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Two flights up a wooden flight of stairs at Jatia Chamber, Kala Ghoda, the latticed glass door on the right leads to Wisk by Cakesmiths, a baking studio that launched last week. Step in and everything is so fairy-tale white, naughty kids would itch&nbsp;to scribble.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2015/aug/Jatia-Chamber.jpg" alt="" /> Janice Wong, who was crowned Best Pastry Chef in Asia at the World&rsquo;s 50 Best Restaurant Awards this year.&nbsp;Pic/Bipin Kokate
It houses two rows of squeaky clean metal workstations that can comfortably seat up to 12 bakers, a master table at the far end with a backdrop of stocked cabinets, and a refrigerator camouflaged behind a white door panel. A tilted mirror frame is perched on the wall to reflect what&rsquo;s unfolding on the table.
All of five feet, Janice Wong, who was crowned Best Pastry Chef in Asia at the World&rsquo;s 50 Best Restaurant Awards this year,&nbsp;coolly walks in for the first demonstration at Vrinda Jatia&rsquo;s studio.
With a plan to create an Indian-inspired dessert, the founder of 2am:dessertbar in Singapore, begins to work with pomegranate, mango, guava, cardamom, condensed milk, hibiscus compote and plums. She whisks plum puree, blasts mango pulp with nitrogen to make a sorbet, and midway, ditches the recipe. &ldquo;I ate the Mumbai vada pav, and I&rsquo;d like to use the red chilli powder from there in this dessert,&rdquo; says Wong, as her assistant nods knowingly. &ldquo;Nothing surprises my team anymore,&rdquo; laughs the chef-artist.
Taste and memories play an important role in Wong&rsquo;s creations. &ldquo;My baking philosophy follows a balance of flavours, temperature, texture and aesthetics. Food is art,&rdquo; she says, calling on volunteers to plate up. But there are no plates. &ldquo;Who needs plates when we have tables?&rdquo; she quips, spooning rows of plum puree across the shiny table, placing buns of gelatin-treated guava filled with mango sorbet, condensed milk cubes, and calling on volunteers to squirt hibiscus compote and sprinkle rose petals as garnish.
She steps back satisfied. &ldquo;Dig in.&rdquo; Tips for home bakers &ldquo;Often, it is interesting to see a dish evolve and you don&rsquo;t need to finish the recipe. If you are happy with the meringue, don&rsquo;t fold in all the ingredients,&rdquo; says Wong.
Split ganache: Ganache is the filling inside chocolate bon bon or on a cake, made with boiled cream and chocolate. If the temperature is not right, it will split. Usually, people will add more cream to fix it. But a quicker fix is to add water, a non-fat base.
Burnt caramel: When you burn something, you cannot un-burn, the next step is to salvage. One of our signature dishes, Burnt caramel mousse, is a product of burnt caramel. Add cream to it, and fold it into a mousse. You&rsquo;ll get all the creaminess and a slight bitter taste.
Keep in mind, that it is okay to change a recipe, and think of ingredients that go with it. Or best, use it as ash by smoking it with a smoking gun.
Undercooked cake: Usually, when you pop an undercooked cake back into the oven, it could go dry. Maintain the moisture by spraying some water before you bake it again.

Asia&rsquo;s favourite pastry chef, here for a Kala Ghoda baking studio launch, on salvaging split ganache and undercooked cake

Ditch the recipe

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Ditch the recipe

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