A Malaysian triumph: Ang Bo Ling of Twenty-Two Bakery in Kuala Lumpur wins at inaugural Asia Selection of the Panettone World Cup in Singapore

Malay Mail

21 hours ago

SINGAPORE, July 20 — Last Friday, in the inaugural Asia Selection of the Panettone World Cup at Marina Bay Sands here, Malaysia claimed a milestone: Ang Bo Ling, baker-owner of Twenty-Two Bakery, secured first place in the Traditional Category.
For the Kuala Lumpur-based baker, the win was not just about prestige.
It was proof that a Malaysian baker could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the masters of a craft steeped in Italian heritage, reshaping it through his own lens and ingredients.
The Panettone World Cup has long been the ultimate proving ground for bakers of the Italian holiday bread.
The biennial celebration of leavened mastery has drawn competitors from national competitions across Europe, the United States and Japan, each vying to create the perfect balance of flavour, texture and structure.
This year marked the first dedicated Asia Selection, a regional stage that gathered bakers from seven Asian countries including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand — showing a growing enthusiasm for artisanal panettone across the region.
Ang's Classico 'panettone' impressed the judges with its understated elegance.
Winners from each category will represent Asia at the finals of the 5th Edition of the Panettone World Cup in Milan — the spiritual home of panettone — in November 2026.
For Ang, the competition offered something rarer: the chance to share the culmination of a six-year obsession, testing his Classico panettone against some of the best in Asia.
When Ang talks about bread, his tone carries the careful precision of someone who once lived by tasting notes.
Before baking, he was a barista, joining Three Little Birds Coffee straight after university. It was there, between espresso pulls and latte art, that the first glimmer of entrepreneurship took root.
He recounts, 'My wife Yee Teng and I decided to open a bakery in June 2018. We didn't want to just bake a 'healthy' sourdough but one that was delicious and flavourful for the whole family, from grandparents to young kids.'
Within two years, Twenty-Two Bakery became a fully sourdough-based operation — a rarity in Malaysia.
The pair spent over two years perfecting their 100 per cent sourdough croissants, and Ang's fascination with ancient grains like spelt, rye, and einkorn became a hallmark of the bakery.
He shares, 'The experience of working in the specialty coffee industry allowed us to break down our breads into flavours, taste and texture. We developed 29 breads with six types of grains in only two months!'
Ang shares a joke with Giuseppe Piffaretti, founder of the Panettone World Cup (left). Some of Ang's 'panettone' hanging upside down to ensure a soft, fluffy texture (right).
Those who have followed his journey recognise a pattern: a willingness to spend years on an idea until it reaches the quality he's seeking. The panettone that won him the Asian title is no different.
He explains how he prepared: 'I essentially rebuilt the entire recipe from the ground up, aiming to understand the role and relationship of every ingredient in panettone. Since June, I've tested at least 10 batches for both the Traditional (Classico) and Chocolate categories, right up to the final moments.'
By the time he submitted his Classico panettone for judging, Ang had been refining the recipe for over six years. He says, 'This time, I focused on fine-tuning it to achieve a true harmony of flavours.'
What emerged was a loaf that impressed the judges with its understated elegance: an airy, moist crumb with the aromatic balance of butter, candied fruits, vanilla and orange.
Ang says, 'I managed to create a Classico that's soft and moist, with a harmonious balance of butter, orange, vanilla and candied fruits. One thing that sets me apart is my choice of flour. Unlike the typical technical flour used for panettone, I used a normal bread flour.'
For Ang's Chocolate Panettone, he collaborated with Malaysian artisan brand Chocolate Concierge to highlight Malaysian single origin chocolate.
While technical panettone flour offers consistency, Ang explains it is often impractical for them to source that due to its high cost and short shelf life.
He adds, 'So instead, I chose to work with what's available around me and focused on bringing out the best in it.'
Ang and the other participants at the Asia Selection of the Panettone World Cup.
Winning in Singapore has earned Ang a place at the finals in Milan where he will compete against some of the most celebrated bakers from Italy, France, Switzerland and beyond. The challenge, he admits, is daunting.
'I'm truly honoured by this recognition, but I'm also aware that there are many exceptional panettone bakers in places like Japan and Taiwan who didn't take part in the competition. Knowing that pushes me to keep improving and striving to become even better,' he says.
For Malaysia's baking community, his win raises the profile of Asian pastry-making on the global stage; for Ang, it's an opportunity to bring a distinctly Malaysian perspective to one of Italy's most beloved breads.
His victory honours both the meticulous Italian craft and the Malaysian resourcefulness that shaped it.
Like the long, unseen years Ang spent developing sourdough recipes, this is, above all, a reminder of why he bakes: to create breads that connect, breads that tell a story.
Whatever the outcome next year in Milan, a Malaysian baker has already inscribed his name into the evolving story of a centuries-old craft — one loaf of panettone at a time.
Learn more about Twenty-Two Bakery at https://www.instagram.com/twenty2bakery_/