When you grow up in a Chinese household, sweets are in short supply. Meals ended with fruit, usually orange wedges or watermelon slices depending on the time of year. In Chinatown, bakeries sold crunchy almond cookies, baos filled with cream or red bean paste. For special occasions, sponge cake layered with peaches or mango frosted with a barely sweet whipped cream. At dim sum, the carts featured silken tofu with a plain syrup and dahn tat aka egg tarts.

As a kid, I couldn’t get enough Twinkies, Hostess apple pies, Sara Lee pound cake and Chips Ahoy cookies—as if to compensate.

As an adult, those American treats no longer have the same appeal but the joy they once brought fuels the inspiration behind the Chinese Mom Kitchen.