THE ANATOMY OF cake

BY HATTY lIU （劉希洋）

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中國制造MADE IN CHINA

THE ANATOMY OF cake

BY HATTY lIU （劉希洋）

How a culinary import responds to local culture

中式“西點”的起源與進化

I n an age-old debate， the consensus appears to be that cakes have no precise culinary defnition， just breads conditioned by extra air bubbles and one's own cultural expectations for how desserts ought to taste. In the case of the nine-inch layer cakes now ubiquitous in bakery shop w indows across Chinese cities， this can be a perfect recipe for crossed cultural wires and disappointment.

Consider the appearance of the typical bakery cake—an airy foundation of an oven-baked， eggy concoction coated with a layer of what those in the English-speaking world m ight naturally consider to be “frosting” or “icing”. Yet the words “frosting”and “icing” defnitely recall a texture of crystallized sugar and crunchy glaze that the Chinese bakery cake share neither in composition nor taste. Instead，the Chinese bakery cake is glazed by the even more obviously named naiyou （奶油， “m ilk oil”）： a f uffy mass of cream， vegetable oil-based whipped topping， but on ly lightly tinged by a sweet taste. They often come topped w ith fresh fruits but the cream y glaze can dry up or break down after an hour or so left in the open air. Underneath， the base is typically a sponge cake held up by beaten egg whites and f lled w ith more cream and fruit.

Next to sim ilarly tiered-and-glazed Western stap les like the German chocolate cake or Boston cream pie or the basic buttercream sheet cake， it's no wonder the strangeness of Chinese cake and dessert is a perennial topic on expat blogs. M eanwhile， on line baking and decorating communities see routine calls from overseas Chinese and the cake decorators they hire for recipes clarifying that it is the elusive cake of their childhoods that they want， not that American stu ff.

On the f ip side， hordes of Chinese diners who encounter actual sugarbased frosting or icing， classic pound cake， custard， and chocolate-cream f llings， have had a one-word response to these Western culinary stap les： ni（膩）， which is not a bad British movie reference but a diffcult-to-translate word that means feeling sick from over-exposure to one taste. In the case of “Western desserts”， or xidian， they usually mean that the dessert is too sweet， or 甜膩， though sometimes they are also considered too oily or rich， or油膩. Whether your preferred poison is marzipan or meringue， fondant or the typical American buttercream，naiyou remains several magnitudes lighter and blander than all of these；the tartness of fruit also breaks up the monotony of grease and sugar.

A Chinese fan of TLC's Cake Boss，who took it upon herself to personally go sample Buddy Valastro's creations，made up this memorable summary of the experience in a web forum：“Ate some， wasn't good， everything was overly sweet， but foreigners like it pretty well.”

Stereotyped as a nation of riceeaters， it can be easy to forget that wheat-based foods and desserts have their own indigenous roots in China. In ancient times， the Silk Roads and maritime trading routes across Asia did brisk trade in desserts such as baklava and ingredients like nuts， dried fruits， almond paste， and eventually sugar cane and vanilla. However， globally， the concept of “cake” as a four-based concoction made with refned sugar and raised by beaten eggs， rather than unleavened or raised by yeast， was associated with Europe toward the m id-17th century，doubtlessly helped by the large-scale cultivation of sugar cane in the New World colonies. This history is refected in the names of the culinary certifcates at places like the Beijing New East Cuisine School； mastering wheat-four creations like 餅!（bǐng）makes you an expert at “Chinese-style four-based snacks

（中式面點），” but know ledge about making and decorating cake falls under the curriculum of “Westernstyle four-based snacks” （西式面點） or simply “Western snacks” （西點）.

The earliest and clearest genealogy of a European-infuenced style of sponge cake becom ing an East Asian dessert tradition belongs to the Japanese castella. Brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants in the sixteenth century， this is a honey-favored cake raised by egg whites w ithout the aid of butter or other oil.

It is less clear when the Europeaninfuenced cake made landfall in China. According to the court w ritings of the Q ing Dynasty， Q ianlong Em peror and Cixi Emperess were both reportedly fond of a snack called 槽子糕 （cáozigāo）， a small round cake specially baked for breakfasts in the im perial court out of fresh eggs， white sugar and four. So called because 蛋was inauspiciously associated w ith curses and insults in the im perial capital， the character 槽 （mould）referred to the instrument for baking the cake， and it is now considered a local delicacy in Beijing and Tian jin.

References to Western-style restaurants in Chinese cities and European-inspired desserts being consumed by the elite classes in the im perial capital can also be found in the Q ing Dynasty w ritings such as Qing Records of Petty Matters and Record of the Awakened Garden， the latter of which contains a section of recipes on preparing the most fashionable desserts and confections of the m id-18th century. The Qing Records of Pett Matters tells us that by at least the 19th century Western desserts had become commonplace enough in China to be grouped into fve categories： meringues， “wet” desserts （such as ice cream）， bread， crispy pastries such as cookies， and cake. The cake is said to be a type of “cream cake” that tastes “soft and spongy”.

