Power Puff Babies & Other Stuff

Nee started letting me play with fondant quite sometime ago. While it is definitely much more manageable compared to marzipan (in terms of its durability), I am still lunging myself at it like an amateur. 

Like photography, my attempts have been mostly intuitive, lacking the technical superiority of other sugarcraft artists.

These were a few of my attempts for Nee's customers who wanted something a bit more on top of their cakes.

This fairy cake was a bit tough cos to make fairies, you have to feel like one, to become one with them; and for a guy, that's not easy.

I used to love these girls until I had to sculpt them in 3D. These Power Puff Babies were tough. It took me 4 hours & cracks started appearing.

In between all these were also a pumpkin for Halloween & a 3D sports car (no photos unfortunately) which made me work my butt off.

 

A word of warning though. If you're looking for aesthetics above the quality of the actual cakes, you can do better if you try places like Mita or Taka cakehouses (I don't think they would hire me in a million years).

However if the quality of the cakes is more important to you & the decor is just a bonus  distraction, then Nee has got the right stuff for you.

Kek Lapis Factory Destroyed in Fire!

Don't worry. This is not about Nee. Contrary to what many people might believe, she does not have a cake factory.

Rabiah Amit, the sole person who single handedly promoted Sarawakian kek lapis (layered cake) to this region for the past 3 decades, was shocked to find that her factory burnt down, with the rest of her 500 recipes.

This powerhouse of a lady had sold more kek lapis than any living person in the world. Her kek lapis publication is selling as hot as her cakes, still, to this very moment, outselling every single English & Chinese cullinary book in Malaysia.

Looking at this photo, of course it's understandable that she needs as much support as possible now, seeing that she's actually the single largest producer of kek lapis as a Sarawakian cultural product (which was borrowed from the Indonesians apparently). But looking at the concerned politician, I can't help but to wonder if he's more concerned about this tragedy or his appearance in the newspaper.

Now West Malaysians coming to Sarawak have one thing less to bring back aside from the pottery & Ikan Terubok.

Samantha's 2nd Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Samantha from Uncle Greg & Auntie Nee!

Hope little Sam like her Barney cake! You can read about the mega project here. Cake used is a 9 inch New York Cheese Cake.

Yam Fudge Cake on Chap Goh Meh

We went for a big family dinner tonight at the Sarawak Club for Chap Goh Meh. Nee made this cake & brought it over.

It's a Yam Fudge Cake which has very rich creamy yam fudge layered with moist yam sponge. It's one of those soothing & easy to take, all time favourite kinda cake.

NEE: As this was a last minute thing, I decided to go for real roses for decoration rather than full cream or fruits. I was looking for white roses which goes well with purple and the florist had these creamish ones instead. It goes well I guess with a sweet, weddingy effect.

It's definitely a cake for the uncle & auntie generation who grew up with Kenny Rogers, Jim Reeves, Elvis Presley, John Denver, Dolly Parton, Donny & Marie, & Anne Murray. And it really went down well with them tonite.

However, it wasn't such a hit with the under 30-year-old cousins. This is the Britney Spears' bunch. They drink Starbucks & Coffee Bean, & go for cheesecakes.

We realised that there is always a sentimental attachment to a type of cake that is hot during their time, and that stays with them. And it is pretty hard for it to cross over to another generation younger than them.

We hypothised that the trend must have started off with local egg rolls, traditional kuih, pandan kaya yam sponges, fresh cream cakes, and now rich cheese & chocolate cakes, and probably going into French gateaus, mousses & petite fours in the younger generation to come. We'd never thought so much of the link between cakes & generation gaps, but it is interesting to realise that it's there. Good God, Nee is already spoiling little kids with expensive Dark Belgium chocolates in her cakes, setting the next trend to come.

But for now, let's just eat & enjoy the family reunion. Happy Chap Goh Meh to all readers of Greg & Nee!

Christmas Goodies!

Baking and cooking with kids can be fun and inspiring. It makes me think real hard. It has to be easy enough, yet at the same time, it has to be something that they'll like and enjoy. Fortunately Christmas is nearing. So we just did things that revolved around that theme.

Christmas Logs with Fruity Swiss rolls

We had a cooking session in the morning, which consisted of mainly homemade pizza, from the base to sauce and toppings and the burgers, including the burger pates. These are items that they like to eat and they can be involved.

Overloaded Pizzas

The afternoon was purely baking. Here are the goodies we made. Yes i say WE cause the kids actually helped with the weighing of ingredients, scooping the batter, LICKING UP the bowls and chocolate bits, staring at the oven and then finally decorating the items.

See what I mean.

Our goodies gallery:

Rich Cocoa Brownies

Assorted Christmas Cupcakes

Tips:
It's important to remember not to take cooking with kids too seriously. Please they are just children. Otherwise, you will be pulling out all your hair. Just go ahead and have lots of fun. FUN FUN FUN! And let the maid pick up the mess. And it was fun and awesomely inspiring and of course children are always entertaining with their words and antics.

