Tepee

Andiesenji, I'm in awe of your cocoa fruit cake recipe. When I do bake it, I'll do so with great reverence, knowing the age/history of its origin. Thank you so much for sharing it.

Pan, you must have missed Kew's description on the difference btw chinese and indian rojak...scroll up a little. Kew, yes, that's the one! Hah, I've got a weak constitution too, and I don't return to a stall which I've had "problems" with, except for this mamak restaurant near my ex-office. It was the only one around in that area, and I just couldn't bring myself to believe that they were the cause of my grief. The reactions usually come very fast...takes me just from the shop to my office. Besides, now that I'm home-bound, I've been having home-cooked meals which spoils the whole seasoned set-up of my stomach from when I used to eat out a lot.

LOL, sounds like I had Nasi Ulam a la Pan too! It was a stall in Damansara Heights where you get to pick the veg you want. I always accompany this with a piece of Ayam Masak Merah....mmm mm. On chinese rojak, to me, how good it is does not only depend on the sauce, but the keropok (crackers) quality. Good one at Jalan Batai. There's quite a good Indian rojak in OUG. It's so good with chendol (must have kidney beans for me) that you always see these 2 stalls side by side. There seems to be a good one along the highway outside Damansara Utama; always see a long queue, but somehow haven't tried it yet.

BKeith Thank you for the info on your fondant and gumpaste. I can't find any commercial fondant anywhere in M'sia, so I make my own; still in the process of finding the right "tweak". It'll be too costly to get it online because of its weight/shipping costs. Annie and Wendy and others If you're going to post your cakes on a regular basis here, you'll be making a lot of people like myself very very happy . Love the fish cake, Annie...very artsy. You should have stuck around to see the red mouths and teeth!! Many thanks for your very pertinent tips on chocolate modelling. Tracy K. I pm'ed you on how to post images...did you receive it? Would love to see more cakes, cakes, cakes.

Wendy, I've had my eyes on this site for some time now. They do marvellous work. But resigning myself to the fact I will not be able to reproduce that in the near future (don't have the equipment or the paper, is it rice paper?), I'm wondering if other methods could be used. Chocolate wraps, for example. Or strips of fondant rolled together. Of course, the result will not be as beautiful as the printed ones. Just my 2 sen.

Wendy, I don't have an iota of doubt to the taste of your creations! I only wish I could sample it! The planning was excellent; that you managed to hold the theme of handbags together so well. It must have thrilled many a guest! I'm afraid, the part on being a pastry chef, is where I differ from most of you. I'm just a homebaker who's passionate about "cake art". Of course, I do strive that one day, the taste of my cakes will lift people to heights too. I'm sure eGullet will play a huge part in helping me towards that goal. Thank you, y'all!

Annie Ooh laa lah, your french cake is gorgeous! I've only attempted chocolate clay (same as plastic?) once, and that was using dark chocolate. My questions would be... 1) Did you use any internal supports for your guy and easel? Or is the plastic strong enough without the need of any supports? 2) What do you use to color white chocolate plastic? Powder, gel colors? Afraid my knowledge of chocolate work is about zero. Marilyn Thanks so much for sharing your site too. I especially love your very whimsical dotty chocolate-wrapped cake. Must attempt that. Any pointers would be appreciated. As I'm posting this, I just realized that Wendy has just posted some more eye candies....must go look....<<<jumping for joy>>>

Foodie, your canneles are just beautiful !

You know, Pan, you're right. I was only looking at it from my perspective; I forgot about the differences. One difference which I discovered is coconut juice is OK for Malays to consume during a pregnancy, but for a chinese, that's a no-no. Hmm..there should be an impartial party researching into this.

Are you Keith Ryder?? Just want to say that I've been an admirer of your work since I stumbled into your site last year. My computer's acting up at the moment and can't seem to access your site. I just noticed you have a rolled fondant and gumpaste for sale too. Would you care to share some info on that, since there's been some questions asked on what fondant to buy?

That certainly looks like fun! Thanks for sharing those pics. However, in my very little piglet opinion, the cake slices look more like a meal than a tasting to me. So huge! Aaarrrgh, you're killing me with that last photo! Can't wait for our very own Malaysian banana cake tasting next month.

By the time I get done decorating the cake (and sometimes board), I have little left in me to do the writing. Hate having to mix that little bit of royal icing or buttercream for piping the wishes. Recently, I discovered a way out of that. I melt some of the fondant leftover and voila, that's piping icing. I envy those who print out the font they want and pin-prick it on the cake. It makes the finishing so much more professional.

