Maa Maa's homemade birthday cakes are what I remember most

My grandma's innovative cakes stand out most to us grandkids and her creations were the icing on just how much of an adventurous cook and woman she was.

"Maa Maa who injected an element of fun and colour into all her cakes and I loved them." Source: Getty Images

I distinctly remember it being a stinking hot summer's day on my seventh birthday. I rushed home after school to see my Maa Maa, my paternal grandmother who was visiting us from Hong Kong.

On the kitchen bench, I saw my not-yet-assembled birthday cake. It involved two bowls of jelly (one raspberry, one lime), which were setting in the fridge, and two halves of a sponge cake. These components would later come together to make a double-layered black forest cake. It was finished in white icing, called 'white mountain frosting', with piped swirls around the edge. This was topped with small cubes of red and green jelly, which represented the berries and leaves of forest trees. Chocolate shavings represented bark and a "Happy Birthday Belinda" was piped in cursive across the top. Needless to say, it was extremely yummy – and there were never any leftovers.

A family portrait: Mum (Dorothy Wai Kat) and Dad (Peter Ka Chun) with Maa Maa holding my older sister Robyn and Ye Ye is holding me as a baby. Standing: Dad (Peter) and Mum (Dorothy) Source: Supplied

My mother wasn't much of a baker and she would only really try her hand at basic butter cakes. She wasn't a fan of excess sugar or food colouring, so we were lucky if we ever got icing on top of her homemade butter cakes. I still remember my mother washing the colouring off Smarties before we were allowed to eat them - a food memory I certainly haven't passed down to my daughters. Maa Maa was often the one injecting an element of fun and colour into all her cakes and I loved them.

Maa Maa injected an element of fun and colour into all her cakes and I take so much inspiration when I bake my own cakes now. Source: Supplied

What I remember most about my Maa Maa's cooking, were her treats, the ones you would normally see in a traditional Chinese cake shop. Her daahn taat with a crisp, flaky pastry surrounding a smooth egg custard, glutinous rice scrolls with sweet red bean paste and her crunchy taro chips, all come to mind.

Her name was Yeung Sui-Ngo and she later chose Mabel as her western name, but she was always Maa Maa to me. She was born and raised in China and was the 12th child among 20 sisters and 13 brothers. As it was quite common back then, Maa Maa's father arranged her marriage to a young man from a family of equal, some said higher, status. The couple moved to Hong Kong and raised their family there with my father one of four siblings.

Maa Maa injected an element of fun and colour into all her cakes and I loved them.

Maa Maa had a pretty comfortable lifestyle until World War II began. Faced with food shortages, she was extremely resourceful and learned to be very thrifty in the running of her house. She was able to stretch a cup of rice into a large kettle of jook (congee) and squeeze out every last bit of flavour from sweet potato leaves.

In the post-war years, a shortage of domestic labourers in Hong Kong meant that middle-class women had to cook. At this time, homes were beginning to feature indoor plumbing and electricity. Innovations, like bottled gas, ovens and refrigerators, became available, thereby enabling many new ways to cook and also experiment.

Maa Maa moved swiftly with the times and like-minded ladies would flock to her. She opened her door to run cooking classes at the Hong Kong YWCA and often conducted private lessons at home. Women wanted to learn how to cook dishes that were popular in restaurants and were curious about Western delicacies like tiered cakes and biscuits, even bowls of borscht. My Mum remembers Maa Maa teaching her how to make Portuguese-inspired dishes.

As her cooking classes gained popularity, she appeared on television talk shows where she held regular cooking segments and also was no stranger to judging cooking competitions. During this time, Maa Maa expanded her culinary knowledge and wanted to better understand the science behind food as well.

I appreciated Maa Maa's vast food knowledge and despite not being able to read Chinese, her cookbooks were and still are my treasured possessions. Source: Supplied

Her second cookbook, Cooking Documentary, was published in the 1970s. She explained the properties of ingredients, how to master basic cookery techniques and elevate everyday food (like dumplings, mushroom omelettes and stuffed zucchini). She also explained how to cook more unusual dishes, like roast partridges with grapes and roast duck with peach sauce. Her Chinese calligraphy graces the cover, which was designed by my dad.

Faced with food shortages, she was extremely resourceful and learned to be very thrifty in the running of her house.

Maa Maa cherished China's rich traditions. She reimagined festival dishes and gave them fanciful names, such as Pond of Lotuses and Waterlilies (soup of lotus seeds, chicken and fish maw) to celebrate Mid Summer, A Stroll with Pine Flowers (preserved eggs and duck feet) to celebrate Lunar New Year and Sleeves and Gold Hair-Pins (stuffed chicken wings with shark fins), which celebrates the Maiden's Festival and depicts the magic of the Weaver Lady who arrives on the seventh day of the seventh month, with gold hairpins hidden in her sleeves.

She's written three cookbooks; the first two are written in Chinese and the third (about Chinese Festivals) has both English and Chinese featured throughout. At a time when it seemed like we were the only family with Chinese background around in Sydney's western suburbs, I appreciated Maa Maa's vast food knowledge and despite not being able to read Chinese, her cookbooks have always been my treasured possessions. 

Although we grew up quite 'Australianised' as a first-gen, our Chinese sweets repertoire was extensive. It featured mooncakes, pineapple buns (polo bao), mochi balls with red bean filling, sago puddings, and Chinese almond cookies, and we owe this to our Maa Maa.

Grape and mango 'brain' cake has also been a real hit. Source: Supplied

While these traditions and her cookbooks highlight her own story of food and culture, it was always her memorable birthday cakes that my sisters and I would remember most. From her black forest to ones featuring adorable meringue bunnies or her double-decker upside-down pineapple sunshine cakes; all of them seem to strike a smile or visual memory when we would talk about them.

We've all taken inspiration from Maa Maa when making birthday cakes for our children and I know we have an even greater appreciation for her attention to detail and presentation now than back then, making them so memorable.