22-02-2025
An ode to pandan, seen in Singaporean chiffon cake and other dishes
Published: 8:15am, 22 Feb 2025
I was in the departure area in Terminal 1 at Singapore Changi Airport recently and was looking for things to buy as gifts for friends in Malaysia. I headed towards the famous Singapore bakery Bengawan Solo because I knew that some of them love its kueh lapis legit , the Indonesian layered cake also known as spekkoek in Dutch.
Now when Malaysians say they like a certain type of food from Singapore, you know that they must really, really like it.
Standing in the queue at Bengawan Solo, I observed that most people were visitors, and they happened to converse in Mandarin. A group of three women behind me were looking at goods in the glass display case, and were wondering out loud which of the many delicious confections were pandan chiffon cakes . They had no idea, but they were buying a few each for friends and family back home in Hangzhou, in China's Zhejiang province.
There were plenty to go around, seeing as there were several stacks of red and yellow cardboard boxes containing the fluffy, fragrant sponge cake in the distinctive shade of green.