In term s of taste， texture， and the method of preparation， cakes in China appeared to have already developed a style of their own by the 18th century In the Record of the Awakened Garden，compiled in 1782， the primary mode of cooking both egg-based dangao and “Western cake” was by steaming. This wou ld have provided a softer， airier and moist texture to an otherw ise fam iliar set of steps to a modern-day baker， calling for a ratio of a pound of four， 10 eggs， and half-pound of white sugar evenly m ixed and set to rise， then steamed until “chopsticks can be inserted without sticking” and served once it is “cooled and cut in slices”. Those making the “egg-base cake” also have the option of makin a “dry cake” by warm ing up the m ixture on a stove before baking in a small metal furnace. The “Western cake” in the 18th-century China called for 16 eggs for every pound of four and half pound of white sugar， as well as half a bow l of sweet rice w ine （酒釀 jiǔniàng） and water. A fter “m ixing by using chopsticks” and “blowing away the foam”， the batter must be left somewhere warm to rise， and thenwrapped securely in cloth before being placed in a bamboo steamer.

The commercial bakery offering Western-inspired birthday cakes， danishes， shortbreads， and other pastries had their start in the 1980s and 90s on the Chinese mainland， helped by market reform as well as the techniques and adaptations for taste developed by bakeries in Hong Kong. Well-known Chinese bakery chains such as Holiland and Christine were both founded in 1992， later joined by chains such as Weidome， Auspicious Phoenix， Ichido， and Kengee. It was also around this time that it became tradition in China to serve cake at birthday celebrations， which were and still are partly associated w ith foods such as nood les symbolizing longevity and boiled egg， symbolizing “rollover onto the next year”.

Today， however， the fruit-and-naiyou bakery cake is more or less referred to by default with the term “birthday cake”， while more elaborate， artistic，fondant-based cakes for weddings and expositions tend to be the job of boutique bakeries and specialty chains such as Black Swan rather than the commercial bakery. If the search results of group-buying sites are any indication， in more recent years mousse cakes featuring stencilled-on astrological signs are becom ing the trendy option in birthday cakes. The absence of ovens in most Chinese homes makes DIY cake-decorating sessions a popular offering at commercial bakeries as a birthday treat for one's children and friends.

The icing vs. naiyou distinction aside，another point of departure between the English and Chinese language of cakes is that a cake in Chinese is not a cake until it is properly garbed. The early example from the Qing records aside， the modern word dangao refers usually to the fnal product on the shelf once it is coated in naiyou and decorated， while the part that comes out of the oven is more accurately the pizi （坯子， base） or dangao pi （蛋糕坯， cake base）， not to be sold or consumed separately. The difference in the texture of naiyou and sugar-based icing leads to several unique cake-decorating techniques and patterns found among Chinese bakeries. Although cream is less stable and breaks down more quickly than sugar-based icing， a skilled decorator will be able to pipe the same types of decoration with the same level of intricacy. However， the lines， borders，and the edges of fower petals made with naiyou are noticeably smoother and shinier， w ith a rounded and fowing appearance compared to the jagged and stiff textures of icing or fondant. The fruit or chocolate garnishes can also be cut and arranged into creative patterns to give a vertical dimension to the cake.

The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac， the red-tipped “longevity peach” （壽桃!shòutáo）， mah-jong pieces， and the bearded “old sage of longevity” （老壽星 lǎoshòuxing）are stap le Chinese decoration on birthday cakes. These can be piped directly onto the cake using cream as three-dimensional fgures， which， according to the evaluation forms for job applicants at the popular chain bakery Auspicious Phoenix， is a required skill for their decorators. To make a bearded sage， which is a common motif used in birthday cakes for the elderly， the decorator puts a wide-tipped piping bag close to the surface of a cake and slow ly builds the feet， body and eventually the head by squeezing in a circular motion， then smoothing the fgure an adding details w ith a small brush. The hair and beard are then piped onto the body w ith a small parchment bag， w ith the silky texture of the naiyou giving comp lement to the mystical， fow ing hair and robes of the old immortal. Alternatively， the pizi m ight be cut into small pieces that are then used to make the base of a three-dimensional fgure， or else the fgure m ight be premade out of chocolate， as is common for mah-jong-piece decorations.

Due perhaps to the sensitivity of naiyou to room tem perature and heat from the decorator's hands， typical cream-based Chinese bakery cake decorations are meant to be com pleted in a short amount of time. Provided you don't visit at a busy time or with an abnormally com plicated order，you can walk into most bakeries in China and leave with your decorated birthday cake in 15 m inutes or less. On line tutorials for making threedimensional cake decorations usually clock in at fve to ten m inutes even including explanations. There is also a sub-genre of videos， aimed at professional and amateur decorators，where the appeal seem s to at least partly be watching the decorator pipe the most com p licated fgure in as short a time as possible， usually one to two m inutes. TLC has got some com petition.