Macau's most delicious desserts and where to try them
Macau's pastry chefs are constantly devising ways of creating desserts that are visually appealing and delicious to taste
Pastry is one of the most dynamic niches in the culinary world. Chefs have to race against time to launch adorable cakes before people turn their attention to other eye-candy.
Stiff competition among patisseries in Macau ensures that only those creations that look pretty and delicious to taste succeed.
“In the world of pastry you always have to create new things, otherwise it will get boring,” says Holger Deh, executive pastry chef at MGM Macau, who oversees the Pastry Bar, one of the most respected patisseries in Macau. “Here we have the luxury to try and see what the guests are actually taking.”
Having worked for the Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons and Peninsula hotels in eight countries, Deh has only been at the MGM Macau for six months. He has been hard at work since his arrival, infusing millefeuille with vanilla and raspberry mousse for a summery indulgence and launching gluten-free lines with a buckwheat chocolate cake among his creations.
Deh racks his brains to improve the variety on offer. “I will not touch those which are working very well, like the strawberry chiffon entremet, which has been here for ages,” he says, before including the signature Portuguese selection with serradura, pear tart and Portuguese egg custard.
Repackaging classic items can make for pleasant surprises. The new Joana Vasconcelos cake, coated with a playful burst of aqua colours, is made to resonate to the “Valkyrie Octopus” installation at the Grande Pracal. Deh takes the best-selling hazelnut milk chocolate cake as the basis, and uses a glossy finish to add to the nutty texture and lure people in.
