Food Artist Creates a Dessert That Looks Like a Cloudy Sky

Many bakers excel at making Instagram-worthy creations and experimenting with unusual ingredients, but food artist Mr. Ali has recently raised the bar on both beauty and creativity. The Malaysian creator shared a jelly cake that looks like a literal slice of heaven. If it weren't for the footage of him getting it ready and slicing it up, you'd think this dessert only exists in the digital realm.

Mr. Ali aptly named this mesmerizing dessert Cloud Pudding. The video of his creation shows a solid square of light blue jelly filled with perfectly formed white clouds within. The food artist, not one to gatekeep his secrets, shared a recipe and showed how he put it all together. Despite how perfect the end results looks, the dessert was made entirely from scratch.

If you're wondering what this cloud pudding tastes like, the answer may pique your interest further. The clouds have a coconut taste, while the blue of the sky is achieved with the use of telang flowers, used in tea and as a natural food coloring throughout Southeast Asia.

Should you want to give the cloud pudding a go, the recipe goes as follows: The clouds, which require a plastic mold, are made up of 200 milliliters (6.7 ounces) of coconut milk, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of coconut water, a pinch of salt, 5 grams of agar agar powder, and a 1/2 cup of sugar. Meanwhile, the sky needs 10 pre-washed telang flowers, one cup of hot water, one liter of water (33.8 ounces), a 1/2 cup of sugar, and 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) of agar agar powder.

For the clouds, mix and boil all ingredients, turn off the heat to fill the cloud mold, and let it cool 30 minutes in the fridge. For the sky, mix all ingredients and stir until boiling as well. The part when it becomes tricky is when both parts come together. Mr. Ali explains: “Pour the first layer in two to three spoonfuls and wait for one to two minutes before placing some clouds. [Then] leave it outside. Add telang flower and put 1 cup of hot water and cover your bowl for one hour to get telang flower water (do this first before making the jelly part). Put telang flower water into the excess jelly mixture. Pour a few spoonfuls and place some clouds. Let it harden at room temperature and repeat the same step until the mixture is finished. Cool for two hours in the fridge and it will be ready!”

Mr. Ali later did an alternative version in smaller containers, adding some dragonfruit to the mix to create a purple-pink sunset sky. To stay up to date with his delicious and eye-catching desserts, make sure to follow him on Instagram.