Dumplings. Ice Kacang. Deep Fried Mars Bar and Rainbow Cake.
Somewhere over the rainbow… is a fork.
The Talented ChocolateSuze made a rainbow cake shaped of a fork for a lady who likes to “grab your fork“. Why? Because is Helen’s birthday. It is always a good time to hang out with a group of best friends for some cooking debauchery. Minh, Yas, Helen, Simon and I all gathered at Suze‘s place and we decided to celebrate Helen’s birthday with home made dumplings. And lots of it.
When I arrived at Suze’s, Yas the hungry digital elf already had his both hands in a pot of pork mince massaging away sensually. Fast… then slow… then fast again… then slow… jab jab jab… pat pat pat… I think he rather enjoys doing it. Then the fun part, we all sat around the table with a packet of dumpling skins in hand and started folding like a Joy Luck Club gathering while we chat and gossip.
Among six of us, we’d probably have made over 250 dumplings in total. Steam or not steam? That’s the question. We have the options of steaming the dumplings or pan-frying them. But who could resist the crispy golden dumpling skin and majority wins the race; most of the dumplings went into the frying pan, and only one plate of dumplings went into the steamer.
While Yas working his magic with the frying pan, I also helped preparing some condiments to go with the dumplings. I brought along the Tean’s crispy prawn chilli flakes which works like a treat. Funny thing is that there wasn’t much conversation going on while we were too focus on devouring the dumplings, except Yas murmuring and counting the number of dumplings he was eating. He set the record of the night at 35 dumplings in total. Crazy!
We had a short break afterwards while waiting for Richard to come and join us for dessert of Ice Kacang. We had two ice shavers working together side by side, so it didn’t take long to turn some crushed ice into a big snow mountain. Everyone chipped in and brought along some toppings for the ice kacang including corn custard, jackfruit, grass jelly, lychee, chendol, kidney bean, azuki red bean paste, basil seeds, palm seeds and roasted peanuts. A bit of everything into the bowl, and piled on top with a big ball of ice snow, then drizzle the palm sugar syrup and evaporated milk and let the ice soak it all in. Bliss.
Richard also brought along deep fried Mars bars bought from the Bondi Surf Seafoods. The whole Mars Bar is dipped in batter then double deep-fried until a deep drown hue then dusted with icing sugar. I found the batter is very tough and hard to chew, and the chocolate bar inside is totally melted but still distinctively looks like a Mars Bar. It is surprisingly not oily at all, but it does have a fishy aftertaste, presumably from the same oil for the fish.
Helen was forbidden to open the fridge door to peek what surprise Suze had installed for her. After being tormented for so long, the lights were off and Helen was led blindly to the table and the amazing birthday cake was finally revealed to her.
Seriously is one of the coolest cake I’ve ever seen. It is not just the shape of a fork, but it is also a kaleidoscope of rainbow inside! Minh and I were laughing so hard playing a silly game we came up with by naming each colour as we ate along the cake with a fork. Much fun to be had.
Suze, you rock! Helen, grab your fork! Everybody – mmm….. let’s pork?!
A Table For Two (ATFT) is Billy Law's food blog that features best eats in Sydney and around the world with drool-worthy food photography to salivate your appetite. I also throw in a smidgen of my food and travel photography for good measure. Billy Law also happened to be a contestant on MasterChef Australia 2011. 
this is one gorgeous and funny cake!
- fanny
.-= fanny´s last blog ..Days replace days, things replace things – A guide to making your London life even better =-.
Sounds like yo guys had a lot of fun!
.-= Peter G´s last blog ..Cooking a Whole Baby Barramundi =-.
Amazing photos! Especially of the wonderful rainbow cake and ice kacang!
Bwahahaha lemon! Raspberry! Pandan! Erm blue flavour!
Oh the name-that-colour game was funny. Smurf! Skin!
And I love the reference to a Joy Luck Club gathering. Except I’m still hanging out for Andrew McCarthy. lol.
.-= Helen (grabyourfork)´s last blog ..South Restaurant, Neutral Bay =-.
Such a fun cake! Love it =D.
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Pasta and Thank You’s =-.
What a fun evening! Bask in the company of good friends, learn something new, eat lots of good food, try something you haven’d had before and be amazed by a spectacular cake.
So, who’s the next up for a birthday?
I’m shocked that not one of you had rose syrup on your ice kacang! It’s just not the same without it
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Rowda Ya Habibi and hello Lady Iron Chef! =-.
Wow… what a cake…
fun timmmmmmmme!
.-= Yas´s last blog ..The half naked chef. =-.
That a whole lotta dumplings! Although, us bloggers tend to eat more than the average man. And check out that multi coloured cake yo! Dang- go Suze.
.-= Adrian @ Food Rehab´s last blog ..Little Indulgences around the world, in 1 day =-.
Looks like an awesome night, still can’t believe Yas ate 35 dumplings!
.-= Howard´s last blog ..Chinatown Noodle Restaurant, Haymarket =-.