When former primary school teacher Priscilla Toh, 35, began baking banana bread with her daughter in 2021, she didn’t expect to invent a Banelé – an adorable portmanteau of banana bread, brownie and canelé.
The Banelé – say ‘bah-neh-leh’ – is exactly what it sounds like: Rich banana bread that looks like a brownie, with a chocolatey centre and slightly charred, caramelised crust of a canelé (a classic French pastry).
Her creation soon spawned an in-demand home-based business, with launches that sold out in seconds. We knew it was likely to be good stuff when even our serious foodie pals raved about it. But we just never managed to buy some because we found it a hassle pre-ordering it online. But lucky us, Banelé opened its first brick-and-mortar shop at Chancery Court on Mar 8, where you no longer need to ‘camp’ online to pre-order the cakes.
Prior to starting this business, the youthful mum of two had no professional baking experience aside from doing so “on and off” for fun. She was working as a flexi-adjunct primary school teacher at a girls’ school. She has since quit teaching to focus on her kids and Banelé full-time, but it was during her maternity leave from work in 2021 (after giving birth to her younger daughter Tiffany, aged three), that she found herself taking up baking as a hobby to bond with her older daughter Lauren, now six.
Tiffany (left), Priscilla Toh (middle) and Lauren (right). (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
INSPIRED BY DAUGHTER'S LOVE FOR THE LADYBUG GIRL BOOK SERIES
Priscilla explained: “The older one used to love everything ladybug, so she loved the Ladybug Girl (children’s book) series. In the book, the characters make banana bread, so we were like ‘Hey, why don’t we make banana bread together?’”
(Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
"REALLY DISLIKED BANANA BREAD" BEFORE CREATION OF BANELÉ
Interestingly, Priscilla said she “really disliked banana bread” at the time, but her husband, Rui Xiang Toh, 35, an orthopaedic surgeon at Singapore General Hospital, loved it.
“Everywhere we went, he would keep making me try banana bread, but I find it very floury and cake-y, which I don’t like, so I wanted to make a version that I would eat,” she explained.
ACCIDENTAL CREATION OF BANELÉ AFTER NEAR-BURNING INCIDENT
Thus, she began trying out different banana bread recipes with her daughter at home, till one day, she accidentally created her first Banelé prototype.
“Once, I was making banana bread and forgot about it in the oven,” Priscilla recounted. “I was like, ‘oh my god, it’s burnt!’, but when I checked, it was actually crusty on the outside, which I thought made it taste even better."
Banelés. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
MUM UNWITTINGLY CAME UP WITH THE NAME BANELÉ
At the same time, Priscilla had been baking lots of brownies too, and decided to use some of the extra chocolate in her banana bread. Thus a new star was born: A canelé-inspired thick-crusted brownie-banana bread hybrid, which we now know as a Banelé.
Priscilla admitted that she doesn’t know how to bake canelés, though she often ate those made by her friend. That’s actually how the term Banelé was coined – she sent her mum a batch of Banelés she baked together with canelés made by her friend, and her mum, accidentally mixing the two confections up, “gave feedback that she really enjoyed the Banelé, because she thought (they) gave her banana canelés”. How cute.
Besides the charred crust, Priscilla said her Banelés don’t employ the use of any typical canelé ingredients, like rum.
INVESTED S$100,000 INTO SHOP
Following Banelé’s online success, Priscilla decided to open a physical stall to cope with the increasing number of orders.
The decor is inspired by the Ladybug Girl books. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
“With more corporate orders, we needed a central kitchen so we wanted to do it here,” she explained, adding that “with COVID ending, a lot of people also start wanting to walk into places, and can’t be bothered to pre-order things online anymore”.
Priscilla and Rui Xiang invested around S$100,000 to open the shop – a price point she feels is slightly high, but the couple chose this area near Newton because they live opposite Chancery Court.
Furthermore, she and her family plan to relocate to Canada for a year in 2025 for her husband to do a fellowship there, so they want the business to be able to continue operating through a central kitchen. Priscilla bakes at Banelé daily now, but she’s training two staff to handle most of the baking independently in future.
