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Dessert recipes

From Hello Kitty to Rolex watches, Hong Kong baker’s custom cakes

Hong Kong baker Alison Chan crafts hyper-realistic ‘illusion cakes’ that resemble everyday objects – and now she’s now getting recognition with her first exhibition, at the city’s K11 Musea mall.

Alison Chan of Dear Harley Bakery is known for creating realistic-looking cakes that resemble everyday objects and people, from Hermès bags to Marvel characters

The self-taught baker is holding her first exhibition at K11 Musea mall, where visitors will be challenged to distinguish her ‘illusion cakes’ from real items

28 Jul 2022 - 5:35AMvideocam

‘It’s very therapeutic’: Malaysian baker on creating her floral jelly cakes

12 Sep 2023 - 3:02PM

Would you eat Wagyu, oyster, bitter gourd or chilli … in a dessert?

14 Jun 2022 - 6:12PM

How to make calamansi tart with toasted macadamia crust and meringue

Calamansi may be small but they punch above their weight when it comes to flavour. The intensity is balanced with crème fraîche.

19 May 2022 - 11:28AM

How to make a refreshing calamansi and crème fraîche tart with macadamia crust and meringue. Photo: Jonathan Wong

How to make fig and raspberry tart with a silky smooth crust

This rich, sweet tart is light and silky smooth with a brioche crust, fresh figs and raspberries, and a colourful pistachio filling.

26 Apr 2022 - 4:15AM

How to make plum and raspberry pie – looks good, tastes good

This fruit pie calls for dark plums that aren’t too juicy, and if you have one, a pizza stone to brown the bottom. Adjust the sweetness to your own preference.

4 Feb 2022 - 9:30AM

How to make bread pudding with whisky sauce and home-made custard

Three custards and whisky make this a rich, indulgent adult-only dessert. Cooking custard takes patience, a low heat and plenty of stirring.

27 Dec 2021 - 9:12AM

Bread pudding with whisky sauce and home-made crème anglaise is an indulgent adult-only dessert. Photo: Jonathan Wong

How to make caramelised apple tarts, inspired by a Parisian bakery

This recipe, inspired by the famous Poilâne bakery, uses puff pastry, which you can make or buy, and firm acidic apples that will hold their shape during cooking.

29 Oct 2021 - 2:30AM

After Squid Game’s dalgona, how to make hotteok - Korean sweet pancakes

These Korean pancakes have a sweet nutty cinnamon flavour, and are perfect as a winter snack. Beware of the super hot filling when you bite into them.

15 Oct 2021 - 8:07AM

How to make banana splits for grown-ups, with an elegant twist

An elegant take on the crowd-pleasing banana split, dulce de leche adds caramel sweetness and sugar-and-spice pecans bring the heat.

28 Oct 2021 - 8:05PM

Photo: Jonathan Wong. Food styling: Nellie Ming Lee

How to make Macanese pasteis de nata, Macau-style Portuguese egg tarts

A variation on Portuguese egg tarts, these are easy to make, especially using commercial puff pastry, and use a unique non-rolling method to create the tart shells.

17 Sep 2021 - 1:15AM

Macanese-style Portuguese egg tarts. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Gaston Lenôtre started dessert revolution that swept the world

In Lenôtre’s Ice Creams and Candies, French pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre demystifies desserts and shows you how to make them at home. Just use the best ingredients, he says.

1 Jun 2022 - 3:56PM

How to make chocolate and caramel verrines with salted peanut praline

This recipe from our archives shows how to make an elegant layered pre-dessert with a light chocolate mousse and indulgent caramel.

27 Aug 2021 - 9:13AM

How to make hazelnut tart from the Alice B Toklas Cookbook

Cookery memoirs can be a gold mine, and this recipe is adapted from a classic of the genre.

23 Jul 2021 - 1:15AM

How to make classic Cantonese mango pudding and mango sorbet

Mango pudding is a favourite dessert in Hong Kong, and this simple recipe lets you make it at home. Choose good, ripe mangoes.

