Dessert haul. Tiong Bahru bite-sized desserts box, $14.80. 😍😋👍🏼

What was in the box:

2 pistachio eclairs: choux pastry with pistachio cream, topped with chopped pistachio and bits of rose petal / dried fruit
1 chocolate dipped eclair: classic choux pastry with dark chocolate ganache topping
3 pandan kueh kueh: green pandan-coconut sponge cubes coated with desiccated coconut on the sides
1 pandan kueh kueh with chocolate sprinkles: same base, chocolate sprinkle topping instead
2 brown sponge cake cubes: light cake (possibly gula melaka or coconut)
1 vanilla shortbread / sablé: round, golden, crumbly
2 apricot wedges: dried fruit garnish
The presentation: a takeaway white paper box, all bite-sized pieces

Tiong Bahru is the historic Singapore neighbourhood (estate built in the 1930s by the SIT, the Singapore Improvement Trust) that turned into one of the city’s most famous food + lifestyle destinations from the 2010s onwards. The art-deco low-rise architecture, the hip cafes, the famous Tiong Bahru Market hawker centre, and a dense cluster of independent bakeries make it a dessert-haul destination.

The bakeries that built Tiong Bahru’s dessert reputation:

Tiong Bahru Bakery: the Gontran Cherrier-trained French bakery, croissants and pastries
Plain Vanilla Bakery: cupcakes and bakes
Whisk and Paddle, BAKE Cheesecake, others: various dessert-forward shops over the years
Local kueh stalls at the Tiong Bahru Market: traditional Nyonya / Peranakan kueh

The box here looks like a mix-and-match bakery selection rather than a single shop’s output. The mix of French (eclairs, sablés, financiers) and Peranakan / Nyonya (pandan kueh kueh) suggests sampling from multiple Tiong Bahru spots, possibly with the kueh from a traditional stall and the choux pastries from a French-style bakery.

The pandan kueh kueh (kueh ko swee / kueh pandan style) is the Peranakan steamed cake:

Glutinous rice flour + tapioca flour + coconut milk + pandan extract base
Steamed in trays, cooled, cut into cubes
Rolled in desiccated coconut on the sides for textural contrast
Bouncy, slightly sweet, pandan-coconut forward

The pistachio eclair is the French patisserie classic:

Choux pastry: hollow when baked, piped full of cream
Pistachio diplomat cream: green-tinted, nutty, slightly sweet
Crushed pistachio + rose petals on top: visual + textural payoff

At $14.80 for the variety box, this is mid-range bakery snack pricing in Singapore. Below the $20+ luxury patisserie tier, above the $1-$2 traditional kueh standalone tier.

Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Solid Tiong Bahru dessert haul. The pistachio eclair was the standout. Would re-buy.

Original IG post