Rich Chocolate Brownies

There are so many varieties of Brownies in the market these days. The pure choc ones, choc ones added with nuts, choc ones added with cheese and nuts or even fruits. So with all those twisted variations out there, the question is - what exactly is a Brownie?

Interestingly, if we look at any Western baking or cook books, Brownies is not under cakes. They are under slices, biscuits or cookies. A lot of Asians take brownies as cakes and the problem is they make it so cakey. I have seen people calling square chocolate cake as brownies. What an insult to brownies!

It is true that there are some cakey brownies recipes in the baking world. But a good batch of brownies are signified with a very moist centre and a crusty top. It is usually not very high nor fluffy.

Also, it's usually made in square or rectangular tins and served as square slices with minimal decorations. It's almost like a grab-and-go piece of food item. We personally prefer rich brownies which is crusty on the top and slightly gooey in the centre. And brownies are supposed to be moist enough to lean towards gooey.

A good batch of brownies is not easy to make. This is the one item in the Chocolate range that took me quite a while to understand. Problems usually lies in the baking especially the baking time. I always have a tendency to worry about underbaking. Because of that, it pushes me to overbake!

Don't follow baking instructions blindly like a robot. Always watch with your own eyes. Check after 20 minutes. You must stop baking once the skewer comes out with moist, wet pieces clinging on it and this is usually taking about 20 to 35 minutes.

If your skewer comes out clean, your brownies is gone. If it comes out wet completely, it is not done. But do understand that once you take it off oven, it is still cooking internally. So it cannot be underbake.

Brownies should not be decorated with extra chocolate ganache topping because it is the crusty top that makes it special. But I do get a lot of requests for that. It's fine if you do because it will just add to the richness.

NEE's Lavish Choc Brownies

For Christmas, you can do a Brownies and decorate it up with loads of nuts like hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans and fruits like strawberry and raspberry for a Christmasy feel. The look & taste of it will certainly wow your guests. (Whisper) No one will know it took only less that an hour from preparation to baking and another 15 -20 minutes to decorate it up.

The Art of Kek Lapis

Sarawakians like to think that Kek Lapis belongs to us. Well, within Malaysia, it definitely is. I saw some in Penang before and my Aunt Linda gave me some of her friend's version while we were in KK, Sabah earlier on this year. But they're mainly the usual kek lapis (layer cake) or Greg's Zebra Cake. In Sarawak, we have Kek Lapis, Kek Lapis Corak (Pattern Layer Cake), Kek Lapis Gulung (Lapis Roll).

NEE's San Cha (haw flakes) Lapis

Layer Cake is the most common. The batter is so thinly spread that baking is done with high with top oven fire only. Each layer takes 2 -3 min to cook and next layer is spread on, level and bake again. Repeat process til batter finishes. Layer cakes comes in many flavours but we prefer the ones with original ingredients like prune, yam, chocolate, cheese, san cha, horlick, coffee and the usual traditional ones with spices.

Kek Lapis originated from Indonesia. Apparently it was first brought into the state by an Indonesian lady, who sold & taught the art of lapis in Singapore (weird, most Singaporean only eat the Traditional Indonesian Layer Cake which is with a hint of spices like cinammon and nutmeg).

I guess the local creative ingenuity had reengineered layer cakes into many different varieties and flavour and compositions. Of course the Indonesian ladies who married local men working in timber businesses in Indonesia, actually helped add to the local lapis scene. Sarawak is so closely linked to Indonesia that transfer of 'technology' & 'sociology' easily seeps through.

I haven't been making lapis at all since Chinese New Year. But the Hari Raya celebrations has gotten me in to the mood again.

Ros pased me a book called Kek Lapis Sarawak by a Malay lady called Rabiah Umit. It has many mind-bending psychedelic flower-power patterns, but the recipes suck! It tells people to literally throw everything in the mixer and beat. Ehmmm where got people bake like that unless they're making dry hard rocks.

So that's why I preferred to stick to my usual Indonesian version for very soft & moist cakes. And use it for Pattern Lapis and Lapis Rolls.

There are countless many many patterns one can do with Lapis Rolls. I've tried 4 types only. Like Pattern Lapis, this Lapis Rolls required precision in cutting the cakes and the patterns are formed by 'glueing' the various cuts together with strawberry or apricot jam.

This is the simplest form of Pattern Lapis. By pressing each layers with a mold during baking, wavy curves are created and can be seen once you cut the cakes.

This one took me the whole afternoon. I dont think I want to do this anymore for quite a while. Pattern Lapis is the hardest. Accuracy and precision is required. Otherwise, the cake will look completely off balance. There are so many patterns. Some even have sunflowers or words such as Happy Raya once you cut the cake. Cutting a Pattern Lapis is a true delight!

