San-San's Farewell Party and Desserts

Goodbye is never my thing, I don't think it's everyone's thing anyway. I don't like airports and I really don't like the feeling when I'm seeing that person leaving and walking away to the airport security check-in and I had to say good bye for the last time. It is sad, but I always thankful at the same time that I got the chance to know them for a while. It's San-San's turn this time, she's going back to Indonesia for good and starting her own business there. She's been a really good friend for the three years she spent here in bay area, and I'm very blessed to know her. It really make me sad to see her leave but I'm also happy and wish her for the best for her future. I'm definitely gonna miss her but hopefully I can get to meet her whenever I'm in Indonesia :).

We were planning a farewell for her before she leaves. We don't want to call it a party because it certainly wasn't something that needs celebration. But we want to show her how much we love her and how much we're gonna miss her. So we bought some of San-San's favorite food here in the bay, invite some close friends, which turned out to be 50+ people (see San, we love you so much), and what gathering without some dessert? I certainly didn't want to make it over-the-top as again, this is not a bridal shower, baby shower, or a birthday, it's a farewell. I know she likes mascarpone cheesecake that I made so that one is definitely on the menu. Tiramisu was also in the menu as it is easy to make and fast, it is one of my go-to dessert whenever I need to make something good in a fairly limited time, although it might not be the cheapest dessert selection menu :)

Since tiramisu can be made ahead of time (and recommended too as the lady fingers need some time to absorb the moisture and to blend all the flavors), I decided to make the third dessert, which is a passion fruit silk pudding. The texture is very soft, similar to those asian almond pudding texture without the almond flavor (yes, I dislike almond extract) and you don't even need to use your teeth to bite into it. I used passion fruit syrup for the sauce as this is the only flavor available in a couple of different asian grocery store. I was actually looking for mango syrup, but since passion fruit is the only one they have, that'll do then, besides, I'm all for passion fruit anyway. I don't have a closer picture of the pudding as I wasn't taking these pictures, but I will be making it again next week for another event and will take a better close-up picture so that you can see it better and I'll make sure to post the recipe too.

For the cheesecake, I put some raspberries I froze in summer and put a good doze of meyer lemon zest too, these two makes a great pair. I drizzled the top with nutella dark chocolate ganache and put fresh raspberries on top. I was so glad that I could find beautiful red plump raspberries in this time of the year, although it is true that I live in California where berries are available all year long, but they don't always look like these ones. The ganache was delicious on its own, you can't really tell the hazelnut flavor when biting into the cheesecake though but since I kept licking my finger (and continuously wash them with soap and water afterward), the hazelnut flavor was definitely there. I'll probably add more nutella next time, it's good for glaze or filling or just as a spread on a toast.

(the pudding is the yellow one in the back)

We had a good time together, it's not a celebration but it's not a sad party as well. We certainly didn't want to send her off with a bad feeling, we want to send her off with cheerful feeling :). We set up a photo booth in the corner of the room and we had some funky props too to take pictures with San-San. It was a good night and I'll just leave it at that.

It's not a goodbye San, but it's an "I'll see you again next time". I wish you the best in Indonesia and we miss you :)