Chinese New Year is a time to celebrate with friends, family, and delicious foods. Main dishes such as duck, chicken and whole fish are served along with noodles and vegetables. There are also many desserts that are served for Chinese New Year as well. Just as the traditional New Year’s foods, these delicious desserts symbolize good luck and prosperity for the New Year. Here are some of the main desserts that are served during Chinese New Year.

Nian gao
Nian gao is a cake that is made from sticky, or glutinous rice. It is thick and dense in consistency and can be either sweet or savory. Savory nian gao is usually sliced into rounds and stir fried with meats and vegetables. The sweet version of this rice cake is either steamed or pan fried. Nian gao is served on New Years because it symbolizes prosperity in the new year. The words “nian gao” in Chinese sound the same as the words that mean “year and high.”

Eight treasure rice pudding
Eight treasure rice pudding is a delicious and beautiful New Year’s dessert with many happy meanings incorporated into it. This pudding is a mound of sweet rice that is beautifully decorated with maraschino cherries, raisins, and lotus seeds. This is said to represent luck for the new year.

Sweet Filled Sesame Balls
These fried dough treats are crunchy on the outside with a soft dough like texture inside and then the very center is filled with sweet sesame paste. They are said to represent prosperity in the New Year.

Egg custard tarts
These little egg tarts are a popular Chinese bakery favorite all year around. Tiny, flaky tart shells are filled with a delicious sweet custard filling. These egg tarts represent prosperity in the new year. They also symbolize good family relations as well.

Kumquats, tangerines, and oranges
These round orange fruits are said to symbolize luck in the new year and are often placed in bowls to snack on. This Mandarin Orange Cake Recipe is a great way to incorporate this lucky fruit into the Chinese New Year.

Sweet red bean soup
This delicious soup is made from adzuki beans and has several variations. Some soups are sweeter or smoother than others. Some include lotus seeds as well. This sweet soothing soup represents togetherness in the year to come.