The aroma of the spices waft around and give one of those rapper hand gestures to your nose which reels in shock while you're opening the packaging. It says cake on it, and you picture the cakes you're usually used to. Not this time though.
An attempt to sample the 'local' sweets of a faraway land, led us to purchase some 'cakes' and sweets while we were in the city of Colombo the day before our flight back to Malaysia. And of course a couple of weeks after sitting in the fridge (the whole family was down with some strange sort of stomach and digestive tract related illness after the holiday, sadly), we open the boxes of the cakes, and assault our taste buds with cakes that are extremely sweet and spicy (Cinnamon, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Cloves,among others for those who are curious) all at the same time.
While the rest of the family members seem to enjoy the cakes, I can't bring myself to enjoy them as I usually would enjoy cakes (and trust me, I am a fan of cakes). Firstly, they are too sweet (even for me), and according to a recipe I found online, 1/2 a bottle of rose essence is used in the recipe. And secondly, I've always associated spices with savoury food, and when the flavours were combined this way, I felt like I was being forced to take medicine.
What do you think? Should spices be left well alone for curries and other savoury type dishes, or are you cool with vast quantities of spices in sweets and cakes?
I think a small amount of spice in sweets and cakes can enhance the flavour but a large amount isn't to my taste at all. I suppose it's partly a question of what you've been brought up to appreciate.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your story in the Selangor Times. Keep it up. Hopefully, this will be the start of more fiction from you. Cheers. =)
ReplyDeleteI love cinnamon in sweets but cloves? No I don't think so.....
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. There are certain spice CAKEs I like, and others that are just a little too much.
ReplyDeleteHmm - I'm mostly a chocolate cake fan. But I do love applespice cake and gingerbread, so I guess I'm fine with spices in cake.
ReplyDeletenick: moderation is the key, I guess...
ReplyDeleteJohn: Thank you very much. I'm kinda hoping that having it published would give the motivation I badly needed.
nursemyra: There's an apple pie flavoured with cloves here, but not too over-powering
Travis: agreed.
SAW: I've had some ginger flavoured cookies, and I thought they were delicious... (gingerbread made me remember them) Maybe I couldn't bring myself to like this particular cake because it was too spicy.
Everything in moderation....except for chocolate....there is always room for more and more and more chocolate!
ReplyDeleteThere's always room for more chocolate!
ReplyDeleteWho the eff is putting spices in sweets? Its fine in the tiniest amounts but enough for you to actually taste it. Yucko!
ReplyDeleteLove the new look blog. Nice fonts.
Yup... yukko it is. Especially when it's cardamom. Hate the stuff.
ReplyDelete