Heaty food is OK, it's cooling food, like watermelon, black grass jelly drink, certain vegetables which are taboo. Nope, it was the slope and the load which did me in.

Just saw this thread....I love Rendang too! I remember when I was almost due with my 2nd child, I just had to have rendang for lunch and walked uphill in the hot sun to get it. That night my bag burst, but it was worth it. I've a rendang recipe from Jelita magazine which has some gula melaka in it. The 2 times I cooked it, I had good reviews. Will have to dig it up.

I agree that Pan is definitely more Malaysian than us, Kew! Pan, your knowledge and retention of Bahasa is incredible for just 2 years' stay, when was that, 20 over years ago?? My fav M'sian Malay dish would be Nasi Dagang with Ikan Tongkol. When I was expecting my 1st child, and still working then, a very faithful Malay colleague used to go to Setapak and queue up at this very laku stall to get me my morning fix. Oh, I love Nasi Ulam too, especially the four-angled beans with sambal. Never knew they could taste so good raw! At this moment, my M'sian chinese fav would be popiah, and Indian, roti canai, of course, but there's only 1 or 2 stalls which do their dhall curry the way I like it.

Kew, do you think Konyaku jelly will do the trick? It seems to be such a strong gelling agent and it's vegetable-based.

Thanks again, Wendy...you make me feel so welcomed, in my own capacity. I love every purse you did...so real. The doggies are bas relief - my first attempt. Glad you liked it. Well, almost everything I do is a "first" attempt as I'm so new at this, and there are so many techniques to explore. On the boards, this one is covered with a present wrapping paper and the cake put on greaseproof paper. However, forthis one , it was a spur of the moment thing...it just came to me as I was brush-embroidering the lotus. I was supposed to brush-embroider the leaves too, but took the lazy way out. I just painted off my head on green fondant, and surprised myself how well it came out. Oh, I heard about using contact paper, but can't find them here, so I'm forced to be a bit "creative". Woo hooooo... I'm just hoping that more people will come forward and post more of these eye candies.

Gosh, Wendy, you mention me in the same thread as Annie...aww, shucks, wow, As it is, I'm prostrating before experienced chefs like yourself and Annie and all the greats here on this board. I'm only starting to climb the learning curve... A lot of well-meaning people give me used but cleaned cake boards to recycle, sturdy wooden plywood ones. I rip the paper covering out, re-cover with foil paper on top and parchment at the bottom. I also use foamboards if I've to work with an irregular shape. Yes, I love to decorate the board, when appropriate. What I do is decorate the cake first on the board. I don't like to cover the whole board with fondant, as I hate to have a sticky mess at the bottom of the cake, although that can be fixed by putting the cake on greaseproof paper cut into the outline of the cake. What I do is plaster the area surrounding the cake with some quickie fondant (sugar, egg white, glucose syrup). Let it dry for a while and paint on it or whatever, like this recent cake I did. I'm really glad you started this thread and Annie is so sporting to share her work. Thank you, ladies!

mktye! You are thorough! Thank you! Methinks you may have to reach outside your family for further cake tastings. Please convey our gratitude to the willing/unwilling guinea pigs. BTW, I would love to have the recipe for 2 9"rounds, please. TIA!

Umm, at the risk of sounding like a quack...have you and Mrs. tried ginseng? American, Siberian, Korean, whatever. A friend of mine had problems conceiving after her first child (she took The Pill right after). Someone told her to try ginseng. After she and her husband religiously took it in capsules for 3 months, they conceived and they now have another boy. At that time she was 45, hardly a fertile age. However, on discovering the pregnancy, please abstain from ginseng as it's a stimulant.

Thanks so much, Annie, for sharing those "secrets", and the how-to on the cranium. I live for the day I get to do very different cakes like you! I'll definitely take you up on your "anything you wanna ask" offer!

Will have to think, think, think on the date and time. Not going anywhere too for the hols, except for a nite in Gentings; watching Annie (my niece is her understudy).Howz about doing a cake test (banana or chocolate) on top of the potluck? Is family welcomed? Yay, will this be the 1st M'sian chapter of eGullet get-together?

Hey, I was just pulling your leg! Couldn't resist it coz your spread sounds so yummy!

I just went to look for Ms Kalita's article. Is it this one? Again, I don't see any reference to any wedding cakes. But, it's OK. I've a better understanding from the above posts already.

Thanks, Monica! You've covered all I wanted to know. Thanks also for the lead on the other article on Indian Weddings. Will pass this on to my cake pals.