Pics: Facebook
The original Cake Boss Buddy Valastro was in town earlier this week to much celebrity fanfare but did you that a Malaysian has been quietly making waves for his jaw-dropping cake artistry too?
He's the man credited with shaking up the local baking scene with his 3D cakes, which are nothing less than works of art in their own right.
Meet Matthew, the self-taught baker who dreamed up his hallmark 3D durian cake three years ago, using fresh cream, sponge cake and durian flesh for his aunt who is a durian fan for her birthday and has never looked back.
Pics: Facebook
Matthew Wong retired as a accountant in Canada and returned to Malaysia with his wife Helen who loves to bake and soon turned her passion into a business. Matthew pitched in with cake decorating skills and soon Songket Artisan Bakery was born.
Recently, his cake caught the eye of international Hong Kong superstar Sammi Cheng who celebrated her birthday in Genting Highlands with one of Matthew's eye-catching creations.
This was followed by another Hong Kong actor, Andy Hui who made the time and effort to sample Matthew's creation when he had his concert in Malaysia in August this year.
Even local award-winning actress Lisa Surihani has shared her delight in coming across Matthew's creation in Instagram.
Pic: Instagram
Today the husband and wife team who make up Songket Artisan Bakery whose journey toward's culinary fame is more of a happy coincidence of hobby and passion is one of the 'best kept secrets' of their loyal staple of customers.
Their clients include captians of industry who request their cakes for corporate gigs, many royal houses throughout Malaysia who regularly order their cakes for functions and not forgetting, the legions of durian lovers in our country.
After Matthew's first attempt at the 3D Durian Cake, their fame spread initially by word of mouth as every customer who ordered their cake impressed their guests and anyone around with the creation so much so that they referred to the couple for further orders.
Their fame was helped by the rise of social media, and soon word of their famous cake artistry reached as far as Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Matthew shared how Sammi Cheng's posting on her Facebook and Instagram really sparked regional interest in their cakes in a recent interview with Malaysian Digest.
"We even have people from Hong Kong who call up and say we are coming on such and such day, can you prepare a cake for us?"
"They even ask us to open an outlet in Hong Kong. In fact we have interest from Indonesia.
"Locally, a lot of royal families are our customers, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, they order from us quite regularly, even some ministers, mentri besars.
"Debra Henry, the former Miss Malaysia Universe 2011 is also one of our customers," Matthew said.
Matthew says currently there are no competitors who can match the standard of artistry and flavour produced by the husband and wife team.
Pic: Facebook
He points out that the commercially produced version currently in the market at a cheaper price is more for mass-market consumption.
"If you taste my cake, you will know the difference immediately. That is why it is more expensive, honestly for anything less I would not be able to reproduce the quality.
"I can only do so many a day. If I have to do more than four a day, I would need painkillers," Matthew revealed the time-consuming process to craft the works of art each time, highlighting how he had been pushed to the limit once to produce twelve cakes a day before.
On the subject of the fantastical creations viewers see on the popular American 'Cake Boss' series, Matthew shares how those are actually easier as it uses fondant.
"My cake is done by using cream. One you make a mistake you have to take it out and start all over again.
"For fondant, its a lot easier and you can do anything under the sun. Anybody can do it but its different if you are dealing with cream.
"If you use fondant, the cake will look great but the taste is not that nice. The flavours are also limited as the body of the cake has to be hard enough to hold the fondant."
Songket uses fresh cream, not fondant, which is harder to shape and that means you need to throw away and start from the beginning if there is a mistake.
His wife, Helen later joined in for a chat and highlighted how their cakes are made to order.
"So far, others you see in the market cannot duplicate anything close to what we produce," she explains how the individual attention makes all the difference.
"Since the cakes are made to order, they can use less sugar. Commercially prepared cakes use higher sugar content to increase shelf life and preserve cakes longer,' she points out.
Pic: Malaysian Digest
Feeling inspired to try and create a 3D cake much like Songket's at home?
For now, the secret to the perfect works of art delivered to each customer lies in the techniques and finishing perfected by the couple.
Matthew says that secret to the finishing touches is known only to them, so each cake must be individually attended to by the couple to finish the decoration.
He recalled an incident where a particularly inspired girl came in with her father and offered to pay the couple RM20,000 to teach her how to make the cakes as she wants to take that skill to China but they reluctantly turned her down.
For now, if you want to try one of Songket's cake creations, head on over to Bangsar South to their cafe on Level 29, Tower A, Vertical Business Suite in Avenue 3 located on Jalan Kerinchi or drop in to their takeout booth on the ground floor of the same block.
They can also be reached on www.facebook.com/songketbakery/ and on Instagram at artisan@songketbakery.com.