David Cheung Kai-tai
Assistant pastry chef, Island Shangri-La Hotel
Because of his love for cream cakes, David Cheung Kai-tai made a drastic change from cooking Chinese cuisine to making western desserts 23 years ago. He says that to make his creations appeal to a wider audience, fancy treatments and eastern influences are the main ingredients for his latest desserts. Chinese ingredients are quite new for western desserts.
'Though some desserts are made of traditional ingredients, if they are presented in an innovative way, they could become something brand new, such as our new Fresh Strawberry Scent Rose Petal Pavlova. Apart from its unique strawberry essence made from fresh strawberry, there is vanilla ice-cream hidden inside a meringue shell, which is made of cruchy egg white.
'Pandanus creme brulee with coconut sauce has distinct Asian influences. Creme brulee is a traditional western dessert, but when pandanus, a southeast Asian leaf - often used in Thai and Malaysian kitchens, is added, it gives a surprisingly refreshing taste.
'Our ginger ice-cream is an interesting pairing with our orange and raspberry Napolean, which also comes with old-fashioned vanilla cream. Again, ginger is no stranger in Chinese cooking, but it's unusual to use it in making western desserts, especially ice-cream.'