Though they mainly operate as a takeaway shop, Banelé has two tiny flower-shaped tables that can accommodate around four people, if you’re inclined to nibble some perfectly-warmed cakes on the spot.
(Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
(Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
DECOR INSPIRED BY KID'S STORYBOOK
The interior is cheery, hip and cosy, with splashes of yellow brightening the space. Priscilla says the decor is inspired by the Ladybug Girl books.
The central kitchen and counter area echo the book’s storyline where “the mum and daughter take a walk along the woods and chance upon a kiosk” – hence the ‘footpath’ (pictured above) circling round the Banelé kiosk.
THE MENU
Banelé’s menu remains mostly the same as before, with the exception of a new pistachio hazelnut flavour for their Petite Bundt, plus a range of drinks (starting at S$4.90 for a black coffee) with beans sourced from Parallel Coffee Roasters. Prices have also remained the same.
For now, Priscilla says they “focus on corporate and online orders”, though they bake extra for walk-in customers daily. Call ahead to check on stocks.
There are three flavours of Banelés to choose from – classic (with Valrhona Guanaja 70 per cent dark chocolate, from S$6.50), almond (from S$7), and peanut butter and jelly (from S$8.50).
Petite Bundts – basically miniature versions of the Banelé start from S$3. Financiers are also sold, from S$3.40 per piece. Meanwhile, a larger six-inch Bundt Cake is also available in the original flavour for S$50.
CLASSIC BANELÉ, S$6.50
Classic Banelé. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
We knew this would be tasty, but didn’t expect it to be this brilliant. The plump Banelé is covered in a firm, shiny coat that’s gratifyingly crisp but not overly thick and dry like how an over-baked cake can be.
Its delightful crust gives way easily to an exceedingly moist, melt-in-the-mouth, spongy interior permeated with the sweetness of perfectly ripe bananas. A gooey layer of dark Valrhona chocolate underscores the cube, making each bite complex and bittersweet. Regular banana bread isn’t going to cut it after this.
Know that there are very specific warming instructions to follow if you’re going to take this home, or else its lovely mouthfeel won’t be the same.
ALMOND BANELÉ, S$7
The Almond Banelé. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
A flavour “created for the chocolate-haters”, the Almond Banelé comes with a nutty Valrhona ground almond couverture filling, which we find makes the sponge slightly sweeter. Still pretty good, but give us the classic chocolate version any day.
PBJ BANELÉ, S$8.50
PBJ Banelé. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
House-made, slightly gritty peanut butter and tangy Valrhona raspberry jam filling make this a yummy treat for PBJ lovers. But that’s mostly what you taste, as the flavours of the banana bread are overshadowed here.
PETITE BUNDTS, FROM S$3
Petite bundts. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
Each of these adorbs munchkins are basically bite-sized versions of the banelés, with piped filling in the middle. Our favourite is the new savoury, umami pistachio hazelnut (S$3.20) flavour.
Skip the yuzu lavender (S$3.20), which reminds us a little of potpourri. The grooves of these fluted bundts, though pretty to look at, resulted in too much crust, too little sponge. Why mess with perfection (that is the classic Banelé)?
FINANCIER, S$3.40
Financier. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
Picture-perfect, golden-brown bars whipped up with a blend of French and Danish butter. The French almond cakes took Priscilla “over 100 tries” to get right.
We love her obsessive drive for perfection, because these financiers are absolutely on point (warm them up first if eating at home). Delicately crisp-edged, tender in the middle, positively buttery, rich and toasty. It’s right up there with the gorgeous classic Banelé.
Cold brew coffee. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
What’s great about this small but charming brick-and-mortar shop is the fact that you can also enjoy coffee with your Banelé. Black, white and oat cold brews go for S$6.50 here, while a classic black or white hot coffee costs S$4.90 and S$5.90 respectively.
We sampled a flat white, and were pleasantly surprised by how fragrant and fruity it was for a bakery that doesn’t have proper baristas. Priscilla says they use 100 per cent Arabica beans from Panama and Brazil from Parallel Coffee Roasters.
Banelé is at #02-44 Chancery Court, 36H Dunearn Rd, Singapore 309433. Open Mon - Sat 9am - 5pm. Closed on Sun. Tel: 8011 0489. More info via their website.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...
