Half of the fun in Christmas potlucks – though no one will admit it – is in showing off one’s foodie lobangs. So how’s this for the ultimate flex: arriving at a party bearing buttery bakes that featured in actress Rebecca Lim’s guo da li (Chinese betrothal ceremony where the bride’s and groom’s families exchange gifts before the big day) pastry boxes? These came alongside Japanese herbal tea blends presented as wedding favours for the 600 guests who attended her wedding bash last month. 

The goodies are now available via The Lims’ Kitchen, the family’s foodie IG account-turned-home-based-biz-turned full-fledged business run by the Third Rail star, 36, and her brother Daniel, 37, who is the resident baker. He first started selling sourdough loaves in 2021 after losing his job at an investment fund management firm when the pandemic struck. Business has been good enough for Daniel to upgrade from baking at his parent’s condo kitchen into a more professional commercial one just two months ago. The camera-shy Lim who declined to be photographed for this story has also employed a full-time baker to assist him.

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“Our home was full of flour dust”

8days.sg chats with Daniel over the phone, and supportive sis Becks joins us all the way from India, where she’s attending a pal’s wedding. No, the newly-wed isn’t going on her honeymoon anytime soon: “We didn’t want to stress with planning the wedding plus a honeymoon. Also, we didn’t want to spend too much money all at once too. We definitely will be in Singapore from now till after Chinese New Year – Christmas and New Year are both very important for our families”. 

The siblings tell us that their decision to shift The Lims’ Kitchen (TLK) into a central kitchen was born out of necessity. “It became clear that there wasn't enough bandwidth to do this from home and I needed more help. On top of that, there were many other items we wanted to introduce to the menu,” says Daniel. “Without a proper set-up and the support of a dedicated team, we will definitely not be able to work on these ideas meaningfully.”

Furthermore, working out of the kitchen in their parents’ condo was putting a strain on the Lims. “Our home was full of flour dust and a lot of cleaning was required. It’s not like our scale was huge, but if you’ve handled flour before, you’ll be familiar with the mess it makes. Don’t even get me started on our aircon filters,” Daniel adds. Another issue they faced: “Lots of people milling around at the lobby [of their condo] waiting to collect food and jamming up the lifts. We also felt paiseh about inconveniencing other people, lah."

The whole family is involved in the biz

He admits that the upgrade is “a huge risk”. He explains: “While I was lucky to receive a steady flow of orders throughout the biz’s operations from family and friends, and also lots of [new customers], running an online-only shop like ours will always make you wonder if there will be [enough sustainable] demand long-term.” 

He declines to reveal the commercial kitchen’s size, location or how much they spent setting up the space.

Rebecca with her niece, Ava.

Daniel tells us that “everyone in the family (Becks included) is a shareholder” in this business. He handles operations full-time with the hired baker, while Rebecca and their mum – both now armed with basic Food Safety & Hygiene certificates from the Singapore Food Agency – help with packing, admin and finances. “There’s actually a lot to help with. Simple things like clearing out the trash, deliveries, packing, and so on. I also got [the SFA certification] because I wanted to be more hands-on in helping,” adds Becks. “Now when I’m not around, my mum just has to help out even more. Our younger sister and her hubby help out too! So it really is a family affair.”

We ask if the busy actress plans to devote more time to TLK now that it is taking off. She replies: “Perhaps. But nothing is planned for that yet. We are very new in this business and we want to grow one step at a time. My main focus is still on my career as an actor but whenever I’m needed in TLK, I’ll be there. It’s family you know, and family will be there for each other whenever, wherever.”

The pastry gift boxes prepared by Daniel for Rebecca’s guo da li.

The pastry gift boxes prepared by Daniel for Rebecca’s guo da li.

“Took turns to sleep on kitchen floor” while baking for Rebecca’s wedding

Which is why right after the chaos of setting up his new kitchen, Daniel found time to provide bakes for Rebecca’s guo da li a week before her wedding – not that he had much of a say in the decision. “My brother didn’t really have much of a choice lah, I just said I wanted him to do it for me (laughs),” jokes Rebecca. “I didn’t want to just order from another pastry shop – it’s very easily done, fuss-free. But I wanted my wedding to have a personal touch. I wanted people to feel the love that I was feeling (laughs).” The pastry boxes were gifted by Rebecca’s family to her hubby’s relatives outside of the usual traditional guo da li gifts exchanged between bride and groom like oranges, jewellery and more.

As it turns out, it was Daniel who actually insisted on providing the bakes for his younger sis. Two hundred boxes were distributed not just among Becks’ hubby’s extended family and colleagues, but also Mediacorp staff and hospital personnel (pictured below) who’d been caring for their dad, who’s in poor health. “I’ve always looked up to her – sometimes she feels like my older sister, and I’m the younger sibling,” he gushes. “I wanted to pay it back a little by doing this for her, while testing out my operations. But I was really woefully unprepared (laughs).”

He continues: “The volume was quite high and it was something I’d never done before, but it was nothing a little time couldn’t solve. [The assistant baker and I] spent about 48 hours straight working on it.” Becks chimes in: “Yeah, they were taking turns to sleep on the kitchen floor – I felt quite bad, lah (laughs).” Of course, she chipped in by helping him with the packing.

