How Singapore’s Pandan Chiffon Cake Became a Global Dessert Trend

 A bright green cake has quietly become a beloved staple in Singapore’s daily life. The soft, airy pandan chiffon cake — instantly recognizable by its fluorescent hue and ring shape — is a common sight at breakfast tables, office meetings, and birthday parties across the city.

Its vibrant green color and delicate, grassy vanilla flavor come from the tropical pandan plant, native to Southeast Asia and historically used in regional cooking for centuries. The plant is believed to have originated in Indonesia’s Moluccas Islands.

According to Singaporean food historian Khir Johari, pandan chiffon cakes first became popular in the 1970s. Since then, they’ve become ubiquitous — sold everywhere from humble family-run bakeries to high-end restaurants. One bakery, in particular, played a key role in popularizing the dessert across the nation.

“I made it popular in Singapore,” says Anastasia Liew, founder of Bengawan Solo, a now-iconic cake shop brand she started in 1979. Her son, Henry, a company director, chuckles and adds, “Sorry, we’re not very modest.” What began as Anastasia baking cakes in her home quickly grew into a city-wide brand after she opened a shop to meet the requirements for selling in department stores.

Today, Bengawan Solo operates over 40 outlets across Singapore, serving a city of six million. Much of its success, Henry notes, has come from word-of-mouth — boosted by a few celebrity endorsements. For example, Singaporean Mandopop star JJ Lin once gifted the cakes to fellow judges on a Chinese talent show. In 2022, Taiwanese pop icon Jay Chou shared a photo of a Bengawan Solo cake he received during a concert stop in Singapore.

While the bakery also sells traditional treats like kueh lapis (layer cake), ondeh ondeh (palm sugar-filled rice balls), and pineapple tarts, the pandan chiffon cake remains its top-selling product. In 2024, the bakery sold around 85,000 whole pandan chiffon cakes at S$22 ($17) each, contributing to a total annual revenue of S$76 million ($57 million) — up 11% from the previous year.

However, with limited room for expansion in Singapore, the company is now looking overseas. “I don’t think we can grow very much more locally,” says Henry. He hopes to tap into Asia’s strong gift-giving culture by marketing their products more widely, focusing on distinctive packaging and presentation to attract buyers beyond Singapore.

At Changi Airport — the world’s fourth-busiest international airport in 2024 — Bengawan Solo operates five outlets, one in each terminal. These airport shops now contribute over half of the company’s total sales, largely thanks to travelers from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. In Hong Kong especially, pandan chiffon cakes have become a hot commodity, even showing up on Facebook Marketplace and resale app Carousell.

Despite interest in international expansion, Henry says high costs — like rents in Hong Kong — remain a challenge. The family is also cautious about maintaining product quality. Most ingredients are locally sourced, and the 300 to 400 kilograms of pandan leaves used daily come from nearby Malaysia.

Even beyond Bengawan Solo, global curiosity about pandan is rising. In Hong Kong, stores like Pandan Man are selling pandan cakes in luxury malls. In the U.S., pandan-flavored desserts — from mochi egg tarts to pandan cronuts — are popping up in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Keri Matwick, a food and language expert at Nanyang Technological University, says the rise of Asian ingredients like matcha, coconut, and ube in American baking is helping pave the way for pandan. Matcha in particular has become so popular in the U.S. that Japan is warning of a shortage. “Matcha has already set that precedent that something green is okay,” she explains. “Now, I think pandan is starting to emerge as more of a star than it ever has before.”