Have You Tried Souffle-Pudding? Ex-Barista Sells Unique Japanese-Inspired Dessert
The Japanese love their puddings. Aside from a handful of places like Dulcet and Studio, the Japanese version of this sweet treat isn’t all that common in Singapore.
Home-based business Puurin Club (named after Purin, which means pudding in Japanese), sells specialty Japanese puddings, and even a fun souffle pudding hybrid.
The online shop was started in June this year by former barista Michelle Lau, 31, and her pal Angela Chew, 29. They met at now-defunct Prodigal Cafe, where Michelle worked full-time as a barista (who also baked occasionally), and Angela as a part-time staff.
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Michelle (left) and Angela (right)
Prefers Japanese pudding to European-style ones
Why Japanese-style pudding? “I like the texture a lot. It’s firmer [and lighter] than flan in French cuisine, plus it’s not too fancy,” she explains. “Also, I couldn’t find a specialty pudding place in Singapore, so I thought — why not start a pudding brand?”
Gingerbread puurin
Michelle does all the baking (she bakes twice a week from home), while Angela, who has a day job in finance, takes charge of designing their products and social media pages.
Though most of her professional career was spent as a barista, the 31-year-old picked up baking a few years ago after she was put in charge of making most of the pastries at cafes she worked at like Prodigal.
Original Puurin
Sold in boxes of four, from $18
Puurin has four mainstay flavours of pudding: Original, Bailey’s, Matcha and Red Tea. Christmas-exclusive flavours, like Black Forest, Peppermint Mocha and Gingerbread Man, are also available this month.
The pudding is sold in boxes of four starting at $18 for four same flavoured puddings, and goes up to $23 for their ‘Favourites Combi’, which consists of two red tea puddings and two Baileys puddings. You can also add toppings like boba pearls and sweet potato swirl from $1.
What is souffle pudding?
Michelle also bakes a more unusual souffle pudding, currently available in only the original flavour. The baker describes it as “half cake, half pudding — the souffle layer is almost like chiffon cake”.
Though she’s never tried this hybrid elsewhere before, she says she got the idea from seeing it a couple of times online. “I wanted something with a more complex texture on top of the pudding, and I thought this would be quite interesting,” Michelle explains. To make it, she whisks up a meringue-like batter, and layers it atop the pudding mix before baking.
Plans to open brick-and-mortar shop
Currently, Puurin’s jiggly treats are only available for order online, or at occasional pop-ups around town. There’s an upcoming one at Citylink’s pop-up atrium from 9 to 15 December. At their pop-ups, you can also pick up adorable Puurin stickers ($4.50 for one; $12 for three) designed by Angela.
Michelle adds: “We are in the midst of looking for a [permanent] space. We have plans to open a physical shop eventually”.
Order from Puurin Club via their website. Or visit their pop-up at 1 Raffles Link, S039393 on 9-15 Dec. More info via Instagram and Facebook.
Photos: Puurin Club
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