Asian Traveler’s Gustatory Issue

When did you first become interested in the art of cake design? Summers growing up alternated between art classes and baking lessons.  Designing cakes was such a natural progression that I no longer recall a beginning, nor can I imagine an end.

It was fortunate that I was enabled to explore my interests.  In the kitchen is where I found my calling, grew in confidence and experienced fulfillment.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in this industry?  Tell us how your interest in the field began. I honestly didn’t get to where I am through conscious career choices.  Life used to be simple…  baking gave me and those around me such joy, so I kept at it. What fired me up was unadulterated passion for my craft.  Opportunities came and things fell into place.  Call me naïve, but I simply followed my heart.

I opened Shortcrust in 1994, at the age of 25.  Ten years later, I became chef-instructor at the College of St.Benilde’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management.  In 2009, along with an enthusiastic group of industry practitioners, we launched the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines as the country’s most dynamic advocate of Filipino talent in baking and pastry arts.  PAP aims to reintroduce Pinoy presence in the emulous international arena.

Cakes have taken me to many interesting places and have allowed me to meet numerous wonderful people.  I have accompanied students to culinary tours in Vietnam, conducted workshops around the region, competed in Hong Kong, Thailand and next Singapore, and have also been commissioned to execute wedding cakes abroad.

Where do you get your training? Do you get education and certification? I am textbook old school, literally. 30, even 20 years ago, there were no fancy local culinary schools nor was there internet and cable food network, so a lot of time was spent pouring through books and experimenting with recipes.  I owe my foundations to influences like pioneering teacher Sylvia Reynoso, trendsetting mentor Heny Sison and standard bearing pastry chef Ernie Babaran.

After earning a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from the University of the Philippines, I apprenticed at the kitchens of Mandarin Oriental Manila, studied under popular cake artist Margaret Braun in NYC, trained at the Montmartre Patisserie in UK, and at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Singapore.

What are some of the qualities that you feel a successful cake designer should have? I feel extremely blessed to wake up to a job that I still love, even after 16 years.  But there certainly have been days, like on holidays and dive weekends, when it has felt like work, creatively exhausting and physically back-breaking.  It is passion from which one draws wind.  One has to have that innate willingness to give that extra push, to do whatever it takes to get a job done well.

A strong foundation of the fundamentals is essential.

Treat clients as friends, and they will be.

Strive to be original.

What would you say is your specialty? My signature design style is the LANTERN CAKE, lit from the inside.

Are you partial to a certain type of ingredient, flavor, or technique?

Ingredients: Sugar, in all forms- dissolved into a syrup, burnt into caramel, whipped into an icing, kneaded into a paste. Luster Powders, for sparkle that makes a difference.

Flavors: Belgian Chocolate, dark.  Philippine Mango, nothing comes close.

Techniques: Sculpting with sugarpastes.

What is your favorite dessert? It was only when I fell sick that I have ever turned down a Turon…  Springroll skin-wrapped, brown sugar-dipped and fried ripe plantains with a slice of jackfruit.

What is the grandest and most elaborate cake you’ve ever made? For me, the WOW! level of a cake is measured by the AHA! value of how a concept sees fruition.  The most notable projects then, would be:

Most Thoroughly Researched– Taj, my very first Lantern Cake, patterned after palace details of Jaipur and Udaipur; and a feat of engineering

Grandest Force Majeure Dodger– Fringe, assembled during the great flooding by Typhoon Ondoy

Most Elaborately Detailed– Moroccan Glow, finalized after 7 revisions

Do you have a favorite gadget/tool? Kitchen Aid Stand Mixers– most test recipes have been developed using the 10-speed K5, with its 5quart bowl that is the perfect size for a single batch.

My MacBook and Lumix– essential buddies in research, design, communication and documentation.  I would be lost without them.

Where do you get your inspiration for your designs, creations and flavors? The most meaningful designs are borne of collaboration with the client, their unique energy being an invaluable source of inspiration.

Research is important.  We are fortunate to live in such technologically-sophisticated times which gives us access to information at a click.  I have an especial predilection for Indian arts, such that my very first competition piece was a tribute to many things singularly Indian.  For this entry, I used references on fabrics, embroidery, architecture and tattoos, and also read up on culture and history.  Google is my best friend.

One’s cooking, like any art, is an accumulation of one’s life experiences, decisions and choices.  I have a very adventurous palate and will try anything once.  Subjecting oneself to varied stimuli will equip one with a deep pool of ideas to tap into.

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