Thursday October 22, 2009
Winning ways with chocolate cake
Story and photos by PRIYA MENON
THE best bakers in town showed their creative flair at the Third Chocolate Cake Championship recently at the Great Eastern Mall in Kuala Lumpur.
The event, organised to showcase the most creative and best chocolate cakes, also featured celebrities and hoteliers selling their cakes for charity.
The Chief Judge for the day was celebrity Chef Wan, who was aided by a panel of judges from the local media, including The Star Weekender senior editor Sharifah Intan.
Among the celebrities who were present to help sell slices of cakes for RM15 apiece were Sharifah Armani, Rafidah and Tini from 3R, Nikki, Diana Danielle, Nora Danish, Fahrin, Linda Onn, Irma, Fizo, Andrew Tan, Sazzy Falak, Khai and Gavin.
Fluttering beauties: TV3 celebrity Rafidah and local artist Andrew Tan with chef Holger Deh from the Mandarin Oriental with the cake Paradise of Butterflies. The proceeds were channelled to ChildrenCare, a charity project by Great Eastern.
Sharifah Armani said the championship was a great way to raise funds and witness the best pastry chefs with their cakes.
“It’s a win-win situation — we get to taste great chocolate cake and raise funds; what could be better?” she said.
A total of 13 hotels took part in the competition with a variety of chocolate cakes in the distinctive themes.
The Legend Hotel went with a “One Malaysia, One Chocolate Cake” theme. The cake included a large numeral ‘1’ made from white chocolate. In line with the theme, chef Ganapathy Thiagarajan also played patriotic songs at his counter.
Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel’s Rosaline Mud Cake had a similar theme and featured three balls, representing the three main races in Malaysia, and a tusk, symbolising all three races’ climb to victory.
The hotel’s main cake, called the Rosaline Chocolate Mud, was bought by birthday girl Jessica Koh, 30, who later donated it to Yayasan SunBeams home.
Sign of the times: In line with its ‘One Malaysia, One Chocolate Cake’ theme, The Legend Hotel’s cake included a large numeral ‘1’ made from white chocolate. “Crowne Plaza has the best chocolate cakes and I thought it would be nice to share my birthday with the needy,” she said.
The Royal Chulan brought forth the Colour of Harmony with a moist chocolate fudge cake made from three different types of chocolate — Jivara, Guanaja and Equatorial, which are the most expensive chocolates.
Grand Seasons Hotel assistant pastry chef Mohd Khairi Mohd Najib decided to combine unlikely flavours — cempedak, hazelnut, chocolate and carrot — in his creation which was themed “Natural Butterfly Garden”.
“The taste is truly unique,” said Khairi. “I didn’t realise they would blend so well together as nobody has tried this combination before.”
Renaissance Hotel, had one of the most creative cakes, called Beauty and the Beast.
“The base is made of crispy wafer, followed by hazelnut dacquoise, caramelised banana, passion fruit and creme brulee,” chef Niklesh Sharma revealed.
He also crafted a fiery dragon complete with large scales as the beast guarding the small butterflies.
Another entry that had a dragon was the Berjaya Times Square Hotel’s, with the theme “The Taste of Legends”.
According to chef Mohd Ghouse Ishak, the dragon was built to protect a treasure and the cake had five different flavours.
Among the ingredients were macadamia nut, chocolate cream layer with biscuit base topped with chocolate mousse.
Mandarin Oriental was inspired by butterflies and called its creative piece Paradise of Butterflies. A carving of a puma was placed inside as a guardian of the butterflies.
Unlike the rest, chef Holger Deh decided to use a truffle cake with mango cream and passion fruit to add a sweet and sour taste.
“I wanted to combine European flavours with oriental taste,” he explained.
In the spirit of Deepavali, Equatorial Hotel presented a chocolate and banana cake decorated with a large peacock, simply titled Elegant.
Assistant pastry chef Elaine Lu said the concept of Deepavali had never been tried before, so they decided to pursue the idea.
Dorsett Regency opted for a simple traditional cake called Grandma’s Secret Chocolate Cake. In line with its name, the moist chocolate cake came complete with a rocking chair.
Palace of the Golden Horses showcased a fancy Disney character cake to attract the younger generation. Chef Deivendra Kumar said it was made to complement the charity event held for the children.
Sheraton Imperial Hotel highlighted cocoa beans as the inspiration for chocolate cakes.
Istana Hotel chose a classic yet modern look called Classic Automobile while Holiday Inn Glenmarie settled for the theme “Flower”.
Another good Samaritan, Loh Lee Lee, bought three main cakes from Equatorial Hotel, Palace of the Golden Horses and the Grand Seasons Hotel cake.
She said she loved the design of the cake from Equatorial Hotel and planned to give it to her friend, while the Disney cake from Palace of the Golden Horses was sent to her grandchildren and the Grand Seasons cake was sent to a home for children.
“I loved the cakes and wanted to do a bit for charity, so I bought them,” said Loh who spent RM1,500.
There were three categories in the competition that day. One was the NTV7 Kids Choice Award, which was awarded to the Royal Chulan Hotel. The others were The Most Creative Chocolate Cake and the Best Chocolate Cake.
Renaissance Hotel won both The Most Creative Chocolate Cake and the Best Chocolate Cake, while the Mandarin Oriental emerged first runner-up in both categories.
Grand Seasons Hotel was the second runner-up in The Most Creative Chocolate Cake category, while Sheraton Imperial was second runner-up for the Best Chocolate Cake.
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