9 Jul 2021 - 1:15AM

How to make classic Cantonese mango pudding (above) at home. Photo: Jonathan Wong

How to make double chocolate cherry tarts

With chocolate in both the pastry and the ganache, these cherry tarts are rich and indulgent. You can make them in advance, but they are better served warm from the oven.

25 Jun 2021 - 1:15AM

How to make brown sugar pavlova, the dessert from Down Under

In a twist on the Aussie and Kiwi favourite, this pavlova dials down the sweetness with brown sugar meringue, piled with whipped cream and fresh fruit, just as it should be.

28 May 2021 - 5:45PM

A Hong Kong-based French patisserie that is eyeing expansion in China

Paul Lafayet plans to open around 100 outlets on the mainland, as it eyes China’s growing market for desserts that is set to reach US$37.6 billion a year by 2025.

16 May 2021 - 9:41PMvideocam

Paul Lafayet founder Toni Younes with his son Christophe, the co-founder of the patisserie, at their shop in K11 Art Mall, in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Why nuns were in the habit of creating heavenly desserts

The French have canelés, the Portuguese have queijadas and the Italians have ‘virgin’s breasts’ – all invented or perfected by nuns. There are a few reasons why so many desserts and candies originated in Catholic convents.

6 May 2021 - 6:53PM

How to make a NSFM chocolate rum-raisin cake

To the untrained eye, this cake might not be much of a looker, but it packs a boozy punch.

22 Apr 2021 - 6:15PM

China vs Italy: which country ‘invented’ ice cream?

In the book Ices Italia, author Linda Tubby explores the uncertain origins of ice cream and recounts how it became ‘the world’s favourite comfort food’.

22 Mar 2021 - 9:58AM

Authentic Italian ice cream. Photo: Getty Images

How to make chocolate and salted caramel tarts

With its chocolate pastry, gooey caramel filling and rich glaze, this dessert recipe is worth its (pinch of) salt.

28 Jan 2021 - 2:31AM

Susan Jung’s chocolate and salted caramel tart. Photography: Koji Studio. Styling: Vivian Herijanto

The Taiwanese rice cake that’s ‘no less than a Japanese or Western sweet’

From Minnan - a part of southern China - the snack spread all over Asia, to Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and beyond.

26 Jan 2021 - 3:22PMvideocam

A recipe for churros: easy to make, dangerously easy to eat

If the only churros you’ve tried are the stick-straight frozen type, you’re in for a treat with the delicious home-made variety.

2 Jan 2021 - 2:57AM

How to make aebleskivers, the perfect New Year’s Day breakfast

While it takes a little time to perfect the technique behind these spherical Danish pancakes, there’s no denying that they are fun to make and eat.

30 Dec 2020 - 3:58AM

Susan Jung’s aebleskivers. Photography: SCMP / Jonathan Wong

How chefs stuck in Hong Kong are bringing their own Christmas traditions to the table

Harbourside Grill’s Armand Sablon always had capon chicken at Christmas and Hue’s Anthony Hammel swears by his father’s trifle, while Cobo House’s Ray Choi and Devon Hou take an innovative approach with Asian flavours

13 Dec 2020 - 10:00AM

Hue’s Christmas dessert is a traditional Aussie trifle. Photo: Handout

How to make a white chocolate and green tea mousse cake

This delicious dessert is surprisingly light and not too sweet, and although it looks impressive it is easier to make than expected.

11 Dec 2020 - 1:15AM

How to make a delicious double apple tart

This delectable dessert falls somewhere in between humble and luxurious, with apple butter elevating the classic tart to new heights.

28 Nov 2020 - 3:18AM

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Dessert recipes

As a former pastry chef, senior food and wine editor Susan Jung has always had a thing about desserts – like , Japanese-style gooey cheese tarts, chocolate rum raisin cake, and chocolate layer cake with salted caramel and crunchy praline. Learn how to make these treats and dozens more on this page.

last updated:

9 September, 2024