Rose’s Pineapple Shorts: How a landscape architect went all in on pineapple pastries

📍 New York, NY
🔗 hotplate.com/rosespineappleshorts

Rose wasn’t planning to leave her dream job as a landscape architect until one week when everything clicked. She realized she needed to go all in on her passion project that had been consuming her nights and weekends over the last 2 years.

How it started

As a designer, Rose was always passionate about creating things and seeing them come to life, but grew impatient with architecture projects that often took years to complete.

“I feel like as a designer, I always wanted to put what I created out into the world…I was designing everything from buildings to parks and realized, oh my gosh, that takes a long time to see that effort come to fruition. Along the way, I was also curious about business. I was always looking for something to make and put out there.”

That spark came when she rediscovered her favorite childhood pastry: pineapple cakes.

“Growing up across eight cities in the US, I often felt pressure to downplay being Taiwanese to fit in - but I was always the first to share pineapple cakes with friends,” she says. “Only recently did I realize there was a gap in the market for a truly scratch-made version, and a ripe opportunity to take people along on my journey of connecting with my roots.”

Her curiosity quickly took on a life of its own. “Rose's Pineapple Shorts is my love letter to Taiwan - artisanal pineapple pastries made with 100% fresh pineapple, slow roasted for 8 hours, wrapped in buttery shortbread, and built on a mission to make 鳳梨酥 a global ambassador of Taiwan.”

From side hustle to full-time

For a long time, the business lived alongside Rose’s full-time job.

“For two years, Rose's Pineapple Shorts was my side hustle - nights, weekends, and every spare moment outside my 9-to-6,” she says.

But as demand grew and the story behind her pastries started resonating, it became harder to balance both. Then, over the course of just a few days, a series of events pushed her to make a decision.

“I’m not getting any younger,” she said. “This life is worth taking risks for.”

In December 2025, she put a pause to her landscape architectural career to bet on herself and go all in.

What she’s building today

After travelling to Taiwan to visit family and do more research, it was time for Rose to figure out how to scale her hustle. She moved into a commercial kitchen and began discovering how to grow, learning her way around new machines and equipment, while still staying grounded in what makes her product special.

Rose’s brand takes the iconic Taiwanese pastry and interprets it in a way that feels authentic to her identity as a Taiwanese American. She strives to balance creativity and antiquity in her treats. A favorite example is her spiced mango pineapple short, inspired by her Houston roots.

Long term, Rose wants to expand onto store shelves, but for now, her entire focus is on building a strong foundation.

Discovering Hotplate

Rose first heard about Hotplate the most organic way possible: at a pop-up at Commune in Brooklyn where she bumped into Rishi, one of Hotplate’s co-founders.

Today, she uses Hotplate to manage orders and keep everything in one place as she grows.

A lesson that changed how she works

We asked Rose for a piece of advice about running a baking business that changed how she worked.

“Sell before you scale. I wanted everything to be perfect before putting myself out there - but getting my pastries directly into people's hands at markets taught me more than any amount of planning could. 50 events and counting, a sell-out of 400 Shorts in 3 hours, and real customer feedback is what continues to shape my product, pricing, and brand!”

More than just pastries

Rose’s business is about way more than dessert. She describes the three pillars of her work: quality pastry, cultural storytelling, and self-belief. She wants her journey to inspire others to bet on themselves, to live fearlessly in pursuit of their dreams, and to take risks.

“I really want to use my business as a way to say to everyone—if I can do it, you can do it,” she says.

Rose is learning everything as she goes, from running a business to navigating life as a solo founder. She documents her learnings on Instagram where she’s honest about what it’s like to build something in real time and bet on yourself.

Through it all, she’s helping bring a piece of Taiwan to more people, one pineapple short at a time.

Way to go Rose, we can’t wait to try a pineapple short the next time we’re in NY!