Having the advantage of being a great-grandchildren of a Nguyen Dynasty's mandarin, her grandmother was the owner of a famous cake shop in Hue in the past, so since childhood, Thanh Huong has been taught how to make many delicious cakes, originated from the royal court, including pháp lam-color cakes.
“The reason it's called pháp lam-color cake is because the cake outer box is made from five-color paper of Thanh Tien village, with the main color palette in the pháp lam (vitreous enamel) art. Today, partly because the market has too many choices, partly because not many people learn how to make this cake, so it is very rare to see pháp lam-color cake on the market,” explained Ms. Thanh Huong. That is also the reason why she decided to teach cake making to those in need.
Let’s experience how to make pháp lam-color cakes through a photo reportage of Trung Phan, the photoghrapher, when he is also one of the few young people who have a passion for this cake!
Various kinds of jam to make cakes, more or less, to be added according to customer's taste
All kinds of jam must be mixed on the cooking-stove to make the cake transparent
Glutinous flour is added little by little to make the cake steady
Depending on customer’s need, that the cake will be cut thick or thin
The cake box is created from 6 small puzzle pieces
Then put the cake in the box …
…in a very sophisticated and meticulous way
A pháp lam-color cake in being finished
By Thua Thien Hue Weekly