate and animated and willing to work and rework her recipes to get the perfect bite.
“Feedback is more important than just selling cookies. I need to know what works. I’m lucky because I have a good palate for taste but there’s nothing like customers’ comments to improve my products.”
DO IT YOURSELF
Yeoh started her business with pineapple tarts because “that’s what I like to eat during Chinese New Year and it’s hard to find good ones”.
She realised that if she wanted to have delicious tarts, she’d have to bake them herself and she did. She made them for family and friends and soon started selling them for Chinese New Year.
So passionate is she about tarts that she came out with three varieties — normal, with salted egg yolk and with green tea.
Her tarts are round with the jam tucked inside. They melt in the mouth and you can’t stop popping them.
Her pineapple tarts make up 70 per cent of her sales (yes, they are that good). But her tarts aren’t cheap. They cost RM36 for 30 pieces but if you appreciate quality food, it’s worth your money.
LEARNING FROM THE BEST
Yeoh spent a lot of time cooking and baking with her grandmother, whom she said “is a very talented self-taught cook”.
“She taught me that at the heart of a good dish, cake, cookie or tart are quality ingredients, as well as hard work and soul. I have a sweet tooth so I’m always on the lookout for something new in the pastry scene.
“A couple of years back, I found it challenging to find delicious pineapple tarts, crumbly on the outside, with delicious jam on the inside, that don’t taste overly sweet or factory made.
“So the journey of making wholesome, handmade pineapple tarts started from there!
“We initially started with more spices (cinnamon, cloves etc) in the pineapple jam, but realised that it might not be to the public’s liking. We currently only have cinnamon in our homemade jam.
“We even used to make cheddar cheese pineapple tarts that were a good mix of sweet and savoury! I am looking to bring those back — they would be a great hit with the millennials.”
BEST COOKIE
Yeoh says the best cookie she has tasted is the chocolate chip cookie from Levain Bakery in New York City by Thomas Keller.
“It is a cross between a chocolate chip cookie and a scone — crusty on the outside but soft and thick on the inside. It is especially gooey when it’s warm, and is jam-packed with semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts.
“It was a life-changing moment for me when I had it for the first time, and every chocolate chip cookie I’ve had thereafter, can’t compare.”
She’s fine with the proliferation of cookie makers — thank you, Instagram — because she says the products pretty much speak for themselves.
“We only use quality halal-certified ingredients and we don’t cut corners on expensive ingredients like pecan nuts and vanilla bean. We make our own vanilla essence, and that’s why its creamy flavour comes through as you bite into our cookie.
“We use real salted egg yolks in our pastry for our salted egg yolk pineapple tart — none of that powdered stuff and we source it from a small local grocer in Ampang. Our pineapples are from the neighbourhood fruit vendor. It gives us joy knowing that we are supporting other small businesses too!”
LEARNING CURVE
Yeoh says as with all small businesses, trying to grasp, understand and establish one’s target market can be quite challenging.
“There were times when I thought that pop-ups at places like Mid Valley Megamall would have helped me gain a wider reach but I have been proven otherwise. So we are still experimenting with different crowds, getting feedback that will ultimately make our products better and our brand presence stronger.”
She wants to adapt local and trendy flavours into her core range of cookies.
“I also make rich and fluffy gluten-free protein brownies, as well as New York style vanilla bean mascarpone cheesecakes upon order.
“We also try to have limited edition flavours that are only available in limited amounts. This allows us to flex our creativity as well! When I went to Tokyo in April, I brought Japanese strawberries back and experimented with the pineapple tart dough, and it tasted lovely! It had a nice hint of strawberry to it.
“We’re also looking into making Thai milk tea cookies. How amazing will that be?”
The Last Bite is available at Robinsons, Shoppes at Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur. Follow the brand on Instagram @ thatlastbite