Balinese Life
Explore the Alluring Island, ‘Devour’ Its Succulent Cakes

You’ll be lucky enough if you happen to see a colourful "gebogan" parade on a temple or arts festival. Why? Many kinds of superb Balinese cakes are on display as the contents of the gebogan. Gebogan is an arrangement of various cakes and fruits in the shape of a conical-like structure. As if it were a great rendezvous of assorted Balinese cakes. Those cakes are specially made for the oblation. Other than cakes, the gebogan intended for presentation at a temple festival is also composed of fruits and completed with canang sari and topped with boiled eggs or grilled chickens.
Balinese people, well known as a religious community, celebrate some festivities monthly or six monthly. There is hardly a day without a presentation of oblation. Having completed the morning cooking, they will present the" yadnya sesa". This offering consists of a small amount of rice along with side dishes that are also cooked that morning and presented at some points within the house compound and entrance gate. It is intended bhutakala or spirits of the invisible worlds. Other grandiose occasional festivities are Galungan & Kuningan, family and village temple festivals, Saraswati, Pagerwesi and many more. Celebration of these festivities needs various kinds of cakes and some of them represent particular meanings.
Just like its variety, the way to make those cakes also varies. Some are fried like the matahari, kaliadrem, sirat (web-like cake), boiled (i.e. pisang rai), steamed (i.e. abug, timus, apem), baked on mold (i.e. laklak), fried without oil like satuh, namely the white sticky rice (ketan) and then pounded finely. Though it seems complicated, the Balinese do it earnestly. It’s the beginning of their yadnya or holy sacrifice. In rural areas, you can observe the bustle of household mothers who mostly make such cakes by themselves for those celebrations.
Aside from presented in the temple festival, inauguration ceremony and the like, cakes are also delivered to others whose child gets married. This family will usually ask for fresh cakes to other members of customary village or relatives beyond the village. On the ceremony, those cakes will be brought to the family of the bride in a case of commonplace. However, in some territories of southern Bali like in Tabanan and elsewhere on the island there is a marriage with the status of nyentana where the bridegroom joins and lives together with the family of his bride. In this marital status, he will release all of his rights and duties in the family of his origin. So, the offerings and cakes are brought to the home of bridegroom. On this procession some men are assigned to carry these cakes in a scale-like tool.
Other than doing domestic work, Balinese women today also work outside their home like at the office, hotel and elsewhere as men do. Since they have limited time to undertake the activities like making cakes and offerings, they prefer to purchase them at traditional or super market nearby on the one hand. Meanwhile, on the other hand, people will catch this demand as a business opportunity by providing the cakes. This then creates a home industry that provides assorted cakes specially intended for content of the offerings. By some Hindu holidays, they would be overwhelmed by orders.
Some cakes are also sold as light meals or refreshment to accompany coffee or tea. These ones have already been available today at supermarket, hotel restaurant or even traditional market (particularly in the morning). Sometimes, fresh cakes are also sold at street sides that offering a more relaxing atmosphere. Cakes sold here, usually comprise pisang rai, laklak, klepon, black rice pudding, assorted cassava cakes, and many more. If you happen to make a sightseeing trip and enjoy the sunset at Tanah Lot, you will encounter some women selling this klepon cakes. This cake is typically green and has a round shape where the inside contains a sauce of palm sugar. How to eat this cake safely? Just keep your mouth closed when biting it to avoid its sugar sauce exploding. (BTN/029)