Do yourself a favour and look up Nigella Lawson’s cooking videos on YouTube. Her enthusiasm and undying love for food—desserts in particular—is downright contagious. You might just find yourself reaching for a slice of cake, the same way Nigella loves reaching for a snack in the late hours of the night.
The well-known chef and TV personality recently made worldwide headlines when she mentioned that the next big food trend for 2018 is none other than pandan. Yep, the very same leaves that plenty of Malaysians have been growing in their herb garden all this while.
Commonly found in Southeast Asia, pandan is said to be the next matcha. But way before the recent pandan hype, we already have our fair share of pandan desserts right here in Malaysia. Here’re 9 that you (and Chef Nigella) should definitely try out. ?
1. Pandan Sponge Cake
Battery Acid Club is a coffee house which occasionally plays host to workshops, showcases and performances for the creative community. With a gallery-like feel to it, the setup for Battery Acid Club is unsurprisingly minimal. The Cendol Pandan cake is a multi-flavoured dessert with a soft pandan sponge, followed by swirls of sago gula Malacca, coconut cream and a layer of jelly.
Battery Acid Club
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday: 9am-7pm, Closed on Mondays
Address: 21, Jalan SS21/34, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya
Website: Battery Acid Club
Tel: 03-7733 9682
2. Pandan Pancake
With the wealth of street food options at Jonker Street, Malacca, we wouldn’t blame you if the majority of your time here is spent strolling down the streets. However, there are several café gems located along the way too and they’re worth stopping for a quick bite. One of these places would be The Daily Fix Café for their fluffy stack of pandan pancakes. Served with coconut gula Malacca, you can opt to add on a scoop of ice cream to make this a complete treat that you very well deserve.
The Daily Fix Café
Hours: Monday-Friday: 9am-11.30pm, Saturday-Sunday: 8.30am-11.30pm
Address: 55 Jalan Hang Jebat (Jonker Street), Malacca Town
Website: The Daily Fix Café
Tel: 06-283 4858
3. Pandan Waffle
Chaplang Kafé is nowhere near its name suggests, with plenty of guests paying this eatery a visit daily. Here, you’d be able to savour the G-Lat ice creams (a play of words on the term, jilat which stands for licks). The Bulatan Kampung Pandan waffle features pandan waffle with kaya drizzled generously over the top and four scoops of ice cream strategically plopped onto each waffle triangle so you won’t have to fight for ice cream with those whom you’re sharing the waffle with.
Chaplang Kafé + G-Lat Ice Cream
Hours: Friday-Wednesday, 11am-12am. Closed on Thursdays.
Address: 53 Jalan Hujan Rahmat 3, Kuala Lumpur
Website: Chaplang Kafé + G-Lat Ice Cream
Tel: 03-7972 7113
4. Pandan Crêpe
Strangers At 47 is one of the top cafés in town for a reason. Rarely would you find crêpes served the way Strangers At 47 does. Paper-thin crêpes are served with savoury or sweet ingredients but we’d recommend skipping straight to desserts. It’s Kelapa is a crêpe paired with pandan coconut custard, coconut flakes, almond flakes, a drizzle of orange caramel and vanilla ice cream. It’s best enjoyed with some of the java options at Strangers At 47.
Strangers At 47
Hours: Wednesday-Monday: 8am-10pm. Closed on Tuesdays.
Address: 47, Jalan 17/45, Petaling Jaya
Website: Strangers At 47
Tel: 03-7497 2409
5. Pandan Egg Tart
Tart Passion is a new bakery in Damansara Utama and the star of this stall is the humble egg tart. These little pastries have a crispy exterior and an ooey gooey centre to it. The popular flavour would be the pandan egg tart which one might assume to be matcha at first sight. Prepared fresh daily, you can pick one (or more) of these tarts up to pair with your morning coffee.
Tart Passion
Hours: Monday-Saturday: 7.30am-3.30pm. Closed on Sundays.
Address: 56M, Jalan SS 21/39, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya
Website: Tart Passion
Tel: 012-522 6026
6. Pandan Pudding
Songket Restaurant is a Malay-style restaurant located along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng and it’s a short walking distance from KLCC. Choose whatever you’d like to have for your starters and mains but do remember to end your meal with the andan pudding which is raved about by past guests and is said to have a soft, silky texture which isn’t overtly rich.
Songket Restaurant
Hours: Monday-Friday: 12pm-3pm 6pm-11pm. Saturday-Sunday: 5pm-11pm
Address: No. 29, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur
Website: Songket Restaurant
Tel: 010-958 9598
7. Pandan Croissant
Croissants are rarely the star of a bakery with plenty of other pastries set to outshine it, but the humble croissant gets an upgrade at Le Petit Dotty’s with flavours like red velvet and pandan. The croissant has a crispy exterior and if you were to run a fork on the outer layer, you’d hear a satisfying scraping sound that would make Chef Gordon Ramsay proud.
Le Petit Dotty’s
Address: Ground Floor, Platinum Park, Persiaran KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
Website: Le Petit Dotty’s
Tel: 03-2181 1023
8. Pandan Coconut Macaron
Macarons are meant to be bite-sized indulgences and being so tiny, pastry chefs have all the more reason to pack a flavourful punch into each bite. That’s what you’d get with the Pandan Coconut Macarons from Bread Lounge. Typically served in a platter of 4-5 macarons, be sure to pay extra attention to the pandan macaron and savour each bite slowly.
Bread Lounge
Hours: Monday-Saturday: 7.30am-7.30pm. Closed on Sundays.
Address: Ground Floor, GTower, 199, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur
Website: Bread Lounge
Tel: 03-2168 1919
9. Pandan Roti Jala
What’s “Better Than Sex”? This pandan roti jala. Yup, and it’s no mere exaggeration. It’s after all the name of this dessert from Merchant’s Lane 美真林. Paired with melted mozzarella and kaya, it might be an acquired taste as the rich flavours might have a tendency of making this roti jala slightly jelak. Sharing it with a friend though, would solve the problem.
Merchant’s Lane 美真林
Hours: Thursday-Sunday, Tuesday: 11.30am-10pm, Monday: 11.30am-9pm. Closed on Wednesdays.
Address: No, 150 Jalan Petaling, Kuala Lumpur
Website: Merchant’s Lane 美真林
Tel: 03-2022 1736
Feature Image Credit: Cassie Ong/Burpple, @mydottys
