MRS Shireen Lim was so gobsmacked she had to pass the phone to her husband.

'Are you sure?', the 57-year-old asked incredulously when told that her pineapple tarts would be served to the spouses of Apec leaders at a special lunch to be held at the Botanic Gardens on Saturday.

Mr Gilbert Lim, 61, was just as clueless. 'I don't know anything about it,' he said.

'Where did you hear this from?' asked the owner of Teck Neo Pineapple Tarts, a bakery-cum-cafe in Telok Blangah. His wife had been baking and selling the tasty nibbles - adapted from his mother's recipe - at home for 10 years before setting up shop last year.

As it turned out, the pastries were bought by Ms Linda Wee, the general manager of the Goodwood Park Hotel, which has been given the task of catering for the occasion.

A self-confessed pineapple tart aficionado, she loves these particular ones for their delectable crust and piquant filling and has been ordering jars and jars of them from the couple for the past five years.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.