7 Chendol-Inspired Desserts in Singapore to Get You Through Scorching Hot Days

Chendol, with its origins traced back to Indonesia, is a popular iced dessert in Asian countries. Singapore’s traditional version of chendol consists of coconut milk, strips of green rice flour jelly, red beans, atapji (a kind of translucent jelly) with shaved ice and generously topped with Gula Melaka. The modernized version comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a good chunk of durian flesh! Home-grown chefs and bakers would always try to infuse local flavours in their culinary creations so as to reach out to the local palate. Hence, we’re bringing you 7 chendol-inspired desserts, which is one of the best remedies for the crazily hot weather in Singapore.

Durian Chendol

Let’s begin with a traditional Chendol dessert since we’re on this topic. We’re pretty sure residents living near ABC Market and Food Centre would be familiar with Jin Jin Desserts because the queue is almost always never-ending. Many have flocked here for their Power Chendol which has a special gula Melaka sauce that’s sticky in texture like caramel, with a hint of saltiness. The owners use premium raw gula Melaka from Indonesia and cook it painstakingly themselves every day. Their power chendol is already superb so can you imagine how powerful their Durian Chendol ($3) is? They use real durian flesh which gave the entire dessert a “wow” factor!

Chendol Cheesecake

Baker’s Brew Studio is a basically a baker’s dream kitchen, equipped with domestic appliances and a homely interior. There’s a team of instructors conducting baking lessons amidst a warm and welcoming environment. They sell a number of cakes but these are only for take-away. Joining the list of chendol-inspired desserts is their Chendol Cheesecake ($7.80). Although adequate amounts of gula Melaka, red beans and strips of green rice flour jelly were present, we felt that the strong taste of the cheese covered up the chendol flavour. Non-cheese lovers might find it a tad too ‘gelat’.

Chendol Waffle

Shrove Tuesday is famous for their waffles as they use a yeast-raised batter. Upon fermentation, the yeast releases carbon dioxide gas which fluffs up the batter to make it light yet crispy. It also adds a hint of acidity which pairs beautifully with their artisan gelato and savoury dishes. Their Signature Nonya Chendol Waffle ($12.90) includes two scoops of Chendol gelato and vanilla soft serve topped with azuki red beans, green chendol jelly, gula Melaka and coconut flakes. The Chendol flavour was spot on! Coupled with such a fantastic waffle, we can have this dessert any time, any day!

Chendol Fudge

Tucked cozily in a quiet neighbourhood in Telok Blangah lies a hidden gem – Out of the Cake Box café. Their Chendol Fudge ($5.50) features Gula Melaka sponge cake layered alternately with coconut-Gula Melaka fudge, with classic Chendol fillings such as red bean and strips of green rice flour jelly. We were really amazed by the taste and texture of this dessert. It’s creamy and fluffy and we enjoyed the chendol flavour that has been strongly brought out. It has a natural sweetness that wasn’t too overwhelming. This is definitely a Chendol-inspired dessert that’s done right!

Chendol Soft-Serve Ice-Cream

Overrun.SG has made quite a name for themselves in the recent months as they keep selling out nearly every day. It’s 100% owned by Muslims so everything’s Halal in this café. They only accept cash and only do take-outs. We tried their Standard Chendol ($6) soft-serve that came with ice cream, coconut, pandan jelly and gula Melaka. This sinful dessert is a tad too sweet for our liking but we really liked the soft-serve ice cream. They also offer Durian Chendol soft-serve, Chendol milkshake, as well as, Durian Chendol milkshake! Although it’s stated that they open their door at 12noon on Friday, do take note that they might open later as they have to go for prayers.

Kueh Chendol

Harri Anns is an entablishment that has the third-generation still practicing Grandma Chia’s tradition of hand-making all their kueh(s) in the kitchen daily and using the freshest and finest ingredients. Grandma Chia was a street hawker who peddled her delicious Nonya kueh(s) and glutinous rice in the Tiong Bahru vicinity in 1940s before setting up a shop in Seng Poh Road Market in 1950. There is a great variety of kueh(s) to choose from and we tried the Kueh Chendol ($1.10) which we felt was as good as the real chendol! It is so soft and chewy but doesn’t stick onto the teeth.

Chendol Bingsu

Have you ever waited 30 minutes just for one bingsu? That’s what happened to us at Icebox café along Rangoon Road! It’s a really small café that’s not air-conditioned so you have to finish your bingsu as fast as possible as it starts melting almost immediately after it’s served. We shared the Chendol Pak ‘Dol Bingsu Snow Dessert ($12.90). We were expecting a “mini tower” of ice but it arrived looking far from the impressive bingsu(s) we see elsewhere. Well, no complaints as they are very generous with the atapji, red beans and strips of green rice flour jelly. The highlight for us was the coconut ice cream, which had tiny coconut bits hidden within – super shiok on sunny days!

Fans of chendol desserts, you can now spend your weekend café-hopping to satisfy that chendol craving of yours! Beat the heat with our chendol desserts guide!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the stalls featured here.