These little brown cakes have an unusual taste, an odd texture? Yet, most of us find them absolutely delicious and pounce on them as soon as the Spring Festival comes along. People celebrating New Year tomorrow may give you some as tradition requests! But for those of you who don?t find them especially nice- if you had tasted the ones from How Cheung Fong in Plaine Lauzun, you would have certainly changed your minds?

You?d better be quick though : the factory makes these traditional Chinese cakes only during this period. Tomorrow, it will be closed, as they will be celebrating the New Year. And as soon as they open again, they?ll be back to noodles and vermicelli ? their main activity. Because ?gâteau la cire? is something special which has to be kept for this special time of the year!

The How Cheung Fong family has been running this factory for more than thirty years? At the time of Emilie, Nelly and the three other children?s grandmother. Their mother intends to stay in the business for a few more months or years but sooner or later it will be their business. ?They already know how the business works? they come and help me especially in this period with the cakes,? says their mother.

<B>Not much sleep</B>

The ?gâteau la cire? take a lot of preparation? ?We do everything ourselves? From the very beginning to the packaging!? First, they take rice that they crush and squeeze to make it completely dry. Then they add sugar and orange peel and put it into cake tins before putting it in a boiler for? ten hours. ?I don?t sleep much during this period. Even if I don?t have to look after the cakes the whole night, I still have to keep an eye on the water level and on the temperature to make sure the cakes are perfect!?

This recipe, which is passed down from one generation to the next, has not lost a crumb?the cake is excellent and it doesn?t stick to your teeth? The tradition is safe!