Life's a piece of cake

Sweet delights abound downtown this month, as Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association and its business members celebrate International Cake Day 2012 on the theme “the magical taste of Thai”.

The baked goodies are being created by veteran pastry chefs from the Centara Grand, Grand Hyatt Erawan, the Renaissance and the InterContinental Bangkok and most of them are being made with local fruits to reflect the sweet Thai magic.

Highlights include a limited number of durian delight pudding cakes created by executive pastry chef Eric Cochard of Centara Grand. Available at Zing Bakery, these bring together French patisserie techniques and Thai ingredients to create new flavours that will have you wanting more.

This three-layered pudding cake is coated with coconut and adorned with pink macaroons made from chilli. Pop a piece in the mouth and you savour the sensation of smooth durian cream that contrasts with the sweet and sour flavour of yellow mango pudding, while biting on a stiff lower layer made from coconut and sticky rice in coconut milk. 

“We’ve opted for coconut, durian and mango as we feel they best represent Thai flavours,” says Thawat Prathumpuang, pastry chef of Centara Grand. “Our two-pound cake costs Bt813 and should be ordered three days in advance.”

For the chocoholics, Thawat is also whipping up a black forest cake made from Swiss chocolate and filled with sweet cherries.

At the Erawan Bakery, executive pastry chef Prayooth Klomklieng has a pandan and coconut cake starting at Bt445 a pound. Aromatic and light, this pale green sponge cake is decorated with colourful luk chup (traditional Thai sweets made from green mung bean). 

“We’re an international bakery and serve all kinds of pastries. Because we are concerned about health and quality, we always choose local fruits like mango and lychee for our cheesecakes,” says Prayooth. “For this occasion, we are offering a mixture of Western and Thai techniques and have also come up with a cappuccino cheesecake.”

Dech Sangsrijan of the Renaissance Bangkok’s The One bakery proudly presents a jasmine chocolate & mango jelly cake, which is a chocolate mousse cake with a jasmine aroma and a mango jelly filling. It’s served with a glass of iced jasmine vanilla latte coffee for Bt199. 

“This is a fusion of West and East. We use chocolate from Switzerland to contrast with the sweet and sour mango jelly,” says Aujcharapa Wangsawang, marketing communications officer of Renaissance. 

The One is a New York-style bakery, offering great American donuts, which Dech blends with strawberry and green tea to keep the original flavour and aroma. His other best sellers include Lavender chocolate cheesecake and chocolate silk cake made from premium chocolate from Switzerland and pistachio. 

Sebastiaan Hoogewerf at The InterContinental’s Deli bakery offers crunch cakes in two flavours - white chocolate & Thai mango and pandan & passion fruit. The first is a three-layered delight of white chocolate mousse and frozen mango jelly while the second blends sour pandan and sweet passion fruit on a crunch rice flatcake. They’re served with a choice of coffee and tea for Bt199-plus.

“We’re using organic mangoes because they’re sweeter and healthier, while passion fruit is packed with multi-vitamins. The Thai rice flatcake offers a different kind of texture,” says pastry chef Saiyud Boonthong.

 

SWEET TREATS DAILY

>> Zing is located on the ground floor of Centara Grand. It’s open daily from 7am to 9pm. Call (02) 100 1234 extension 6485.

>> Erawan Bakery is located on the ground floor of Grand Hyatt Erawan. It’s open daily from 7am to 10pm. Call (02) 254 1234.

>> The Deli is on the ground floor of InterContinental Bangkok. It’s open daily from 8am to 7pm. Call (02) 656 0444.

>> The One bakery is located in front of Renaissance Bangkok. It’s open daily from 7am to 8pm. Call (02) 125 5111.