04 September 2011

Eid Mubarak

In Malaysia, there is a tradition of having "open houses" in celebration of certain holidays such as Eid, Chinese New Year and Deepavali. As my family and I celebrate Eidil Fitri which marks the end of the month-long fast during the month of Ramadan. This year we had our an "open house" on the first day of Eid and had many friends and family come and visit. However, the tradition of visiting friends and family for Eid is not just limited to one day, our extended family and friends continue to visit our home throughout the month to wish us Selamat Hari Raya. It is a particularly special time of the year to catch up with cousins, aunties and uncles whom we may not be able to see regularly throughout the year (with people living in different parts of the country).

This year, for the first day, I made several types of cupcakes, a coffee cake and a cookie. My two eldest nieces made 8 different types of cookies! Here are some pictures of the food served at our Eid open house. Eid Mubarak, everyone!

7 comments:

  1. SELAMAT HARI RAYA!! :) Minal aidin wal faizin... :)

    In the first picture I see "Lapis Spekkoek" (read: speckook), that cake with thousand layers :), and another variation "Lapis Spekkoek" with prunes or dried fruit. This has traditionally been the "ultimate" cake for any kind of celebration in Indonesia. It is made with tons of egg yolks and butter, spiced with "bumbu spekkoek", a mixture of cloves, cinnamon and other spices, which was -interestingly- an influence of Dutch cooking. The Dutch uses this "bumbu spekkoek" also in their cookies. This cake is so rich, I can only eat a very tiny slice of it.

    In the second picture I see a dark dish. What is that, Lin? Where I come from, we do have a "black chicken curry" (Gulai Ayam Itam), a very unique dish that our sub ethnic groups make using a plant called "galundi." I wonder if that's the same :).

    My "Raya" these days are much more South Asian than Southeast Asian. Time to get back to my roots :).

    U

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  2. I see MATCHA CUPCAKES.... OOOooooooohhhhh.....

    Love,
    U

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  3. U, good eye. I see Lin's famous Matcha Cupcakes!!!
    The fruit cake's ingredients remind me of Jamaican fruit cake eaten at Christmastime and at weddings.

    G/Jo/mangolassie

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  4. U, I bought the kek lapis from an indonesian cake store in singapore. one is the traditional spice cake and the other has cranberries. we made it from scratch one and it was a long of work and waiting time! the dark dish is daging masak hitam (it has lots of spices but also sweet).

    Yes, I made the match cupcakes using the magnolia recipe. They were a hit :) I really like making cupcakes using the portion containers. just the right size. Wish you all could have come for our open house. love, L

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  5. i hate mac auto spell! urgh!

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  6. oh those macs! ;)
    - G

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  7. OH WOW, now that's a delightful spread! :)

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