Advertisement

CNY Goodies 2019 Price Guide: Pineapple Tarts, Kueh Lapis, Love Letters & More

CNY Goodies 2019 Price Guide: Pineapple Tarts, Kueh Lapis, Love Letters & More

Chinese New Year is the absolute worst time in the year to fall sick. Not because it’s inauspicious to start the new year with the sniffles, or because clinics will happily rip you off with a festive surcharge…. but because you’ll be missing out on delicious CNY goodies like pineapple tarts, kueh lapis, love letters, kueh bangkit, etc.

Brand-conscious Singaporeans usually automatically queue for Kele pineapple tarts and Bengawan Solo CNY cookies, but guess what? Many other bakeries sell the same thing too, and at lower prices. Shocking, I know.

Let’s see how much popular CNY goodies cost for 2019.

Pineapple tarts price list 2019


I’ve compiled the prices for 10 popular “branded” pineapple tarts in Singapore – these are the names you always see on those “best pineapple tarts in Singapore” lists.

It’s hard to compare these apple-to-apple since the actual weight and number of pastries inside each box or bottle varies a lot, but I’ve sorted them by absolute price, just to give you an idea.

Pineapple tarts shop

2019 price per box or bottle

Glory

$13.20 small / $18.90 large

Le Cafe (“golf ball”)

$15.50 small / $25.80 large (price increases weekly!)

Smiling Orchid

$20 small / $25 large

Bengawan Solo

$20.80 small / $36.80 large

Baker’s Well

$22 small / $38 large (11% off until 20 Jan)

Bakerzin

$22.80 (15% until 23 Jan + extra 15% for DBS/POSB cards)

D’Pastry

$25.80

Sunny Hills

$26.50 for 10 pcs / $41.50 for 16 pcs

Amethyst Pastry & Cakes

$27 for round type / $28 for traditional

Kele

$27.80 (10% off until 18 Jan / $40.49 for 2 boxes on Klook)

For the budget-conscious, Glory pineapple tarts is one of those brands you can find easily at supermarkets like NTUC FairPrice.

Its low price point is close to that of neighbourhood bakeries (~$12 to $15 a bottle), yet it’s received pretty good reviews from the likes of The Straits Times and MissTamChiak, so it seems like a good compromise between affordability and quality.

If you’re looking for “branded” pineapple tarts to give as gifts or to show off, my picks are the Bakerzin pineapple tarts (only $16.47 a box if you pay with DBS/POSB cards!) or this Klook voucher for Kele pineapple tarts (2 boxes, $20.25 a box).

Alternatively, you can do a Eugy and drive up to JB for Lavender Bakery pineapple tarts, which have a following among some Singaporeans. These they cost just RM32 ($10.55) a box.

Kueh lapis price list 2019

Kueh lapis isn’t as ubiquitous as pineapple tarts, but in my household, it’s one of the very few must-have items for Chinese New Year. But as we all know, the ultra-dense, ultra-rich, thousand-layer cake can be really expensive.

Here’s a look at how much kueh lapis costs this year at 9 popular kueh lapis sellers. Again, cake sizes differ, so bear that in mind – this isn’t an apple-to-apple comparison. Most bakeries sell it in 2 sizes: a large square format (typically ~1kg) and a smaller size (usually half of the big square, so ~500g).

Kueh lapis shop

2019 price per cake

Ollella

$21 for 350g / $45 for 700g / $80 for 1.4kg

Deli Indo

$25 for 600g / $50 for 1.2kg

Layers Batam

$28 for 550g / $38 or $42 for 1.1kg

IndoChili

$30 small / $90 large

Rainbow Lapis

$35 for 500g / $60 for 1kg

Smiling Orchid

$35 small / $60 large

Rasa Sayang

$37 half / $57 medium / $69 large

Bengawan Solo

$52 medium / $65 large

Fullerton Hotel

$68 whole cake

For established local brands like Bengawan Solo and Smiling Orchid, you can expect to pay upwards of $60 for a large cake. Yikes.

Personally, I very much prefer Indonesian kueh lapis to Singaporean Nonya-style ones. As a bonus, it’s a lot cheaper.

It’s no surprise that the two cheapest large cakes are from Indonesian brands: Layers Batam (formerly called LaMoist – ick!) and Deli Indo. The large cakes will set you back only $42 and $50 respectively, and they’re both more than 1kg.

Of course, prices are marked up, so I think the best way to save on kueh lapis is to take the ferry over to Batam, go for massage, then tapao your kueh lapis from there.

Other CNY goodies: salted egg fish skin, love letters, kueh bangkit & more


Your Chinese New Year spread isn’t complete without all the other “side dishes” like love letters, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, prawn (hae bee hiam) rolls and salted egg fish skin.

While big-ticket items like pineapple tarts, kueh lapis and bak kwa (which is so crazy it got its own article) are the biggest wallet drains, the good news is that the other CNY goodies CAN be pretty cheap…

… BUT only if you don’t fall for brand names.

Check out how dramatic the price difference can be between “branded” snacks sellers and non-branded ones:

CNY goodie

Price at “branded” bakery

Non-branded price range

Salted egg fish skin

$16 for 230g bag (Irvins)

$8.50 for 220g bottle

Love letters

$21.90 per bottle (Harrianns)

$5 (bottle) to $11 (tin)

Sugee cookies

$18.80 (Bengawan Solo)

$6 to $9 per bottle

Kueh bangkit

$20.90 (Harrianns)

$4.50 to $8 per jar

Crispy prawn rolls

$13.80 (Bengawan Solo) / $19 (Bee Cheng Hiang)

$5 to $10 per bottle

Prices for non-branded CNY snacks are taken from NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong and neighbourhood bakeries, except the salted egg fish skin (which I could only find on Qoo10).

Is there a big difference in terms of taste? Well… most of these snacks are mainly flour/sugar/oil anyway, right? Unless your favourite gourmet bakery adds gold shavings to their kueh bangkit, I very much doubt the premium you pay goes to ingredients.

Where will you be getting your CNY goodies from this year? Tell us in the comments!

Related articles

Yu Sheng Singapore Price Guide (2019) – Plus, “Huat” To Say When You Lo Hei!

Chinese New Year Budgeting (2019) – How Much Does It Cost To Follow Tradition?

Bak Kwa Prices in Singapore 2019 – Bulk Orders for Chinese New Year Now Open

The post CNY Goodies 2019 Price Guide: Pineapple Tarts, Kueh Lapis, Love Letters & More appeared first on the MoneySmart blog.

MoneySmart.sg helps you maximize your money. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with our latest news and articles.

Compare and shop for the best deals on Loans, Insurance and Credit Cards on our site now!



More From MoneySmart