The Banelé – say ‘bah-neh-leh’ – is exactly what it sounds like: Rich banana bread that looks like a brownie, with a chocolatey centre and slightly charred, caramelised crust of a canelé (a classic French pastry).
Her creation soon spawned an in-demand home-based business, with launches that sold out in seconds. We knew it was likely to be good stuff when even our serious foodie pals raved about it. But we just never managed to buy some because we found it a hassle pre-ordering it online. But lucky us, Banelé opened its first brick-and-mortar shop at Chancery Court on Mar 8, where you no longer need to ‘camp’ online to pre-order the cakes.
Prior to starting this business, the youthful mum of two had no professional baking experience aside from doing so “on and off” for fun. She was working as a flexi-adjunct primary school teacher at a girls’ school. She has since quit teaching to focus on her kids and Banelé full-time, but it was during her maternity leave from work in 2021 (after giving birth to her younger daughter Tiffany, aged three), that she found herself taking up baking as a hobby to bond with her older daughter Lauren, now six.
Tiffany (left), Priscilla Toh (middle) and Lauren (right). (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
INSPIRED BY DAUGHTER'S LOVE FOR THE LADYBUG GIRL BOOK SERIES
Priscilla explained: “The older one used to love everything ladybug, so she loved the Ladybug Girl (children’s book) series. In the book, the characters make banana bread, so we were like ‘Hey, why don’t we make banana bread together?’”
(Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
"REALLY DISLIKED BANANA BREAD" BEFORE CREATION OF BANELÉ
Interestingly, Priscilla said she “really disliked banana bread” at the time, but her husband, Rui Xiang Toh, 35, an orthopaedic surgeon at Singapore General Hospital, loved it.
“Everywhere we went, he would keep making me try banana bread, but I find it very floury and cake-y, which I don’t like, so I wanted to make a version that I would eat,” she explained.
ACCIDENTAL CREATION OF BANELÉ AFTER NEAR-BURNING INCIDENT
Thus, she began trying out different banana bread recipes with her daughter at home, till one day, she accidentally created her first Banelé prototype.
“Once, I was making banana bread and forgot about it in the oven,” Priscilla recounted. “I was like, ‘oh my god, it’s burnt!’, but when I checked, it was actually crusty on the outside, which I thought made it taste even better."
Banelés. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
MUM UNWITTINGLY CAME UP WITH THE NAME BANELÉ
At the same time, Priscilla had been baking lots of brownies too, and decided to use some of the extra chocolate in her banana bread. Thus a new star was born: A canelé-inspired thick-crusted brownie-banana bread hybrid, which we now know as a Banelé.
Priscilla admitted that she doesn’t know how to bake canelés, though she often ate those made by her friend. That’s actually how the term Banelé was coined – she sent her mum a batch of Banelés she baked together with canelés made by her friend, and her mum, accidentally mixing the two confections up, “gave feedback that she really enjoyed the Banelé, because she thought (they) gave her banana canelés”. How cute.
Besides the charred crust, Priscilla said her Banelés don’t employ the use of any typical canelé ingredients, like rum.
INVESTED S$100,000 INTO SHOP
Following Banelé’s online success, Priscilla decided to open a physical stall to cope with the increasing number of orders.
The decor is inspired by the Ladybug Girl books. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
“With more corporate orders, we needed a central kitchen so we wanted to do it here,” she explained, adding that “with COVID ending, a lot of people also start wanting to walk into places, and can’t be bothered to pre-order things online anymore”.
Priscilla and Rui Xiang invested around S$100,000 to open the shop – a price point she feels is slightly high, but the couple chose this area near Newton because they live opposite Chancery Court.
Furthermore, she and her family plan to relocate to Canada for a year in 2025 for her husband to do a fellowship there, so they want the business to be able to continue operating through a central kitchen. Priscilla bakes at Banelé daily now, but she’s training two staff to handle most of the baking independently in future.
Though they mainly operate as a takeaway shop, Banelé has two tiny flower-shaped tables that can accommodate around four people, if you’re inclined to nibble some perfectly-warmed cakes on the spot.
(Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
(Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
DECOR INSPIRED BY KID'S STORYBOOK
The interior is cheery, hip and cosy, with splashes of yellow brightening the space. Priscilla says the decor is inspired by the Ladybug Girl books.
The central kitchen and counter area echo the book’s storyline where “the mum and daughter take a walk along the woods and chance upon a kiosk” – hence the ‘footpath’ (pictured above) circling round the Banelé kiosk.
THE MENU
Banelé’s menu remains mostly the same as before, with the exception of a new pistachio hazelnut flavour for their Petite Bundt, plus a range of drinks (starting at S$4.90 for a black coffee) with beans sourced from Parallel Coffee Roasters. Prices have also remained the same.
For now, Priscilla says they “focus on corporate and online orders”, though they bake extra for walk-in customers daily. Call ahead to check on stocks.
There are three flavours of Banelés to choose from – classic (with Valrhona Guanaja 70 per cent dark chocolate, from S$6.50), almond (from S$7), and peanut butter and jelly (from S$8.50).
Petite Bundts – basically miniature versions of the Banelé start from S$3. Financiers are also sold, from S$3.40 per piece. Meanwhile, a larger six-inch Bundt Cake is also available in the original flavour for S$50.
CLASSIC BANELÉ, S$6.50
Classic Banelé. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
We knew this would be tasty, but didn’t expect it to be this brilliant. The plump Banelé is covered in a firm, shiny coat that’s gratifyingly crisp but not overly thick and dry like how an over-baked cake can be.
Its delightful crust gives way easily to an exceedingly moist, melt-in-the-mouth, spongy interior permeated with the sweetness of perfectly ripe bananas. A gooey layer of dark Valrhona chocolate underscores the cube, making each bite complex and bittersweet. Regular banana bread isn’t going to cut it after this.
Know that there are very specific warming instructions to follow if you’re going to take this home, or else its lovely mouthfeel won’t be the same.
ALMOND BANELÉ, S$7
The Almond Banelé. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
A flavour “created for the chocolate-haters”, the Almond Banelé comes with a nutty Valrhona ground almond couverture filling, which we find makes the sponge slightly sweeter. Still pretty good, but give us the classic chocolate version any day.
PBJ BANELÉ, S$8.50
PBJ Banelé. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
House-made, slightly gritty peanut butter and tangy Valrhona raspberry jam filling make this a yummy treat for PBJ lovers. But that’s mostly what you taste, as the flavours of the banana bread are overshadowed here.
PETITE BUNDTS, FROM S$3
Petite bundts. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
Each of these adorbs munchkins are basically bite-sized versions of the banelés, with piped filling in the middle. Our favourite is the new savoury, umami pistachio hazelnut (S$3.20) flavour.
Skip the yuzu lavender (S$3.20), which reminds us a little of potpourri. The grooves of these fluted bundts, though pretty to look at, resulted in too much crust, too little sponge. Why mess with perfection (that is the classic Banelé)?
FINANCIER, S$3.40
Financier. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
Picture-perfect, golden-brown bars whipped up with a blend of French and Danish butter. The French almond cakes took Priscilla “over 100 tries” to get right.
We love her obsessive drive for perfection, because these financiers are absolutely on point (warm them up first if eating at home). Delicately crisp-edged, tender in the middle, positively buttery, rich and toasty. It’s right up there with the gorgeous classic Banelé.
Cold brew coffee. (Photo: 8Days/Kelvin Chia)
What’s great about this small but charming brick-and-mortar shop is the fact that you can also enjoy coffee with your Banelé. Black, white and oat cold brews go for S$6.50 here, while a classic black or white hot coffee costs S$4.90 and S$5.90 respectively.
We sampled a flat white, and were pleasantly surprised by how fragrant and fruity it was for a bakery that doesn’t have proper baristas. Priscilla says they use 100 per cent Arabica beans from Panama and Brazil from Parallel Coffee Roasters.
Banelé is at #02-44 Chancery Court, 36H Dunearn Rd, Singapore 309433. Open Mon - Sat 9am - 5pm. Closed on Sun. Tel: 8011 0489. More info via their website.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...