Among the guo da li bakes like cruffins and a croissant spiked with za’atar (a Middle Eastern spice blend), Daniel found a winner that is now included in TLK’s first-ever Christmas pastry box – but more on that later. The other pastries, he says, may be sold in future once he has “further refined their processes [for baking them]”.

He also provided bakes for the reception at Becks’ tea ceremony on her big day, while door gifts for wedding guests were curated by Rebecca herself: a blend of Japan-imported Ashitaba herbal tea (known for its purported health-promoting properties) and dried roses, aptly titled ‘Love’, now sold via TLK too.

New sourdough starter named after mum

According to Daniel, all six of the bakes in TLK’s Festive Pastry Box are crafted with “quality French flour” and “AOP-certified Lescure butter” (AOP stands for Appellation D’Origine Protogee or protected designation of origin, which means the product must come from a certain region in France and adhere to other strict regulations relating to quality).

Their sourdough croissant dough is fermented over three days with a new sourdough starter, ‘Min’, which got its moniker from their mum’s mandarin name. This starter is kept at a lower hydration (meaning a higher ratio of flour to water) level of around “50 percent” than their original starter ‘Larry’ (named after their croissant-loving father) which hovered at “80 to 95 percent” hydration. This results in a stiffer dough, which the home baker found more suitable for crafting sourdough croissants and other laminated sourdough pastries.

Festive Pastry Box, $40 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Daniel sends us a box of his new pastries, accompanied with cute stickers and a specially-designed gift card. The highlight of the Festive Pastry Box and one of Becks’ personal faves among the six items is, unsurprisingly, the confection that featured in her guo da li gift box: the Praline Brioche Feuilletee (pictured below). It’s an elegant, flaky rectangle of cocoa-tinged croissant dough stuffed with velvety hazelnut praline and Valrhona chocolate ganache. Delish.

The plain sourdough croissant is delightful too. Crisp, buttery and deserving of your stomach space this season of feasting – though we couldn’t quite make out any sourdough tang. We also enjoy the Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake (below) immensely for its moist crumb and pleasant bouquet of rosemary. Says Daniel, “This was the first ever cake I baked for my wife, and I thought it was meaningful to have it as part of our maiden pastry box.” Aw.

The other pastries include the Pain Au Chocolat, featuring three chocolate batons spiralled into croissant dough; the slightly-too-dense Pecan Pie Brownie, using a recipe provided by younger sis Melissa (a dentist by profession); and an Applesauce Crumble Puff. At $40 for six pastries, it is decent value. 

Christmas orders open Dec 17 at noon

These delicate pastries are quite the upgrade for someone who started off selling primarily sourdough loaves. Did Daniel attend some baking lessons the past year? “Though I’d love to have had the time to go for a course or apprenticeship, these recipes were from Google, visits to the library for recipe books and many repeated failures,” he shares candidly with a laugh.

The festive box has been available since the start of December – Becks describes the response in the first two weeks as “overwhelming”, though they decline to share exact figures, except to say that they’ve “significantly ramped up production” since week one. Slots for the pastry box, made fresh on your selected delivery day, are released for the week ahead every Saturday – so get your tapping fingers ready at noon on December 17 if you’re looking to snag these goodies for Christmas Day (while stocks last).

The pastry box will be available for delivery until New Year’s Day, though Daniel hints that “if there is continued demand, we could make it a permanent offering” with occasional menu updates.

Granola and signature sourdough also worth gifting

If you’re looking for more last-minute Christmas gifts for foodies, the Lims’ homemade granola – a new addition following our story on their biz last May – is also up for grabs. There are two flavours: Morning Maple Granola Clusters (foreground), a mix of almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds gussied up with organic vanilla and maple syrup; or Midnight Chocolate Granola Clusters (background), which features the same nuts and seeds with Balinese cacao (both $15 for 350g). We prefer the former for its moreish, mildly sweet profile.

Also available is their classic sourdough loaf ($13 for 750g, down from $15 as truffle butter is no longer included) which yields 12 to 16 lovely, crusty-chewy slices. Have it toasted with a generous smear of their savoury housemade spreads (from $7) like squid ink aioli, salmon pate and crab ’slaw. 

Assorted Ashitaba Tea Blends, $40 for four

For some R&R after the hectic festive period, Becks’ assorted herbal tea blends (packed by an external supplier) are available as well from December 17. Ashitaba blends, apart from ‘Love’, include ‘Joy’ (with added osmanthus), ‘Peace’ (lemongrass, ginger and peppermint) and ‘Restore’ (ashitaba leaves only).

Possibility of retail shop and cafe in future

While their current commercial kitchen doesn’t accept walk-in customers, Daniel hopes to eventually expand into a “retail location with a small dine-in space”. He shares: “We’re still trying to survive and enjoy each day as it comes along. But we would really love to have a retail touch point with our customers. However, that comes with its own set of risks and processes. For the time being, we’ll just focus on getting used to our kitchen and making the best products possible.” 

Order from The Lims’ Kitchen here. Islandwide delivery only (flat fee of $10); no self pick-up. More info via Instagram.

Photos: Alvin Lim, The Lims’ Kitchen, Rebecca Lim, Lelian Chew

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