Ordering dessert for a team where not everyone eats everything

If you are ordering dessert for a team where not everyone eats everything, this guide covers how to get it right without singling anyone out.

Start by asking

The most common mistake is deciding on someone's behalf what they will and will not eat. Muslim colleagues in Singapore hold a range of positions: some eat only MUIS-certified, some are comfortable with a no-pork-no-lard kitchen, some avoid gelatin specifically, some are relaxed about all of it. A one-line message asking “is a no-pork-no-lard bakery fine, or would you prefer certified?” takes ten seconds and settles it.

Know what the labels mean

Halal certified in Singapore means MUIS has audited the ingredients, the suppliers, the equipment and the premises. It is a formal, inspected standard.

No pork, no lard is a self-declaration. It is a meaningful one, but it is the business's own claim rather than an audited certification, and it says nothing on its own about alcohol or gelatin.

We are in the second category. There is no pork, lard, alcohol or gelatin in anything we bake, and none of it in the kitchen at all. We are not certified, so we do not use the word halal about ourselves. We will send you a full written ingredient list for any item.

Four things that make a mixed office order work

Individually packed beats a shared platter. Individual boxes reduce shared serving utensils, but cross-contact can still occur during preparation and packing in our shared kitchen. People can also take theirs back to their desk.

Label everything. List what is in each item as well as its name.

Get the declaration in writing. Ask the vendor to email you the ingredient list.

Order the same thing for everyone. A cake for most people and a separate box for the two who cannot have it singles those two out. If the whole order works for everyone, nobody is left out.

Gelatin is easy to miss

Most people know to check for pork, and many know about alcohol in desserts such as tiramisu, rum fruit cake or black forest. Gelatin is easier to miss. It turns up in mousses, glazes, mirror finishes, marshmallow and most panna cotta, it is very often pork-derived, and it is almost never mentioned on a cafe menu. If you are ordering something glossy and set, ask specifically.

None of our bakes use gelatin. There is more on all four promises in our explainer.

What to order

For a team of ten to twenty, individually packed boxes make portions easier to label and hand out, but they are not an allergen-free guarantee. For a larger celebration where you want something on a table, a dessert table works, but pair it with individually boxed items at one end for anyone who would rather not share tongs. For an ongoing arrangement, a standing pantry delivery takes the decision off your plate every week.