Why Are All Thai Bakery Cakes The Same?

[RY12]

Anyone else notice that in all the local bakeries (serving Thais) across Thailand the western-style cakes in the display all look and taste the same across the country? Are they shipped out from factories or is there just a strong adherence to uniformity? The cakes all look attractive and nice, but the icing is always the same in each variety- too bland without enough sugar. Just been wondering what's going on with that, should I just request for a custom cake that they dump more powdered sugar in the mix or do they need a different shortening all together?

[blue eyes]

There is a bakery that we like to use for cakes in Korat.It is just west of Yamo on the south side about a block west.It does a great job with cakes among other "kanom".It is not cheap by Thai means, but it is a good price for what you get.I wil try to get the address.

[Fantasteak]

Not enough sugar in Thai cakes.... Are you mad or have you lost your tastebuds?

[RY12]

Not enough sugar in Thai cakes.... Are you mad or have you lost your tastebuds?

The profusion of icing is deceiving, it makes you think it's sugary but in reality most american bakers at least would view as not sweet (for me, icing isn't sweet enough until it burns a little and crystallizes in open air, thai icing is just kind of greasy and bland). Maybe your cakes in Khorat blueyes are expensive because they have more powdered sugar? sugar expensive?

[toptuan]

Completely agree with RY12. Despite it's outward beauty, a Thai cake is like eating a bland sponge covered with shortening (or lard). Reminds me of many things in Thailand: form without substance.

The only place I've had a decent pastry in Thailand has been Starbucks (which I presume imports most of their sweets, considering the price!)

[BugJackBaron]

Completely agree with RY12. Despite it's outward beauty, a Thai cake is like eating a bland sponge covered with shortening (or lard). Reminds me of many things in Thailand: form without substance.

The only place I've had a decent pastry in Thailand has been Starbucks (which I presume imports most of their sweets, considering the price!)

Um there are alternatives to Chains, be they Thai or American. Like German bakeries.

Some are good some not so good. Best ones I've found were in Phuket. Worst in Pattaya.

I find starbucks stuff tolerable at best and always pricey.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Asian bakers don't have the skill or imagination of their western counter-parts. Asian desserts just aren't that good. Be it pastries, cookies, tarts, or cakes, they just aren't quite up to par for western tastes. For that reason, ice cream, mango pudding or fresh fruits are my favorite Asian desserts. Some people like mochi, or sugar/bean-filled buns, but I just find them gummy.

Um there are alternatives to Chains, be they Thai or American. Like German bakeries.

Some are good some not so good. Best ones I've found were in Phuket. Worst in Pattaya. I find starbucks stuff tolerable at best and always pricey.

Grottino Bakery, tucked behind Tukcom in Pattaya, is a very good swiss bakery. I've had their breads, but not their cakes. Their cakes do look good, however.

Edited May 6, 2008 by zaphodbeeblebrox

[RY12]

Completely agree with RY12. Despite it's outward beauty, a Thai cake is like eating a bland sponge covered with shortening (or lard).

exactly... same is true in Hong Kong as well.

Edited May 6, 2008 by RY12

[IMA_FARANG]

Completely agree with RY12. Despite it's outward beauty, a Thai cake is like eating a bland sponge covered with shortening (or lard).

exactly... same is true in Hong Kong as well.

In Thailand cakes with frosting are relatively new....30/40 years ago there probably wasn't such a thing....and it is still a Farang type thing. Although you will find them today in the cities it still isn't considered really Thai by a lot of the older Thais. Also it is considered something for the well off class, more Farang than Thai.

Of course then there are Thai Kanom desserts.

[sugarhead]

Because they all use the same, cheapest (and most un-healthy) ingredients on the market.

Best pastries, cakes, breads are found only in places catering to wealthy foreigners (4-5 star hotels, luxury food franchises,...) but still far below quality in Europe.

And yes, superficiality seems to be a standard ....

[cathyy]

My husband's theory is that the Thai bakers have seen pictures of western cakes, and have managed to reproduce the look of one. They have not ever tasted a western cake, though, so have no idea how they are supposed to taste. I think he's right. The cakes are pretty bad. The texture of the cake is wrong, more like a quick bread than a cake, and not sweet enough. The frosting is a bit better, much like commercial bakery frosting in the US, almost all shortening. Butter melts at too low a temperature to be used for frosting here. Ever notice that they carry Betty Crocker cake mixes, but no cans of frosting? At least here in Korat, anyway.

[blue eyes]

My husband's theory is that the Thai bakers have seen pictures of western cakes, and have managed to reproduce the look of one. They have not ever tasted a western cake, though, so have no idea how they are supposed to taste. I think he's right. The cakes are pretty bad. The texture of the cake is wrong, more like a quick bread than a cake, and not sweet enough. The frosting is a bit better, much like commercial bakery frosting in the US, almost all shortening. Butter melts at too low a temperature to be used for frosting here. Ever notice that they carry Betty Crocker cake mixes, but no cans of frosting? At least here in Korat, anyway.

Cathy,At the Big-C in Korat I have seen the cans of frosting.

[TheDon]

Chinese bakeries are the best, they have that sausage anf flavoured breads and all that other shit

[simcity]

Chinese bakeries are the best, they have that sausage anf flavoured breads and all that other shit

Well written menu, you have the Art of Chalk...

Edited May 6, 2008 by simcity

[BugJackBaron]

Because they all use the same, cheapest (and most un-healthy) ingredients on the market.

Best pastries, cakes, breads are found only in places catering to wealthy foreigners (4-5 star hotels, luxury food franchises,...) but still far below quality in Europe.

And yes, superficiality seems to be a standard ....

