These days, macarons don’t just make people fat. They themselves got fat too — in Korea, where supersized macarons called ddung-carons are all the rage now. The name literally translates to ‘fat-carons’ (ddung means ‘fat’ in Korean). While a typical French-style macaron is usually piped simply with a layer of buttercream, its roly-poly Korean counterpart is stuffed almost to bursting with all kinds of ingredients like whole strawberries, mochis and gigantic gobs of cream.

Local patisserie Nanatang recently started offering these cute fat-carons after its eponymous owner, Serena Tang (pictured), caught wind of the trend in Korea. The Singaporean self-taught baker, 28, started her business in 2013 as a home-based bakery selling her own creations. Along with selling desserts, she now mainly runs Nanatang as a baking school, where she and a team of professional instructors conduct classes teaching people how to make viral Korean bakes like buttercream flowers and, yes, fatcarons.

Photo: Serena Tang

Serena makes two types of chunky macarons. Her Fat-carons (pictured, 10 for $35) look like funkier cousins of double-stuffed Oreos, and you can choose from 10 flavours like Speculoos and Earl Grey. And there’s the Fatfat-carons ($30 for four, $42 for six, $52 for eight), which reminds us of a dessert version of insanely stacked burgers. “It [has] multiple elements and is double the size of Fat-carons, so I call it Fatfat-caron,” explains Serena.

While the sweet treat originated in Korea, she gives it a Singaporean twist with localised flavours such as Ondeh Ondeh, Durian, Milo Dinosaur and Orh Nee. She also experiments with unusual pairings, like the savoury Ham & Cheese and Kaya Fancy Cheese.

We try some of the interesting flavours below:

As Nanatang’s signature bake is an ondeh ondeh cake, Serena decided to replicate the flavour for her macaron with “pandan sponge, gula melaka and coconut cream cheese” cradled between two delicate macaron shells. It’s surprisingly tasty, like eating a slightly sweeter version of coconutty ondeh ondeh cake with a teeny bit of macaron crunch. Diameter-wise, it’s about the same size as a regular macaron, just stacked much, much higher. But don't keep the fatfat-carons for too long in your fridge; their unconventional fillings tend to make the wispy shells go soggy after a while.

Just when you think dessertmakers in Singapore have ran out of ways to use durian, here’s one more idea — durian purée wrapped in silky rice flour mochi skin, pressed between macaron shells with buttercream. There’s a respectable pongy hit in this, and the chewy mochi with creamy durian purée and crispy meringue discs make for a fun mélange of textures.

“We actually don’t know if it will work for the market. But when we tried it, we liked it,” admits Serena. Her “daring” chicken ham, cheddar cheese and cream cheese creation is, er, an acquired taste, we think. While the filling would have made a good sandwich, it didn’t really quite go with sweet macaron shells. One of the more intriguing sweet-savoury treats we've tried recently.

The coconut milk drizzled over the traditional Teochew yam paste dessert is replaced with a jelly version, paired with piped yam paste. Not bad, but we would have preferred coconut cream over the too-firm jelly.

This fatfat-caron is loaded with Milo sponge cake and Milo-infused cream, all dusted with even more Milo powder. And like Milo Dinosaur itself, you really can’t go wrong with its tasty, maltey-chocolate flavour.

Like a lot of small business owners, Serena also faced challenges brought about by Covid-19. As she couldn’t conduct classes during the circuit breaker (she was only allowed to resume her workshops recently), she had to shift her focus to selling more cakes and other desserts. “We adapted quite quickly actually, as we are used to coming up with new creations,” she shares. She also promoted her business “on Facebook groups like Hawkers United”, while “a kind person created a free WhatsApp order form [for us] on Take.sg, which helped us with a smoother ordering process”.

While she acknowledges that she’s “blessed” to be running her business in Singapore with the “government helping a lot through different grants”, she reckons she will have to revamp her baking studio’s SOPs to adhere to safe distancing measures. She says matter-of-factly: “We cannot expect to be back to normal.”

Order Fatfat-carons via www.take.sg/s/6591998928.

PHOTOS: YIP JIEYING