The 10 best Chinese New Year pineapple tart brands to try in 2024

Times have changed since the pre-COVID days – prices of goods have shot up and the 9 per cent GST adds to the hit on our wallet. Chinese New Year (CNY) goodies like cookies and pastries have never been cheap, but more than ever, they are pricier now.

Pineapple tarts is a popular CNY snack that’s oh-so-delicious but so expensive. That’s because it’s notoriously labour intensive to make, involving grating hardy pineapples to make the jam from scratch.

We find it a worthwhile endeavour to find out which pineapple tarts are actually worth your money. So we painstakingly bought, undercover, 30 brands of pineapple tarts and gathered in 8days.sg’s office at the Mediacorp campus.

We proceeded to munch our way through the 10 best brands that we would splurge money on. It’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it, right?

Important note: We have no affiliation with any of these brands and purchased each of them as an anonymous customer. So, it’s every pineapple tart for itself out there.

HOW THESE 30 BRANDS WERE CHOSEN

There are easily over 100 brands selling pineapple tarts in Singapore; it would be an impossible task to try this CNY treat in all available versions. So, we have settled on 30 brands, which is still a respectably wide range.

First and foremost, we included most of these brands based on their accessibility and familiarity with 8days.sg readers.

These are F&B brands that don’t demand the sacrifice of 10 goats and your firstborn to buy. The pineapple tarts can be bought online (the most popular and convenient method these days) or at physical stores such as bakeries and pop-up CNY fairs (like Takashimaya’s atrium fair).

And just so we don’t leave out any potential gems, we also did an open call for our readers to recommend their favourite brands and some of what we got from you went into our list, too.

To ensure that we judge each pineapple tart fairly, we omitted those from home-based businesses, charity organisations and hotels. Reason: Their kitchen operations are usually fairly different from CNY goodies specialists and we want to ensure as much consistency as possible in our comparison.

To further ensure consistency, only the classic pineapple tart was considered for this taste test. So no mala or other outre flavours, just the good ol’ traditional crowd favourite that almost everyone will eat if they are offered one.

As far as possible, we also bought the open-faced pineapple tart that many people are familiar with. But we made an exception for closed tarts to include buzzy brands that don’t offer the open-faced type.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PINEAPPLE TART?

Now, we expect some hearty discussions – or even protests – over our results because like the debate of whether the chicken or egg came first, there is no one true answer for the best pineapple tart brand, simply because everyone has their own subjective preferences.

Some people would defend their childhood favourite to the end because it’s familiar, but here at 8days.sg, we appreciate these qualities in a pineapple tart: 

The pastry: This writer thinks that a good tart should be decadently buttery, toasty brown and snaps to the bite. It’s not too crumbly or powdery, and melts in your mouth to leave a wispy hint of rich, good-quality butter. Basically, like a devastatingly shiok butter cookie.

That said, we have colleagues who like their tarts crumbly and even milky-tasting, so in the spirit of inclusivity, we have considered these varied opinions in our group tasting.

The jam: Some old-school purists insist on combining a mix of sour and sweet pineapples to yield the best jam. The 8days.sg team personally like a jam that straddles sweet and sour; cooked just caramel-ly enough to satisfy our sweet tooth, but also tangy enough with a bit of sharp bite and fruit fibres so it doesn’t feel like we are eating pineapple puree. Plus, the tanginess cuts the jelak (overwhelmingly rich) nature of pineapple tarts so we can eat more in one sitting.  

Ratio of jam-to-pastry: We are not discounting folks who like a lot of jam or a lot of pastry (so much so that a local brand is selling "botarts", a pineapple tart without the pineapple). It all boils down to personal preference and ours is a firm balance – the jam and pastry should be in more or less equal amounts, so we can savour the delightfulness of each component evenly. And ultimately, a good pineapple tart should have a rustic appeal that reminds us of a home-baked one made by a great cook with lots of love. 

THE VERDICT

We concluded our group judging session with each taster giving a number rating (out of 5) after tasting, and tallying the total to arrive at the top 10 brands. Results below are in no particular order or ranking. For brevity and because every brand has its own pool of loyal fans, we will not delve into the 20 that were eliminated. 