I have had occasionally stuff that was just as good as the west...once in

a hotel near Nana in Bangkok - not cheap but they used real berries!(blueberries and blackberries

are not native to Asia)

Another time was in a small guesthouse off Jomtien beach..I think it was home baked but

they got it amazingly right.

But you are right in that its not easy getting the real deal. However in Korea

its simply impossible.(the one independent american baker that had it right was

booted out by their "mafia")

Edited May 7, 2008 by BugJackBaron

[cathyy]

Cathy,At the Big-C in Korat I have seen the cans of frosting.

Sigh. Of course I get this gem of info 4 days after my husband's birthday. But thanks, I will be heading there soon to pick some up. I can make frosting, I just don't want to after making the cake!

[Samuian]

Agreed some of the Thai Food is very good, but nearly ALL of the Desserts incl. Pastries and Cakes are way beyond my grasp.

How a bout a serve of Hale's Syrup on shaved Ice? or sweet Corn, colored Sago, Tapioca threads and black Beans in Coconutmilk?

Here on Samui, there was a kind of homemade Coconut Cake on every market available... disappeared into nothingness, the homemade Coconut Ice cream (Kati) also pretty good, but that is about it.

Anyone on Samui has a craving for rich, western style Chocolates, Pastries and Cakes... see "Angela's", just a wee bit before Mae Nam, left hand just passed the "Mini-Police Station"..

The Chaweng Regent, The Deli @ Centara Grand Beach Resort, Coffee World, Black Canyon, Tops and Tesco offer some interesting Cookie Assortments...still all are quite pricey... cause the Ingredients are...

[Cuban]

Sorry this is a little off topic - but there is a bakers I know that makes wonderful short bread biscuits - I just needed to instruct them to make them about three times the size so they can be dunked in a cup of tea.

Cakes - yes -dire. I wondered if it was a rice based vs wheat based baking tradition?

[TheDon]

Chinese bakeries shit on western bakeries. Actually probably a toss up between chinese and Scottish

[janj]

There's also a decent bakery by the Ari BTS. Ari side, right next to the escalator. I haven't tried their cakes, but their banana muffins and pecan tarts are great.

[donna]

mmmmm.....snot blocks......

[samran]

Asian bakers don't have the skill or imagination of their western counter-parts.

except it seems the ones who were colonized by the froggies.

Seem to get better pastries and cakes in Laos or Vietnam in a bog standard bakery there than you can at some of the more reputed high end places here in BKK. Vietnamese immigrants to OZ who set up as bakers are doing a roaring trade these days, as the old timers die off, the new Australians pick up where they left off and are doing pretty well at it too.

At the end of the day, the Thais seem to love the green or purple lard like icing covering the bog standard stuff inside. I always hate when there is a birthday in the office and you are foced to have a slice, bearly keeping yours self from chucking it all back up 10 mins later. The verdict from everyone else is though "wonderful cake!!"

Little wonder when the average Thai has taken the translation for bread 'khanom pang' a little too literally and made the local stuff sweet as sweet can be..

[Seizhin]

My Mom attended several Bakery classes before and taught them to me.

Most of the recipes are the same, except for a few minor changes, other than that, you'd have to use your head to create something imaginative which, very few knows where to use their imagination for.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Seizhin

[madamchu]

Like what Seizhin said, almost of the bakery classes in Thailand are similiar but a fews modification on recipes so the taste and display are mostly the same. I think most of bakery shops make the western-style bakeries in western-thai-style that is why you hardly find a really western-style bakeries in Thailand. Same as when we go abroad and have some Thai dishes, we are always find the Thai-western-style dishes not a really Thai-style.

[jfchandler]

Someone mentioned a hotel around Nana...

Perhaps...they are thinking of the Bangkok Baking Co. (BBCO) at the JW Marriott Hotel near Soi 2... They have a great bakery and do wonders with all kinds of deserts.... even by western standards... because... the desert chef is from the west. But, I'm not sure I see them doing basic sponge cake things... Everything there is a bit more fancy...with slices using chocolate mouses, fruits, tiramisus...etc etc... But the prices and taste are great!!!!

[Farma]

A Thai neighbor is a one man baker shop in a town near Ubon making and selling those bland cakes. Each morning he stacks trays of cakes and that sweet bread onto the back of his motorbike then heads off for hours supplying his customers. I believe he travels about 100 or more kilometers each day.

He’s living on the breadline, pardon the pun, and I’ve tried to suggest ways to increase his income. I’ve spent many an hour chatting, sharing a drink and trying to convince him to produce more variety in his cakes. All suggestions fell on deaf ears.

His story is he was trained by the American military in Chiang Mai years ago and he has stuck with the recipes he knows.

He explained in our area the bakers have an unwritten agreement on who sells what where. If one encroaches into another baker’s turf, fights will occur. He hinted that was also part of the reason he didn’t want to change his product line.

[Samuian]

He explained in our area the bakers have an unwritten agreement on who sells what where. If one encroaches into another baker’s turf, fights will occur. He hinted that was also part of the reason he didn’t want to change his product line.

Very TiT!

Monopolies, rigging...Kills any real competition!

[phetchal]

for me American bakery is too sweet and too much sugar ..only sweet taste ( but pies is very good)

powder sugar wasn't expensive but if they do mix more sugar in then cannot sell to Thai peoples

[Cuban]

I was subjected to "Thai Cake" a few days ago - to save face for the person encouraging me to enjoy a slice of the over sweet sponge with sickly pastal icing I had a few mouthfuls - my piece included a cherry.

Sadly it was not a real cherry - but a small red ball of something like jelly.