As the sweet smell of caramelized sugar fills the air, Reny Lauw is busy chatting away with customers at her home-turned-factory located just outside of Jakarta. Lauw's factory is considered historic in the city, and during this time of the year, it is especially crowded.

Lauw specializes in traditional homemade Chinese basket cakes. Orders are already piling up, with customers booking their orders up to three months in advance.

Sticky and sweet, the cakes are made using fresh ingredients grown locally. Hundreds of workers spend their time around the clock cracking fresh coconuts to make coconut milk, peel fragrant banana leaves and pound and sift flour – all by hand.

This traditional method is the reason why so many customers are drawn to Lauw's cakes. The methods used here are the same ones she remembers her grandfather using.

"The business started with my grandfather, then it was passed down to my mother-in-law and now my husband and I are in charge of it," said Reny.

After her grandfather passed away, Reny's mother-in-law took charge of the business before passing it down to Reny and her husband, who now works full-time to keep the factory running.

The smell of warm coconut milk and sugar always brings Reny back to her childhood, where she sat at the family table enjoying her basket cake with her grandparents. She says she will continue to preserve the traditional way of hand-making the basket cakes in honor of her family’s age-old traditions.

Lauw is known for two types of cakes. One is the traditional Chinese basket cake, a delicacy eaten every year during Chinese New Year. The cakes are made using the simple ingredients of rice flour and sugar syrup. The mixture is cooked until thick and sticky, which takes around 8 hours, before leaving them to thicken and set for another 8 to 12 hours. The other is a popular Indonesian dessert known as Dodol. The method for making Dodol is similar to that for the Chinese basket cake but with the addition of coconut milk for a distinct and rich flavor.

"Our customers tell us that the texture of our cakes is softer compared to others. It has just the right amount of sweetness and the color is perfect too. Banana leaves have a nice aroma; we have cakes wrapped in plastic, too, but the demand for that is quite low," Reny said.

The basket cake not only tastes delicious, it is an important symbol of togetherness for many of the Chinese in Indonesia. During Chinese New Year, these cakes are used as an offering to the gods, in the hopes of bringing in more luck, blessings and love to their lives throughout the year.