Pastry fantasies

APART from the ubiquitous Christmas tree decorations and lights, there's another thing to look forward to in hotels - their Christmas pastry shops. While most are content to display their seasonal wares in garden variety chiller or shelf displays, there are those who go all out to create a mini fantasy land filled with fragrant gingerbread and yule logs.

Shining brightly this year is the Candy Sweet Christmas tree of Shangri-La, Singapore, which combines Christmas decorations and festive treats - make that 150 candy arrangements and lollipops - in one impressive 5-metre tall tree.

The brainchild of Reto K Klauser, vice-president and general manager of Shangri-La Hotel Singapore, it took a total 16 hours of work to decorate the majestic tree that stands in the lobby, not counting the time it took to create the structure of the tree. Made of galvanised steel, it took more than one month to create, after which the hotel's engineering team spent 11 hours setting up the structure in the hotel lobby, while the placement of the floral candy arrangements and giant lollipops took the pastry team and florists five hours.