PUBLISHED May 6th, 2014 01:00 am | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 02:35 pm
How does someone who holds a degree in economics end up being one of Singapore’s best loved chefs? A question you might very well ask of Janice Wong, chef-owner of 2am:dessertbar and twice named “Asia’s Best Pastry Chef”.
Having learned from some of the world’s greatest chefs and dissatisfied with how desserts were never the highlight of a meal, she opened 2am:dessertbar where she pushed the boundaries of the dessert experience time after time with her boundless progressive dessert creations before embarking on sister concept 2am:lab, a multi-functional space used for research, workshops, private dining experiences and events.
Channeling her passion for art into her dessert creations, she has dreamt up edible art pieces that go beyond one’s imagination and has created everything from marshmallow ceilings to underwater sugar corals and gummy walls. And get ready choc-holics, her latest project sees her teaming up with one of the world’s leading gourmet chocolate brands, Cacao Barry, to create yet more tantalizing desserts.
We find out what it takes to be a cutting edge dessert queen:
1. When did you start making desserts?
I first started making desserts with I was about 10 years old. My Mum taught me my first dessert and it was a tiramisu.
2. Who are your greatest influences?
My father was a great influence. He taught me a lot about how I should manage my business and if I needed advice, he would be the first person I would think of. He allowed me to make many mistakes and it is very important to not only have your influencers as people you look up to but also the ones who love you, watch you from a distance and allow the mistakes to happen to help you grow.
Coco Chanel is also a big influence to me. She dedicated her entire life to her passion and craft. What she did for the fashion world is, in many ways, what I wish to do for the culinary world – to continuously inspire and to dedicate myself to my craft.
3. What unique ingredient can you not get enough of using at the moment?
Chocolate may not be the most unique ingredient, but it is very versatile. It is so easy to use, in sweet or in savoury food. It has many interesting textures and can act as a binding agent. When I was creating the Goddess Dewi Resplendent in Inaya H20 for Caco Barry’s new Purity from Nature line, chocolate was used in so many different ways.
4. What has been the most incredible dessert you have ever eaten?
My favourite dessert is the Creamiscle I had at WD-50 in New York. It was a cylinder filled with fluid vanilla cream and orange-vanilla sponge cake. The combination of texture and flavours was fantastic. It was delicious and nostalgic, bringing me to the days of my childhood. It was so memorable that I’ve tried to recreate it for myself.
5. Most recently, you’ve been enlisted to create two desserts for the launch of Cacao Barry’s next generation of chocolate couvertures – what’s your process for dreaming up creations like these?
The taste. In December, Cacao Barry sent me their new product line of Purity from Nature chocolate couvertures and I made notes on their flavour profiles. The inspiration came from the chocolate itself.
The new chocolate line tasted pure and intense and was a result of a fermentation process that brings out the flavours of the beans. I myself had experimented with fermentation and so designed one of the desserts, Ocoa Vinegar, with the same inspiration and synergy.
The Goddess Dewi Resplendent in Inaya H20 was designed around the purity of Inaya, a chocolate with an intense cocoa taste with a good balance between bitterness and acidic notes.
6. What do you see as being the next big thing when it comes to desserts?
I think the new thing in dessert is design. Food design is in high demand at the moment and desserts are changing incorporating art in them.
7. You’ve created edible art, as well as wearable edible art – what’s your next challenge?
My next challenge is the manufacture my line of sweets starting with the first product launching this month. This is extremely challenging as it is getting out of my comfort zone and I need to learn everything about manufacturing.
8. If we came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare us?
A simple tiramisu. The first dessert I learnt how to make, easy to execute, but difficult to make it perfect!
9. What would you say is your most innovative creation yet?
At the 2am:lab, we have the luxury to create with freedom and every day is an experiment. We make innovative desserts everyday with no references. The idea is to create with no point of reference which results in amazing techniques and textures and yet the most challenging!
10. We give you a blank cheque to launch your next big idea – what would it be?
Launching my full line of confectionaries, creative candies that can be sold in supermarkets and marketed worldwide.
Janice Wong’s Cacao Barry’s Purity from Nature dessert Goddess Dewi Resplendent in Inaya H20 is available at the 2am:dessertbar at $19. To watch Janice Wong and three other renowned chefs create their desserts, see here. For more information on 2am:dessertbar see here and for 2am:lab see here.
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Written by Ms Demeanour