5 shops to visit in Singapore for your sweet tooth cravings

When it comes to sweets, the top of mind countries are probably France for pastries, Italy for gelato, and Belgium or Switzerland for chocolates. But did you know that you can have all these and more without flying to Europe?

In just a three-hour flight from Manila, you can satisfy your sweet tooth cravings in Singapore! The city-state may be small, but it offers a vibrant food scene with its many homegrown cafes, restaurants, and sweet shops.

You can enjoy a wide range of flavors reflecting Singapore's many cultural influences—from classics like vanilla and dark chocolate to pandan and durian for our Southeast Asian palate.

Here are five places you must visit in Singapore for that sugar high.

1. Awfully Chocolate

Awfully Chocolate began in 1998 by selling just one product: the classic chocolate cake. The brand wanted to offer Singaporeans a cake that actually tastes like a proper cake, instead of fancy ones with more mousse or cream than actual cake.

For 12 years, the brand offered only three flavors: the original chocolate cake, chocolate banana, and chocolate cherry. Their selling point is their familiarity—their chocolate cake is a taste of home for many Singaporeans.

Eventually, Awfully Chocolate began expanding more into other products. Now, they sell chocolate truffles, chocolate bars, and even chocolate ice cream. They also have chocolate that does not need refrigeration, so it's perfect for pasalubong and gift-giving!

Their flagship store in Katong also has a restaurant and cafe. Awfully Chocolate can be found in many places in Singapore and they also have branches in Guangzhou, China.

2. Museum of Ice Cream

Ice cream-all-you-can, anyone? Rediscover the inner child in you and prepare to get a brain freeze at the Museum of Ice Cream in Dempsey Hill.

Filled with all things pink, the MOIC is full of Instagrammable spots that you can enjoy while eating the world’s favorite cold dessert to help you deal with Singapore's hot weather.

Each room has its own vibe such as a beach, a freedom wall with magnet letters, and a playground. They also have a stall which offers two different flavors that you can try as many as times as you can before heading to the next one.

Among the flavors you can try in MOIC is pink lemonade, chocolate, apple pie, pink vanilla, lychee, pandan, and taro and they come in different varieties: scoop in a cup, soft serve in a cone, ice cream wafer, and ice cream sandwich. You can also get a small cheesecake in the last room.

3. Kim Choo Kueh Chang

For those curious about Singaporean desserts, visit the Kim Choo Kueh Chang store at Joo Chiat Road. Established in 1945, the store sells many different kinds of traditional sweets that you can enjoy.

They also run a Singapore Visitor Center and a boutique store, where you can do a tour to learn more about the Peranakan culture—the blend of Chinese, Malay, and Western culture in Singapore.

Included in the tour is a brief tea time, where you can sample three Singaporean delicacies: Nyonya rice dumplings, pineapple tarts, and kueh lapis. Nyonya rice dumplings is like a fusion of suman and siopao—the rice cake is wrapped in pandan leaves and shaped into a triangle that contains a sweet-savory meat filling.

Kueh lapis is a less sweet version of our sapin-sapin. It's a colorful and layered glutinous rice treat, but unlike our sapin-sapin, it must be eaten layer by layer. Pineapple tarts, meanwhile, are bite-sized goodies with a cookie-like crust topped with pineapple jam. It's super sweet, so be ready to wash it down with the butterfly pea flower tea sprinkled with pandan and lemongrass leaves.

4. Chilli Padi Nonya

The Chilli Padi Nonya Restaurant in Joo Chiat Road offers an authentic Peranakan cuisine experience, and that includes their desserts.

One of their must-try menu items is the chendol, Singapore's version of halu-halo. It is a traditional iced dessert with rice flour jelly, coconut milk, and palm sugar syrup. It comes in three variations: plain, with durian puree, and with chempedak (jack fruit) puree.

For a refreshing dessert, try the fresh soursop (guyabano) puree with shaved ice. It is served with calamansi, and you can squeeze it on top for a very interesting combination of sweet and citrusy flavor.

The Sago Pudding Gula Melaka is another must-try dessert. It's a coconut sago pudding served with thickened palm sugar syrup, a perfect tropical snack.

5. Pure Imagination

We can't have enough of chocolate, can we? For more chocolatey goodness, visit Pure Imagination by Chef Janice Wong at the Great World Mall in Singapore.

Pure Imagination offers a chocolate appreciation experience, where you can see how chocolate is produced and taste it at different stages of its production—from the cacao fruit, to the dried bean, to the chocolate we all know and love.

You can also compare different chocolates whose beans are sourced from different countries, such as Philippines, Thailand, Colombia, and Ecuador. Depending on the climate, soil conditions, and geography of the bean source, chocolates gain unique flavors.

Aside from chocolate samples, you will also be served with yummy hot chocolate. But in case you had enough of chocolate already, you will also be served with small colorful cakes with interesting flavors, such as mango banana mousse cake and strawberry lime-mousse cake.

Of course, you won't go home without a complimentary chocolate bar of your choice!

This story was produced through a familiarization trip sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board.

—JCB, GMA News