50-Metre Dragon Chocolate Cake For Berjaya Founder’s Birthday Celebration Sets New Malaysian Record
Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur Gains Malaysia Book of Records’ Title in Conjunction with Colossal Pastry Showpiece on Berjaya Founder’s Day 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, MARCH 2015 – Cakes are special and have become an integral component of birthday celebrations around the globe. As part of many cultures, these pastry and confectionary creations signify a sweet beginning for the celebrated individual alongside a sweet ending for the occasion, and it is this sweet sensation that makes memories fonder.
With these sentiments, Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur whipped up a grand cake that is worthy of its founder, YBhg Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan to share in his special moment. This is the fifth consecutive year that the hotel has worked to put together a gigantic dragon cake sculpture for their founder, and this year, it is double the size of the 20 to 30 metre ones they have made in the past, rendering a unique record-breaking triumph for the team. As part of the Berjaya Founder's Day (BFD) celebration on March 28, this magnificent cake was displayed as the event’s centrepiece from 10.00am – 6.00pm in Berjaya Times Square.
“This dates back to the first Founder's Day in 2011 where we came up with the idea of presenting a cake in the form of a dragon as a gift to our founder Tan Sri Vincent. Not only was he born in the year of the dragon, seeing that the Chinese dragon traditionally represents potent and auspicious powers while signifying influence, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it, we thought that it was a perfect fit. And now, we are glad that it has evolved from a gift to a much anticipated tradition,” said Abel Nelson Nang, Berjaya Hotels & Resorts’ Group Director of Marketing and Communications.
The team’s efforts put in to honour their founder were made sweeter when their 50-metre dragon sensation made it into The Malaysia Book of Records under the Human Achievement Category. Declared as The Longest Dragon Chocolate Cake, Founder and Managing Director of The Malaysia Book of Records, YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Danny Ooi, presented the award to Tan Sri Vincent during the BFD event launch. The 600 kg record-setting masterpiece was then cut into 25,000 serving portions which were distributed to the public present at the celebration.
Conceptualised and brought to completion by the pastry team of Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur with the assistance of Chef Roizz Razalli, the Head Patisserie Chef and students of the School of Culinary Arts, Berjaya University College of Hospitality, this mammoth confectionary was planned months in advance and took 3 weeks to complete. Under the watchful eye of the hotel’s Demi Chef, Chef Andi Sutrisno Hasan, the dedicated members of the pastry team spent 8 hours a day to ensure every detail is perfected.
“We have a total of 20 people working on shifts to put this creation together. Combining 200 kg of butter, 200 kg of sugar, 3,600 eggs, 90 kg of cream cheese, 110 kg of rose flour, 50 kg of almond paste marzipan, and 150 kg of premium dark chocolate, this dragon extends 50 metres in length with delicately carved chocolate fondant scales amounting up to 250 kg covering its entire body. And for the dragon to look more real, we used edible spray paint in several colour tones and blend them to achieve the look and feel that we want.
An added twist we have for this year’s dragon cake design includes a feature presentation of a gigantic crystal ball sitting atop blue waves which embodies the element of water alongside the dragon to represent a ‘water dragon’. In the Chinese Feng Shui context, this can harness the positive energy in our surrounding environment to better enhance it as a whole,” explained Chef Andi.
Further, the inception of this year’s creation was also greatly inspired by Tan Sri Vincent’s passion in doing acts of charity. As his birthday has become an occasion dedicated to philanthropy, the crystal ball was co-opt to signify a beacon which illuminates as a source of light, to mark his devotion and commitment to doing good and giving back to those who need it most, in hopes of making this world a better place.
Also adding finishing touches and managing the setup of the dragon cake showpiece for the founder’s day celebration is the latest addition to the hotel’s capable culinary team resuming the role of the head Pastry Chef, Chef John Wong. He commented, “We’re particularly proud of our crystal ball feature, as not many would dare to risk ruining the artistic designs with a technical addition. Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur is privileged to be staffed by a team of skilled professionals who embrace the latest trends, effectively delivering a cohesively and creatively designed cake.”
Viewing the preparation of Tan Sri Vincent’s birthday cake as an opportunity to demonstrate their creativity, the culinary team at the hotel once again displayed a much regarded level of expertise and execution which brought the project to a successful completion. “Our people are the reason for this and we felt it was appropriate to celebrate this day of events with a birthday cake that reflects not only the brilliant distinction of our group, but also the incredible talent of our people. We are very much looking forward to even bigger and better things in the coming year,” concluded Abel.