Birthday cakes, Cambodia style.

I bought my first birthday cake a few months after I arrived in Phnom Penh. I was delighted to see cakes shaped like the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Later that night, when we cut it open, it turned out that it was 90% frosting and 10% cake, as are most local-style cakes you’ll find in Cambodia.

This selection of particularly outlandish Cambodian birthday cakes sort of sums up the genre–lots of Chinese themes, Angry Birds and Christmas (despite the fact that this photo wasn’t taken anywhere near Christmas). These are all things that Khmers seem to be into.