Sawadee krub. If you have walked past Tampines MRT Station, you may have noticed that the popular April’s Bakery from Bangkok has (quietly) opened in Singapore.
April’s Bakery specialises in home-made pies, and there are more than 60 outlets of in Bangkok itself. Have you seen the shops at Siam Paragon and Terminal 21?
Singapore’s outlet, which not-very-coincidentally opened in April, is its 1st international outpost. The bakery is named after the owner April (Ms Nathanaporn Euawanthanakhun) who was born in April, and a former air-stewardess.
(Click PLAY to see how soft these pies are.)
Despite selling various pastries such as cakes and biscuits at the first April’s Bakery in 2011, April chooses to focus on one signature item since then – Cantonese-styled Pies, which are also instagrammable hits.
These pies resembled Hong Kong style Lao Po Bing (Wife Cake) with a thin, flaky crust encasing generous amount of filling with different colourful flavours.
What you get at April’s Bakery include savoury options such as Pork with Gravy and Pork with Honey (which will be available in Singapore soon), to sweet options of Thai Milk Tea, Green Tea, Taro and Pumpkin.
They are all reasonably priced at $2 each.
In addition, the shop is conveniently located right outside Tampines MRT, great for takeaways home or office.
Know not what pies to get? Here are 10 of our recommendations from April’s Bakery Singapore:
1. Taro Pie ($2)
Being one of the top sellers, the orh-nee also known as yam or taro has a smooth texture with a gingko embedded in it.
Both yammy, and yummy. Pardon the pun.
These Taro Pies are shipped directly from Thailand every fortnightly, then freshly baked daily in batches.
2. Red Bean Pie ($2)
The red bean pie reminded me of a dau-sa bao, with a comforting, nostalgic feel when I took bites.
Good to know: The pies are hand-made daily by about 100 workers in the central kitchen at the Sathu Pradit Road area in Bangkok, to ensure the quality and consistency of each pie.
Currently, a total of 40,000 pies can be produced each day at the central kitchen to supple all 60 outlets and Singapore.
3. Thai Tea Pie ($2)
This is one of my favourite and most recommended flavour. Since go Thailand must drink Thai Milk Tea, go Thai bakery must try their Thai Tea pastries.
I was actually anticipating this to be very sweet, but thankfully it wasn’t. The sweetness was just right, with distinct tea notes, just like “eating” Thai tea in the solid form.
4. Green Tea Pie ($2)
One of the few that stood out the most apart from the orange Thai Tea Pie and yellow Custard Pie on display.
As a green tea lover myself, it was quite an obvious choice to get this, though I wished the green tea notes were less subtle.
5. Sweet Egg Floss Pie ($2)
A Thai dessert made using egg yolk, sugar and syrup to produce the golden, thin sweet egg floss.
It was quite an interesting flavour that resembled our local kueh tu-tu, great for those with sweet tooth.
6. Sesame Pie ($2)
With a fragrant aroma, the black sesame filled pie was the favourite among my folks, which kind of reminded them of the traditional Chinese pastry desserts they enjoy with tea.
7. Purple Sweet Potato Pie ($2)
Easily confused between the purple sweet potato and taro on the first look (but not after the first bite) since they are purple of different shades, the former is of a distinct bright purple shade whereas the latter is more of a pastel purple.
Probably the one with the highest amount of carbohydrates in it, enough to make one feel full quickly.
8. Custard Pie ($2)
“Is this a Liu Sha (salted egg lava) pie?”, my friends asked when they saw the yellow surface of the Custard Pie.
Similar to the Cantonese steam custard bun（奶黄包), the custard filling came with moderately rich milky taste, which children should like.
9. Pumpkin Pie ($2)
The sweetness came mainly from the pumpkins themselves (more natural), with that creamy smooth texture. Even if you eat these with your hands, you would find that the fingers thankfully won’t be too oily.
10. Coconut Pie ($2)
The coconut pie was another one of the best-sellers with conspicuous slices of baby coconut flesh that was moist and slightly sweet.
The slices of coconut flesh gave it more varied and ‘bitable’ texture, different from most of the pies here.
A plus point is that these pies come in lovely baby blue or apple green coloured packaging (original from Thailand) which can make suitable gifts.
Some tips after you get the pies from April’s Bakery: You can keep them refrigerated and consume them cold within 2 days of purchase; or choose to reheat them for 15 to 20 seconds in a microwave at medium power. Best paired with some non-sweetened tea.
A total of 160 pies can be baked in one batch, and requires a total of 60 minutes from preparation, baking, to cooling down before they are ready for sale.
Get them early, or sometimes you got to wait for the more popular flavours.
April’s Bakery Singapore
Tampines MRT Station, #01-31, Singapore 529538
Opening Hours: 8:00am – 10:00pm, or till sold out (Mon-Sun)
Tel: +65 8122 7604
https://www.facebook.com/aprilsbakerysg/
* Written by Nicholas Tan @stormscape. This post is brought to you in partnership with April’s Bakery.
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