THE BRANDS

1. Amethyst 
2. Bake Inc
3. Baker’s Brew 
4. Baker’s Well
5. Bengawan Solo
6. BoTart
7. Ding Bakery
8. Garden Pastry
9. Gin Thye
10. Glory
11. Harrianns
12. Home’s Favourite
13. Janice Wong
14. Joyus Pastries 
15. Juz Bread
16. Kele
17. L.E. Cafe
18. La Levain
19. Lau Chong Kee
20. London Fat Duck (via FairPrice supermarket)
21. Mdm Ling
22. Old Seng Choong
23. Ollella
24. Peony Jade 
25. Pine Garden
26. Pineapple Tarts Singapore
27. Rasa Sayang 
28. Subway Niche
29. SunnyHills 
30. Tai Chong Kok

And now for the top 10 brands… (Results are shown in no particular order)

1. KELE TRADITIONAL PINEAPPLE TARTS, S$33.80 

This homegrown confectionery is best known for selling pineapple tarts, which come in a pineapple ball and open-faced tart. This writer is not a fan of Kele’s pineapple balls, which the last time we tried, were unmemorable when stacked up against stronger competitors.

But to our surprise, its flower-shaped open tart is better. Each tart is a cute largish disc that could be more buttery and less crumbly but the lighter flavour makes a good foil for the fibrous pineapple jam that’s just the right amount of sweet and tangy. The 8days.sg team – with our disparate preferences – was unusually unanimous when it came to this tart, which everyone agreed is pretty good.

For ordering and purchase info, go to kele.sg.

2. HOME'S FAVOURITE TRADITIONAL PINEAPPLE TARTS, S$31.80

This homegrown family-run brand was founded in 1997 to “preserve mum’s baking legacy and to share with the world her delightful handmade pastries and cookies”. It sells everything from CNY goodies to swiss rolls, keropok and abalone.

While it doesn’t boast the sexiest name in the market, it does have appealing gift-worthy packaging for its pineapple tarts, which came in a huat (prosperous) floral red tin. This writer personally found the open-faced tart too bland and the jam too sour, but the rest of our colleagues found it moreish enough and didn’t mind the tart’s shortcomings and so this went into our top 10.

For ordering and purchase info, go to homesfavourite.com.

3. BAKE INC PREMIUM PINEAPPLE TARTS, S$38.80

Every year before CNY, this unassuming bakery chain sets up a booth at Takashimaya’s festive atrium fair, where it hauls in gigantic ovens to bake pineapple tarts fresh on-site. The last time we bought it in 2020 and tried them a few days later, they tasted wonderful and homely, with a butter cookie-like base and punchy pineapple jam with crunch.

It’s now 2024 and we are dismayed to find that the price for a tin has almost doubled (from S$20.80 in 2020 to the current S$38.80). Portions have also shrunk; instead of a filled-to-the-brim tin, the same container is now a vessel for a smaller plastic tub hidden within, with what we eyeball to be less than three-quarters of the original quantity. And instead of being the size of a large chocolate coin like before, it’s now like a slightly bigger 50-cent coin. 

But grouses aside, Bake Inc’s tarts are still as delicious as ever. Even when not eaten fresh out of the oven, the exceedingly buttery and golden brown pastry retains a crisp snap like a good French butter cookie, with a mound of sweet pineapple jam laced with fibrous shreds on top. There’s just a hint of tartness expertly added to the jam to boost the rich flavour of this pricey little morsel, which makes our splurge somewhat worth it.

For ordering and purchase info, go to bakeinc.sg or Takashimaya’s CNY Fair.

4. JUZ BREAD PREMIUM PINEAPPLE TARTS, S$33.80

Juz Bread is run by the same folks behind the Bakery Cuisine chain. And like Bake Inc, it has set up a stall with on-site ovens at Takashimaya’s CNY fair, where we got our tarts for this taste test.

The tin packaging, adorned with a dragon for this year’s zodiac animal, looks so huat that anyone’s fussy in-laws would approve. And its contents had everyone, including our TikTok crew, ooh-ing and aah-ing, too.

The decadent butter cookie-esque base is super shiok, balanced with a homely, caramel-ly shredded pineapple-laced jam with a bit of sharp bite. Freshly baked goods aside, we reckon Juz Bread has a pretty solid pineapple tart recipe, too. But remember to keep your tarts airtight because the pastry turns soft very quickly when exposed to the air.

