# Does this werid-ass cake exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356 "2019-03-01T00:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/21 "2019-03-02T16:42:38Z")
> [@MickNickMaggies](#): > > They’re actually a chocolate ganache with gelatine added for shine, so I suppose the flavour depends on how heavy a hand you have with it. Too much and you’ve got rubber. Most of these are not chocolate. Usually the glaze is fruit flavored. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/22 "2019-03-02T16:55:56Z")
[Making mirror glaze](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pVwBiKcL2I) with white chocolate and gelatin. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/23 "2019-03-02T17:02:18Z")
My point to **MickNickMaggies** was, you can make mirror glaze from lots of flavors and liquids with gelatin. You’re not confined to just chocolate. ETA: Since transparency is the primary characteristic of the OP’s cake, I doubt white chocolate would be the chosen medium. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/24 "2019-03-02T18:20:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I noticed that the Thai agar cake includes pineapple as one of the fruits. That’s interesting, because my understanding is that pineapple doesn’t work in the type of gelatin commonly available in the US (Jello, mostly), because an enzyme in it prevents gelling. So is agar different in this respect? > [@Arkcon](#): > > Yup. Agar is a seaweed based jelly. Very few enzymes from terrestrial living things can attack agar – that’s why we grow terrestrial bacteria on agar plates. I’m given to understand that marine bacteria are actually grown in gelatin plates – somehow, I guess, the collagen in fish is too different from terrestrial gelatin for marine bacteria to have evolved the ability to digest it. Still seems weird to me. More specifically, they’re both hydrocolloids. In agar, we have a dispersed carbohydrate. Whereas gelatin is a protein. Pineapple contains proteases that snip the gelatin but which do nothing to agarose or agaropectin. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/25 "2019-03-02T21:13:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Actually, I just noticed listening to the clip that they say “Mirai no mirai” in the audio (but I don’t speak any Japanese), so perhaps (probably) they are recreating the cake as inspired by the anime. They definitely were. The description says "Because the jelly cake that comes out in the movie “Mirai of the future” was very cute and impressive, I tried making it with a syrup of shaved ice with reference to the design " ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/26 "2019-03-02T21:48:29Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > More specifically, they’re both hydrocolloids. In agar, we have a dispersed carbohydrate. Whereas gelatin is a protein. Pineapple contains proteases that snip the gelatin but which do nothing to agarose or agaropectin. Thank you. I have read this aloud at home and we have discussed it. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/27 "2019-03-02T22:00:31Z")
A weird ass-cake. Nobody has yet linked to one of the earliest xkcd comics? > **[Hyphen](https://xkcd.com/37/)** > > I do this constantly ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/28 "2020-04-07T20:22:22Z")
Bump. [This](https://soranews24.com/2020/04/08/rainbow-milk-gelatin-cake-from-japan-beautiful-to-look-at-amazingly-easy-to-make-in-your-kitchen/) reminded me of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/29 "2020-04-08T02:37:51Z")
Head Cheese [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/vj4m-t6CMeczGum9PzKFkUL4OZnDnP\_N4anP6OMla28aJgTEeiyEwp1OOtb1RaV5wV3QFXOXA\_9bnaMxQnJYY0mRV3dXwfECKE7j-uzZr\_ddGXB8e8yzcPRB0UO31DuX1GspsAvdIICTvYcS](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/vj4m-t6CMeczGum9PzKFkUL4OZnDnP_N4anP6OMla28aJgTEeiyEwp1OOtb1RaV5wV3QFXOXA_9bnaMxQnJYY0mRV3dXwfECKE7j-uzZr_ddGXB8e8yzcPRB0UO31DuX1GspsAvdIICTvYcS) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/30 "2020-04-08T04:35:50Z")
[Forest Floor Mushroom Cake](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JvR4w3DTDo) totally blew me away. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/31 "2020-04-08T12:57:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I noticed that the Thai agar cake includes pineapple as one of the fruits. That’s interesting, because my understanding is that pineapple doesn’t work in the type of gelatin commonly available in the US (Jello, mostly), because an enzyme in it prevents gelling. So is agar different in this respect? You can put _canned_ pineapple in gelatin, no problem. Heat denatures the proteases. So if all you have is fresh pineapple, all you have to do is heat it. Heating pineapple to different temperature and then sticking it in jello to see what the denaturation temperature is is a nice science experiment. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356/32 "2020-04-08T13:51:45Z")
[Mouse in Aspic](https://books.google.com/books?id=R1diASABH0EC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=mouse+in+aspic+o%27rourke&source=bl&ots=oRXjWUexPr&sig=ACfU3U1yTjMZoVr7MQLZB1ghUm9chz_epw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7n-nW-9joAhUKnawKHUNMD84Q6AEwCnoECAsQKA#v=onepage&q=mouse%20in%20aspic%20o'rourke&f=false) (scroll up half a page) from _The Bachelor Home Companion_ by P. J. O’Rourke [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-werid-ass-cake-exist/830356.md?page=1)