All images credit By Grace

Have you ever wished to know what a slice of the universe would taste like?

We might never know for sure but these cakes By Grace definitely lets your imagination take you there!

Two artistic bakers behind this Malaysian confectionery in Johor Bahru came up with the fabulous idea of making “space cakes” that brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “a feast for your eyes”.

For the record, although these cakes are bound to inspire thoughts high in the sky, these are not to be confused with the kind infamously sought for in Amsterdam.

These wonder desserts are a creative combination of gelatin, white chocolate and sugar, masterfully crafted by duo Gio Khor and Grace Lim.

Gio used to be a chef in Singapore and Grace was an accounts clerk. When the two decided to open By Grace in March 2013, they turned into modern desert experts specializing in molecular gastronomy.

This means they come up with crazy food stuff to tease your palate such as rocks, bubbles, charcoal and even flavoured caviar.

As they say, the universe wasn’t made in a day and similarly, By Grace took time and stumbled upon numerous failed attempts before their achievements were unlocked.

They experimented with thousands of different flavours and combustions. This resulted in over 300 unique desserts, which include handcrafted ice cream and some 30 different types of lava cake.

Lava cakes are well, just like volcanos. The middle oozes something sweet and trickles down just like molten magma.

“We baked and tried more than 1,000 lava cakes before we launched our signature lava cake. We also made 20 attempts before coming up with the perfect mirror glazed space cake, with the correct glaze temperature and colour mixing,” Gio tells me.

If your dessert buds are buzzing by now, you can drop by their place at Bandar Jaya Putra, Johor Bahru. However, the edible art pieces are only available during festive seasons.

You still can however, check out their fantastical food inspirations by going to the upcoming arts festival, Iskandar Puteri Kreatif 2017 (IP Kreatif), at the Mall of Medini, Johor Bahru on July 22 and July 23.

By Grace will be showcasing their edible art creations inspired by the seasons of the year; spring, summer, autumn and winter. There is going to be a fairly large painting about 60cm by 90cm.

The highlight will be a chocolate delight “Zen garden” as well as a piece called “childhood”. Sounds yummy already!

By Grace are among the 15 local vendors that were selected by Kraftangan Malaysia, an organisation under the Tourism and Cultural Ministry of Malaysia, to be part of the arts festival.

Interestingly, both Gio and Grace are strong advocates of natural ingredients in their desserts.

Some customers have said our creations taste superb. We believe this due to our ingredients being truly natural. We usually stay away from food colouring and use natural food dyes for our ice cream and other treats.

“We only use food colouring for our space cake series, using a kosher certified, food safety compliant ingredient imported from U.S.A. The brand is Americolor.

The space cakes are also high on their personal recommendations list, which can be made to custom flavor.

“You can tell us your favourite flavours and theme for us to make accordingly. It will us a week to come up with the exacting result so we suggest to order in advance.”

What else can you expect from By Grace? The pair says they are working to create more awesome bites based on “Auroras”. We leave you with a delicious image of an ice cream the pair created.

Visit By Grace on Facebook to follow their wonder food creations and discover more amazing artists to be featured at IP Kreatif 2017 here! Are you throwing a celebration of the arts that needs a shout out? Send the deets over to [email protected]