Treats at Bengawan Solo

It was while I was researching on what to buy from Singapore as pasalubong that I've come across Bengawan Solo. Someone recommended the Pandan Cake and I was intending to buy a whole layer. It so happened that we came across the shop while exploring Parkway Parade. I thought the shop just sold Pandan Cake but they actually sold a variety of food stuff, I didn't even know where to begin. So I thought to just buy in small quantities first to get a taste of what they're selling. I figured the mall is just across the hotel so I could easily come back anytime.



Main pic shows the Pandan Cake and Kueh Lapis. Now, I don't know what Kueh Lapis means but a quick google search told me (according to Wiki) that there are actually 2 kinds of Kueh Lapis: the colorful ones and the drab ones (that's my interpretation already). What they do have in common is that they come in layers. I got the Kueh Lapis because I asked the saleslady what the bestseller was and according to her, Kueh Lapis was it (as it should be considering how laborious a process it is to make one). Imagine alternating thin layers of butter, egg, and sugar mixture piled on top of each other wherein each layer is grilled separately! The colorful Kueh Lapis, on the other hand, is a pudding made from rice or tapioca flour, coconut milk, and flavoured with pandan, all the layers steamed separately. Unfortunately, my palate, so used to sweet sweets, couldn't really appreciate the flavors in the Kueh Lapis (though I do appreciate the aesthetics of it and the process of making it) nor in the Pandan Cake (or the chocolate roll and pandan roll). The chocolate roll tasted like there was no cocoa in it at all! I guess to each his own. I ended up not buying a whole layer of Pandan Cake because I know the recipients wouldn't be able to appreciate it, so why bother lugging a cake from Singapore to the Philippines right? But if you're bringing it home to someone who loves to experiment and taste something different and uniquely Singapore (is it still uniquely singapore considering the creator is actually Indonesian?), then Bengawan Solo is it.

Check out more of Bengawan Solo's products on their website.