Last Updated on 2017-05-25 , 6:41 pm

Do you still remember the soft bread, cakes and pastries that we used to eat as an 80s kid? I sure do, and I miss them so much. It is a pity that many of such confectionery and bakeries in Singapore are closing down. These shops have been squeezed out of business by the modern English styles cafes and eateries which are favoured by the youths of today. Thankfully, there are still a smattering number of confectionary and bakeries of old that are here to stay.

1. Dona Manis Cake Shop

Dona Manis make and bake all their cakes and pies in the store that they have in the basement of Katong Shopping Centre. It is an old, outdated looking store with a storefront that reminds you of the 60s confectionery stores. Their signature is the banana pie which is baked fresh every day. For decades, their banana pie is known to be the best in Singapore. This piece of heaven contains a generous amount of banana slices and grated coconut and is surrounded by a buttery crust. There are also roast almonds on top of the pie.

When you bite into this piece of pie, the buttery crust together with the banana and coconut provides a heavenly blend of texture and taste. While the banana is sweet, the coconut provides a neutral flavour that takes away the extra sweetness of the banana. It creates a taste that is well balanced with the fragrance of the banana being enhanced by the coconut.

Address: 865 Mountbatten Rd, Katong Shopping Centre, #B1-93, Singapore 437844

2. Sze Thye Cake Shop

Sze Thye Cake Shop has a long history in Singapore. It was first founded in 1950 and the current owner is the third generation of the family who manned this shop. This cake shop is a traditional, old-school bakery that preserves a range of Chinese pastries and snacks that are seen to be of a bygone era.

All of the pastries and snacks are handmade by the owner, Mr Koh Sun Liang. Sze Thye Cake Shop is famous for its peanut brittle candy of which people would actually queue up for. It is also well known for its piahs (Chinese biscuits) of various flavours. One of my favourites is the beh the sor, which is a biscuit filled with melted malted candy. It is really delicious! The other kind of piahs also includes the tau sar piah and the green bean cake. Most of these are popular for Chinese to use as an offering during festivals and religious occasions.

Address: 2 Beach Rd, Singapore 190002

3. Ji Xiang Confectionery

Ji Xiang Confectionery makes the best ang ku kueh in Singapore. This shop has been around since 1988 and it is one of those little secrets that the neighbourhood will hate to be exposed. Ji Xiang makes all its ang ku kueh by hand, and you can see them working hard at the open concept kitchen at their store in Everton Park. They have various flavours for their ang ku kueh.

There are the usual peanut and sweet bean ones, but you should also try their special flavours like yam and the king of all fruits, durian! However, be prepared to go early as they usually sell out almost everything by 1pm. During Chinese New Year, you have to make an advance order if you want to buy them for prayers or for breakfast during the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Address: 1 Everton Park, 01-33

4. Jie Bakery & Confectionery

If you are into traditional bread loaves, this is a gold mine for you. They bake the traditional bread loaves by the dozens every day and you can easily get them from here whenever you have a craving. The bread here is soft without being too spongy and the texture is simply too good to forgo. Buy a loaf of bread home and pair it with a scoop of ice cream for the old-school ice cream bread that is being sold by ice cream man. It is definitely cheaper and you can have more than one!

Address: 123 Upper Paya Lebar Rd, Singapore 534837

5. Tong Heng

This shop has been around since the 1930s and it is now run by the third generation of the family. Their signature diamond-shaped egg tart is made by hand and is something to die for. The crust is thin and flaky and the smooth custard filling is not too sweet. You will also not see air bubbles in the custard filling as everything is handmade. The shop also sells Chinese pastries, biscuits and kaya. In the festive month, they also sell mooncakes.

Address: 285 South Bridge Road, and 1 Jurong West Central 2, Jurong Point Mall B1-10

6. Balmoral Bakery

Balmoral Bakery has been around for more than 50 years, dishing up cakes and pastries which portray an English culture. Their signature is the chicken pie, curry puff and samosa. Besides these signatures, they also serve a huge range of baked goodies such as butter cakes, rum balls and cream horns. They also have complex, flavourful cakes which are made specially for celebrations. This is definitely a place when you can have a whole range of bakes to satisfy any cravings.

Address: 105 Clementi Rd St 12, #01-06, Singapore 120105

7. Sing Hon Loong

Do you know that Singapore still has a bakery that bakes loaves of plain white bread in the natural and traditional way? Sing Hon Loong is probably the only one left in Singapore to rival the likes of Bread Talk, Ya Kun Kaya Toast and Toast Box. They operate 24 hours and every single process from preparation to slicing is by hand. These bread are fluffy and springy. They will bounce back to their original shape when you press them down with a finger, not unlike a memory foam pillow. This is definitely not something you can find easily in Singapore anymore.

Address: 4 Whampoa Dr, Singapore 327715

8. Tiong Bahru Galicier Confectionery

Galicier Confectionery is perhaps the best place for nonya kuehs and pastries. Located at Tiong Bahru, its storefront welcomes both young and old to peep over the glass panels to see what is being offered. The signature kueh at Galicier is their unique kueh dar dar. They make this traditional kueh a little different from others by replacing gula melaka with rock sugar when flavouring the coconut filling. This help to give the kueh dar dar a pristine white colour instead of a brownish one. The flavour of the coconut filling is definitely not compromised at all with this method.

Another yummy goodie that you can find here is their ondeh ondeh. Again, Galicier makes them a little different from the rest. Instead of using pandan extract, they make use of sweet potato for the dough, hence their ondeh ondeh is brownish instead of green. The soft dough is chewy and the gula melaka that oozes out upon biting it is so delectable that you will be happy if that is the last thing you ever eat.

Address: Blk 55 Tiong Bahru Rd, #01-39, Singapore 160055

9. Love Confectionery

Love Confectionery is located in Bukit Merah, just beside Alexandra Village Food Centre. On normal days, you can see crowds in the store as nearby office workers and the residents in Bukit Merah trout the shop. This is an old-school bakery gem well-loved for its cakes especially. If you visit the shop, you will see that their best selling cakes are their simple yet satisfying old-school cream cakes. There are different flavours for these cakes, from peanut flavoured to chocolate rice.

All these cakes have smooth and creamy textures and when you bite into the moist and fluffy cakes, you have nothing but praises for them. You just got to get them to know the satisfying feeling.

Address: Blk 122 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-60, Singapore 150122

10. Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery

Lek Lim started out as a home-based kitchen in 1968. It moves to a shop in 1979 and has stayed there since. This is one shop that handmade all their nonya kuehs to offer great tastes and smooth textures for all the kuehs they sell. Originally known for their ang ku kueh, Lek Lim has slowly expanded the business to include other nonya kuehs such as png kueh, soon kueh and ku chye kueh.

All these nonya kuehs are part and parcels of a Singaporean’s life, and one cannot help but drools at the delectable spread at Lek Lim. If you are in a hurry, you can even order kueh from Lek Lim’s mobile site!

Address: Blk 84 Bedok North St. 4, #01-21, Singapore 460084 Website: http://www.kuehkueh.com.sg/1/webstore/home

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Feature Image: straitstimes.com

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com