Tips for buying good lapis:
1) Cake must be moist. If you refridgerate it, you should defrost before serving and it will still be moist

2) Cake should last at least a month or more without any persevatives added if you store in normal refridgeration

3) Layers are even and fine for layer cakes

4) Patterns are nicely balanced for lapis rolls and pattern lapis.

5) Lapis rolls and pattern lapis look nice but taste so so and has a fair bit of colouring included. Beware! Some could be very very sweet.

Dont leave Sarawak without one! Price Guide: Layer Cakes with different flavours should not cost in the range of RM 50 to RM 80 for 8"X 8", depending on the ingredient. Lapis Rolls should not costs more than RM30 per 8" roll. Pattern lapis ranges from RM 90 to RM150 depending on the complexity of the patterns.

Try getting homemade ones if you can. Ask around, there will always be someone who knows someone who sells them.

I Wanna CocoNana

Watching National Geographic, we know that certain animals will come out for food at certain times of the day. Greg behaves in the same way that is predictable.

The pattern is very clear. When it's around 5-6pm, Greg will suddenly appear in the kitchen, a place where he seldom frequents except when it's feeding time. His words, 'I'm so hungry I want to faint liaw. I want Food-uh. Food-uh. Food-uh.'

Greg likes chocolate. He also likes bananas. Both are excellent laxatives for him when he has too much. I have combined these two into a cake which I call CocoNana.

It's basically layers of chocolate sponge with fresh chocolate cream and lined with bananas, covered with rich chocolate glacage. The art of making this cake requires the sponge to be chocolaty and soft, and the banana must be nicely ripened. Fresh cream must also be chocolaty without the articificial chocolate waxy aftertaste.

Nee's CocoNana: From here, it goes directly into Greg's mouth.

A decorated CocoNana from Nee's Kitchen

Secret Recipe is quite well known for this version of the cake (Chocolate Banana) but to be bluntly honest, it is bland. I'm sorry but I really couldn't eat at Secret Recipe. The cakes are generally puffy like it's got a lot air pumped into it to make them look big. And the huge amount of cream that goes with them makes them characterless.

We've tried many of its varieties in KL and came out really disappointed. I've once stood at the new Secret Recipe outlet counter in Kuching and was trying to find an item to buy. But in the end, I walked out empty handed. The only item we are happy with is the Marble Cheese in the KL outlet. At least they don't call it Chocolate Marble Cheese. If they do, I'd be mad cause a few lines of chocolate on top does not make a Chocolate Marble. I guess that's the difference between commercial & home baked cakes.

Kek Lapis: The Art of Cakes

Nee made some kek lapis (layer cake) yesterday. This is not the first time though.

She has made some before, something like over 100 pieces of 8" by 8"cakes in about a week.

I know! It was chaos!

I think Kek lapis looks like zebras.

I know I have a tendency to link food with exotic animals, but the similarity is obvious.

All the layers are painfully spread on one layer at a time. Take it out of the oven, spread the layer, put it back again. Repeat.

But this time, Nee tried out a new kind of kek lapis. Just look at them. It is madness. They're like pieces of pop art.

Pyramid Lapis

Spiderman Lapis

Streamyx Lapis

Somebody-stepped-on-the-Snail Lapis

In fact, kek lapis is synonymous with Sarawak. It is a signature Sarawak product like Laksa and Kolo Mee. You can hardly find so many varieties in other part of Malaysia. It comes in many different colours, designs and composition and flavours as well. It is truly an artform. Just look at our wall...

Neptune's Castle

Early on this year, I was given the honour of making a birthday cake for two very special little gals, Rhiana and Natalie. They are two gorgeous loveable little gals who are best friends and their birthdays are like 3 days apart. They specifically want Aunty Nee to make their cakes because i accidentally got a peep into their birthday party plan (I almost could not believe how methodical they are), computer typed out with list of food, games, venue and time and last item birthday cake. They are only 10.


But the catch was it has to be a castle, an under the sea castle called Neptune's Castle. I broke into cold sweat as I was only given one week's notice. I loved the challenge but worry if I did a lousy job I would disappoint the gals. SOS was sent out: Greg with his clay molding skills and Aunty Terry for ideas on buttercream and fondant.

This was the end product:

Two 10" American chocolate cake and layers of chocolate ganache staked on top of one another, followed by one 6"American Chocolate cake and finally two ice cream cones to top off. Cakes were creamed and the sea creatures, plants and features of the castle were shaped separately and stick onto the cake with buttercream.

Greg was really good with the shaping. His artistic sense came in really handy. So the cake is actually a joint effort by Aunty Nee and Uncle Greg to be exact. The gals yelped when they set eyes on the cake. Think they will remember their cake for a long time to come.

Everyone deserve to have their favourite cake for their birthdays. That is why i love baking. Cakes are delights. They put smiles on faces. They put shines in eyes. They give fond and happy memories. And I'm glad the gals were happy with their cake.