PETALING JAYA, Dec 21 – When the going gets tough... eat cake. And since coffee goes so well with these sweet confections, cafes around the Klang Valley are upping the ante with their cake selections.
One such place is Standing Theory, a cafe hidden within the SS2 area. Expect to find a small selection of moist three-layered cakes like red velvet, peanut butter chocolate, hazelnut chocolate and carrot walnut on offer here.
All the cakes are served at room temperature, a rarity in the F&B world as usually they are refrigerated for a longer shelf life. These honest-to-good cakes are the creations of Little Tee Cakes, a sister act of Tee Mei Yii, 26 and Tee Hui Yii, 24.
Opportunity came knocking on these amateur bakers’ door when their friend, Lim Yi Perng, 26, decided to open a cafe, Standing Theory, in November. “One day, we had a conversation, he asked me what I am good at and I said baking,” says Hui Yii.
The sisters auditioned with a carrot and walnut cake that won Perng’s approval. “It was quite simple, they were looking for something to start and I was planning the cafe. For me, it’s a win-win situation, they get their first time and in my case I get some creative control over the cakes,” says Perng.
That close friendship between the trio started about seven to eight years ago, when they reconnected at Taylor’s College through a mutual friend. Earlier, they were primary school mates.
Little Tee Cakes emphasises on real cakes – the kind Mum used to bake with slight imperfections but are utterly mouthwatering. Think moist carrot cake with an alluring aroma of toasted walnuts. Or their hazelnut chocolate cake glazed with a shiny Nutella chocolate ganache that will make any chocolate lover weak in the knees.
“It’s like something you bake at home, a taste you don’t get outside. If you bake mass production there are stablizers,” says Mei Yii. Despite the multiple layers of cake and frosting, it’s perfectly balanced in terms of sweetness.
“We get feedback on whether it’s too sweet or too much cream, so we play around with the frosting and because the cakes are so moist, you don’t really need much cream for it,” says Mei Yii.
They also try to cut the sugar content in the frosting. “In general, people try to save costs and the cheapest way to make it tasty is to add a lot of sugar,” says Perng.
The cakes at Standing Theory are tailor-made to their requirements. For instance, Perng insists on storing the confections in glass cake stands at room temperature.
“The fridge is ugly and I rather not have it. Moreover, when you refrigerate the cake by the second day it is all dried up and hard,” explains Perng. With this in mind, the girls spent hours testing out frostings and cakes that could keep outside the refrigerator to fit that request.
“We chose to have a cream cheese frosting so it can stay outside. No fresh cream or sponge cakes,” said Hui Yii. The cakes can keep for three days unrefrigerated. The girls also followed Perng’s request for a triple layer cake that adds up to a whopping 2.5kg.
“It looks higher and more impressive,” says Perng. Being their first customer, Perng also dictated the taste of the peanut butter chocolate cake. The ultra rich frosting is said to be made from a whole bottle of crunchy Jif peanut butter per his specification.
Since young, baking has been an integral part of the Tee household. “Our mother used to make us our birthday cakes with chocolate sprinkles, piping jelly and Mickey Mouse figures just like Angel Cake House,” reminsces Hui Yii of her childhood. Both the sisters discovered baking about 10 years ago in between other hobbies.
“We have always liked baking and the chocolate chip cookies we make for Chinese New Year have been in great demand for many years with friends, family and church,” says Mei Yii. The self-taught bakers were also famous for their scrumptious cheese tarts. However, they stopped taking orders as it took too much work since the pastry was made from scratch.
According to Mei Yii, they moved to baking cakes after Hui Yii graduated from her accounting and finance university course. “At one point she was very free and she started baking every weekend and we’d try to make different cakes.”
Their first attempt was the carrot cake followed by the red velvet and chocolate cake.
The formula of perfection with their cakes lies in numerous testing, tweaking of ingredients and baking times. “I usually get my recipe online at random websites, then we bake it and tweak it to what we like,” says Hui Yii. She laments about the cake wastage. At one time, her freezer was full of cake.
One of their testers was Perng who threw in his opinion, despite not being a cake lover. “I don’t eat cakes but when I do, I know why they are good.”
“We mostly bake cakes to what we will eat and we don’t eat much cakes,” says Mei Yii. If the cake passes the sisters’ approval, it’s fine. The double act also has its advantages: a division of duties. Hui Yii prefers to bake. Mei Yii would rather frost the cake. “I am all about the taste and she’s about the looks,” says Hui Yii about her sister who studied creative writing.
Unlike those who follow blindly the instructions in a recipe, Hui Yii prefers to rely on her intuition. She uses a hand mixer, feeling her way from the weight of the batter before she adds the ingredients. It’s also about the texture of the batter. Even her cookies are baked according to the smell and looks versus the timing.
With the aim of turning their hobby into a proper business venture, the sisters who work for their father’s manufacturing business have set up their own baking studio in Shah Alam. The place is outfitted with home ovens rather than commercial ones to cater to their baking needs. “We found commercial ovens to be more for breads and cookies.”
It’s a relief for their mother since they have been using her kitchen for their hobby. As they grow bigger, they have even bought their first stand mixer to whip up those heavy batters and frostings. Over time, they hope to maintain their standard and uphold their regard for quality ingredients.
“Everyone loves the way it tastes right now and even if we change a little bit it will add up,” says Hui Yii.
In future, the girls hope to unveil a larger cake repertoire beyond their four flavours. New cakes in the pipeline include a beer and honey cake, and possibly a chai tea cake. They hope to also bake wedding cakes.
However, their focus will always be the taste of their goods. For Hui Yii, her greatest satisfaction is the feedback. “I am happy when people tell me how much they like the cake as it’s baked with love and it involves so much work.”
You can order Little Tee Cakes by emailing them at [email protected] at least one week in advance. The cakes can also be found at Standing Theory, 26, Jalan SS2/103, Petaling Jaya and Nowhereman Coffee by Artisan Roast, 20 Jalan Telawi 3 (2nd floor), Bangsar Baru, KL.
This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on December 20, 2013.
