Sarawak Layer Cakes

Siti Khadijah’s Sarawak layer cakes are more than palate-pleasing.

A CAKE is but a cake, but a layer cake, now that really takes the cake. And Siti Khadijah Diaudin’s Sarawak layer cakes are exactly the type of confections that would garner such a response.

Of course, a simple layer cake is self-explanatory. Mix two or three colours of batter and bake them layer by layer, pouring each colour in alternation to achieve the desired effect. But come the question of how the image of a flower, or perhaps a complex arrangement of geometric patterns in equally complex colour combinations is achieved and the head scratching begins.

What’s your flavour?: Siti Khadijah shows off the wide array of Sarawak layer cakes that she has in her shop.

“You have to imagine the forming of a picture in terms of squares and triangles in addition to having the ability to visualise the cake from all dimensions.

“Then you have to take an image apart so that you can put it together again,” said this 31-year-old who has been making Sarawak layer cakes for eight years.

And what a head for detail one must have! Take for example a rolled up cake with a combination of a series of four colours arranged in a cluster of squares to form a maze-like pattern of lines.

For this, up to six different colours of batter are first prepared and then baked layer by layer.

They are then cut into strips about 2cm in width, stuck together with mixed fruit jam and then rolled up tightly in a plain cake skin.

For the ones with pictures of flowers, the same principle is used but instead of a full square, a baker has to incorporate the use of triangles to form the petals, stalk and leaves on a square by square basis.

It is a simple principle of composing an image from a grid of squares, but due to the baking and layering, it is a time consuming process that needs pre-planning and a touch of artistic flair.

As it is, it was their aesthetic quality that got Siti hooked onto the idea of turning these works of art into a viable business.

This had happened at a time when Siti, who is no greenhorn to the food business, was looking for a fresh idea to boost flagging sales at her six kuih bakar stalls, at the farmers’ markets in Klang, Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya.

All squared up: Rolled up cakes with complex geometric patterns.

So when her elder sister, Masitah, returned from a trip to Sarawak with three layer cakes as gifts for Siti’s family, the timing was just right.

“I fell in love with it immediately and decided that I would use the Sarawak layer cake to revive my business,” recalled Siti, a mother of three.

As with everything new, don’t think it has not crossed Siti’s mind that the Sarawak layer cake may not just be another passing novelty.

But what has given this young entrepreneur the confidence to invest in a shoplot bakery with 15 staff and a newly opened showroom in Tesco Setia Alam in Klang was the surety that good food will always be timeless.

As it is, Siti’s layered creations, which are essentially butter cakes, have a very rich and moist quality to them.

She attributed this to the quality of butter used and she claimed that 250g of this cost about RM8.

“When you choose the best ingredients you get the best cake,” affirmed Siti.

Siti, who had started from a small stall at the age of 19 by selling ice-blended drinks at her university campus, would point out that diners tend to search for “specialists” when it comes to food.

“If they want to look for kuih bakar they will find someone who makes really good kuih bakar and be their loyal customers.

“In my case, I intend to make good kek lapis so that I will also have my loyal customers,” said Siti.

As with all things aesthetic, some form of philosophy is called for. So, call it coincidence but in symbolic terms, the Sarawak layer cake has a few positive messages to convey.

“When one looks at the miasma of colours within the layers, it reminds one that there is strength in unity.

“While a single colour may be attractive, a combination of other shades will form a pattern so striking that many more will come and admire it,” said Siti.

This is a reflection of how Siti’s family works. The UUM business administration graduate who is the sixth child of 14 siblings affirmed that she would not be where she is without her siblings’ help, pointing out that it was Masitah who had given her the idea in the beginning.

Vibrant and striking: Layer cakes that will please the eye as well as the palate at Siti’s showroom.

Soon, she will be looking to her elder brother, Mohd Radzi, for help in exporting her layer cakes as he will be opening a Malaysian restaurant in Jeddah.

Now, one does wonder if Siti, by character, is as meticulous as the details in her layer cakes and she quickly waved away the notion that she is anything but.

“Just look at my handbag and you judge whether I am as meticulous as you think. My husband often jokes that he would not be surprised to find an elephant in my overstuffed bag,” she jested.

But as disorganised as Siti claimed that she was, one of her staff would insist by quipping that she was actually a stickler for detail.

However, modesty must have prevented Siti from bragging. After all, her cakes would always speak for her.

For enquiries, call 016-323 9894.