Underrated atas cafe-style tarts & cake loaves for $3.80, hidden inside a hawker centre

Hawker bakeries have advanced over the previous few years— when you can generally discover hawker bakeries that promote the same old sausage buns and floss buns, there was an uptick within the variety of bakeries that supply extra atas bakes worthy of being introduced in cafes. One such bakery is Lian Hup Heng.

Lian Hup Heng is tucked away on the second ground of Amoy Road Meals Centre. This humble retailer has a small however refined menu consisting of varied tarts and desserts to select from. Make sure to drop by early, because the stall solely opens till 3pm.

All the bakes at Lian Hup Heng are priced at S$3.80, making it straightforward to calculate the entire value of your order. Throughout our go to, there have been 4 tarts, 2 desserts and brownies out there for patrons to buy.

We determined to get one in every of all the things earlier than sitting all the way down to get pleasure from our desserts.

What I attempted at Lian Hup Heng

We began off by digging into the tarts, every of which had a diameter of round 6cm. These have been smaller than the same old tarts from cafes, however have been additionally priced rather more affordably.

Every tart had a buttery crust that was crispy and never too thick, permitting for the buttery aroma to shine via and complement every respective filling.

As an enormous taro fan, I had my eye on the Orh Nee Tart probably the most. Chopping into the tart allowed for the gentle and smooth orh nee filling to stream out just a bit— I appreciated how texturally, it was not too stiff or too runny. The orh nee had a pleasant earthy perfume and a robust yammy flavour. It was just a little on the sweeter aspect, although not overwhelmingly so. The massive gingko nuts on high have been nutty and gentle too, and never bitter in any respect.

The Lemon Meringue Tart was equally scrumptious— the lemon curd inside was tangy and piquant with quantity of sweetness to stability it out. Those that benefit from the extra intense flavours of lemon meringue tarts won’t be dissatisfied by the energy of this model.

The meringue cookie on high of the tart was a welcome addition too— it was crunchy and lightweight, offering the in any other case clean and barely jammy lemon curd with a little bit of texture.

Should you want darkish chocolate over milk chocolate, Lian’s Darkish Indulgence gained’t allow you to down. This tasty tart lived as much as its identify, as its chocolate filling was wealthy and darkish with the correct amount of bitterness to make it additional indulgent. As with each good chocolate-based dessert, this tart was not too candy, and had a thick, gao texture to rapidly fulfill my chocolatey cravings.

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Lastly, the one baked tart out of all of the tarts at Lian Hup Heng was the Pear Tart. The fillings had a cakey texture and have been moist and fluffy, whereas the beneficiant pear slices on high have been candy and juicy.

All the tarts bought at Lian Hup Heng have been satisfying and scrumptious. Whereas they weren’t tremendous mind-blowing and had comparatively easy flavours, I discovered that they have been all executed effectively and supplied a less expensive various for tart lovers to get pleasure from.

We then moved on to the desserts, beginning with Yoghurt Cranberry. The cake was moist and fluffy with a barely spongey texture. It was a bit milder in flavour however nonetheless very tasty and lightweight, with a small quantity of cranberries being scattered inside for added chewiness and sweetness.

Subsequent up was the particular of the day, which was a Walnut Banana Cake. Should you’re an enormous lover of banana cake, this one is a must-try— it was so fluffy and fragrant with entire, gentle banana chunks scattered inside. The bits of walnuts inside have been additionally efficient in giving the cake some crunch.

Lastly, we dug into the Fudgy Brownies, which have been, because the identify suggests, extremely fudgy, moist and chocolatey. I appreciated how texture clever, the brownie was dense and never too cakey. I personally want for my brownies to have a crispy high and a chewier texture, however these have been very gentle all through. Nonetheless, they have been fairly satisfying.

Closing ideas

Lian Hup Heng offers prospects with some fairly good options to pricier cafe bakes. Although the overall high quality doesn’t evaluate to that of extra well-known patisseries within the nation, the costs of those bakes are what make them stand out.

Positively give all 4 tarts a go, as these have been my favourites. The desserts are price making an attempt too, given their high quality and style. I do know I’ll actually return sooner or later!

Anticipated injury: S$3.80 per pax

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