For ordering and purchase info, go to bakerycuisine.com.sg or Takashimaya’s CNY Fair.

5. HARRIANNS NONYA TABLE PINEAPPLE TARTS, S$28.50

The local nonya kueh specialist makes CNY goodies like love letters, kueh bangkit and pineapple tarts, too. We adore the pretty shape of it; very much like a vibrant flower brushed with egg wash and baked to a toasty golden hue. There’s a cute homemade charm to it, too.

While the jam is a tad too sour for our liking, it’s still moreish. Organically shaped blobs of pineapple jam are plopped onto buttery, delicately crumbly pastry that still offers a nice crunch. Would help ourselves to more of it.

For ordering and purchase info, go to cnyorders.harrianns.com.

6. LE CAFE CONFECTIONERY AND PASTRY PINEAPPLE TARTS, FROM S$21.50 FOR 10-PIECE BOTTLE

The three-outlet LE Cafe has an undisputed stronghold on the CNY pineapple tart market, thanks to its reputation for making gigantic, golf ball-sized tarts (available in a bottle or box). These babies are so in demand, we had to run to a couple of outlets to get our hands on them as the shops don’t take orders online or via phone.

The effort is worth it for a once-a-year treat (or buy off-season when you don’t have to fight other customers). The 8days.sg team all liked the ball’s skillfully thin, delish pastry skin wrapped around a generous dollop of chewy pineapple jam that’s sweet with a hint of bite. It’s not a pineapple tart that we would snack on mindlessly because it’s so big. Just one, savoured slowly, is satisfying enough.

For ordering and purchase info, go to lecafe.com.sg.

7. LA LEVAIN PINEAPPLE BALLS, FROM S$26.80 TO S$28.80

Patisserie La Levain, opened by ambitious young pastry chef Wythe Ng, usually offers refined mod viennoiseries like onigiri-shaped croissants. For CNY, the cafe has rolled out Pineapple Balls, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth morsels enveloping a tangy orb of pineapple jam. We appreciate its butteriness and this writer likes that it doesn’t taste overwhelmingly of milk powder like some other brands.

For ordering and purchase info, go to lalevain.com.

8. GLORY PINEAPPLE TARTS (ROUND SHAPE), S$21

Peranakan institution Glory Catering closed its iconic Katong eatery in 2019. But you can still get a selection of its condiments, kaya and CNY goodies at supermarkets like FairPrice, where we purchased this bottle of pineapple tarts.

The plastic bottle is admittedly quite un-glam but we would still display it on our CNY table because the tarts in it are so darn good. The quirky but attractive golden tarts are adorned with another piece of pastry on top that looks like a fidget spinner and the bronzed jam looks like it was pressed on by an enthusiastic baby.

But that also adds to its homemade nonya appeal and the butteriness of the pastry hits us as soon as we pop a tart in our mouth. There’s a nice toastiness and a good crispy snap, topped with a crunchy sweet-sour jam. This is another brand that Team 8days.sg unanimously agreed to be one of the most shiok out of the 30 we have tried and it’s also relatively wallet-friendly.

Available at selected supermarkets like FairPrice (currently out of stock on gloryfood.com.sg).

9. OLLELLA GOLDEN PINEAPPLE BALLS, S$19.80

Homegrown brand Ollella, started by a pair of Indonesian sisters, is best known for its Indo-style kuehs and CNY-friendly kueh lapis legit. But the petite canister of hand-rolled Golden Pineapple Balls is worth a try, too.

This writer prefers the pastry to be more buttery instead of just crumbly but our teammates find it good enough to hoover up everything. The house-made pineapple jam is expertly made, with sharp shredded pineapples cooked down to a lovely, sultry jam.

For ordering and purchase info, go to ollella.com.

10. GIN THYE PINEAPPLE TART, FROM S$17

It was hard for the 8days.sg tasting panel to come to a consensus on whether this ubiquitous brand should make it to the top 10. On one hand, there’s a funky floral flavour to the uncommonly flaky pastry that some of us didn’t quite fancy and the jam is too sour. That said, the various components of the tart somehow mesh well together to become a decent pineapple tart, and so it — very narrowly, we must say – edged out 20 other contenders by sheer point ranking.

For ordering and purchase info, go to ginthye.com.sg.

This story was originally published in 8Days.