"Cakes with personality"
Sun.Star Davao, Jan. 19, 2008

When world boxing champ Manny Pacquiao turned 29 recently, the centerpiece of the grand birthday bash was an impressive and colorful 4-layer fondant cake with a bemuscled caricature of the ‘Pambansang Kamao’ in boxing gloves and shorts as the cake topper.

“The only instruction from Manny and Jinkee Pacquiao’s party organizer was any design that is related to boxing and popcorn”, fondly recalls full-time housewife turned baker/entrepreneur Raschell Joy Achanzar-Ramirez.

So, together with graphic designer-husband Philip Patrick “Moi” Suzara Ramirez, they conceptualized the design of the cake.

The base cake’s theme was movie and popcorn featuring film strips of Pacman’s fights. Shining stars with Manny’s boxing gloves decorated the second layer. On the other hand, the ‘No Fear’ fire logo highlighted the third layer while the fourth layer was adorned proudly with the Philippine flag. A triumphant ‘King of the Ring’ caricature served as the cake topper.

“Hinawakan niya yung cake tapos sabi niya, "Ang ganda naman ng pagkakagawa" (He touched the cake and he said, “It is beautifully-made”). Then, Manny looked at the film strips and smiled, maybe he remembered something during those fights”, recounts 34-year old Joy.

Joy shares that she was very happy and proud that even if she was relatively new in the cake business, Jinkee trusted her to do the birthday cake. It was Joy’s first celebrity cake in her first year of establishing her cake shop business. Because of this exposure, she has bookings from other celebrities this 2008.

Cake Temptations

Five years ago, Joy wanted to do something different to keep herself busy and at the same time, suit her interests and skills. She bought basic pastry books and started baking pastries for family, relatives and friends.

Inspired by their positive reactions, the self-confessed badminton addict took short baking and cake decorating courses from different schools here in Davao. The rest, she learned on her own.

“I have very good teachers here and I thank them so much for helping me up to this time”, she declares. In particular, Joy is grateful to Natalie’s Cakes owner and Center for Asian Culinary Arts-Davao instructor Booboo Maramba for being a supportive mentor and unselfishly guiding her in the cake shop business.

“Ms. Booboo is God’s gift and an angel to me”, discloses Joy.

“When I decided to take this business seriously, I began thinking of novel creations to differentiate my business from the other cake shops in Davao”, reveals the amiable Joy who has two sons, Philip Angelo "Mojo", 12 and Matthew Nathaniel "Matty", 6.

Thus, the idea for Cake Temptations was born. It boasts of being “the first cake shop in Davao City to concentrate on unique, detailed, funny and personalized cake toppers”. These cake toppers are exclusive for Cake Temptations’ use only.

Moreover, the shop specializes in fondant cakes that are soft and chewy. Goodbye to the old fondant that’s too thick, too hard and too sweet to eat!

The first caricature cake topper Joy made after finishing her formal education in baking and cake decorating was for the wedding of friends, Dundee and Chang Alquiza. The 3-layer marshmallow icing cake was a hit among the guests who were quite amazed and curious that they took photos of the culinary masterpiece.

In addition, Joy acknowledges that Aarni Aviles of Lachi’s and Baker’s Basket, one of her valued baking suppliers, was a moving force in the growth of her business. Aarni recommended a lot of her clients to Cake Temptations.

Aside from weddings and birthdays, Joy also does custom and traditional designed-cakes for anniversaries, corporate events and even kinky cakes for shower and bachelor parties.

“Final prices would depend on the size, thickness, diameter and design of the cake”, explains Joy.

Touch of humor

To prepare for a caricature cake topper, Joy asks clients about their interests; hobbies; line of work; memorable moments in the couple’s lives; among others. She, then, submits some sketches or sample designs for approval.

“I want my cake toppers to be funny or "bungisngis" type. I usually suggest it to my clients because I know the event is formal and I want to switch it to a lighter side to change the mood of the guests. Also, having a funny cake topper symbolizes a happy life ahead of us”, points out Joy.

Because of the intricate and detailed design of the personalized cakes, Joy encourages clients to book early to avoid inconvenience to both parties. She only accepts limited number of orders and for wedding cakes, Joy guarantees that she does not repeat her custom work.

“I'm very lucky because Moi is very supportive to me. Even though he is busy with his photo and video business, he finds time to help me in my work. Only the two of us make the cake so we really need team work to make our business grow”, shares Joy.

The husband and wife team have their respective assignments. Moi does the final conceptualization and lay-outing of the designs including the very hard-to-make detailed cake toppers. Meanwhile, Joy takes charge of baking and hands-on designing of the actual cake, cake toppers and other details.

Cakes with personality

Joy tells fascinating anecdotes about some of her past cake creations:

*Converse cake for Alhmae Baptista’s 18th birthday. “The debutante really loves wearing Converse shoes. So, she requested me to make a cake topper of green Converse shoes and to make the debut cake all in Styrofoam so she can keep it as a souvenir from her debut”.

*Travel bug cake for Joy’s cousin Tophen Jimenez and wife Janet. “Actually, it was a wedding gift for them. The couple who are both doctors were travelling for their honeymoon. So, they asked me to make cakes in different sizes of suitcases and with the cake topper featuring the newlyweds inside a balikbayan box”.

*Crocs wedding cake of Mr. and Mrs. Tevens Tormis. “They told me to make a cake topper in casual wear of different colors. I decided to use Crocs because it's cool and one of the hottest footwear nowadays. The cake topper also symbolizes that the Tormises are young at heart”.

*Havaianas birthday cake for Jane Ang. “For my ever dearest "suki" who loves to wear Havaianas flip flops. I made her a cake with edible Havaianas flip flops on top and it looked like a real one!”.

*Scuba diver cake for Joy’s friend, Eleen Tan. “She ordered this cake to surprise her daughter who loves scuba diving. The cake was a small one but surely the center of attraction during the party”.

The sweet life

For mothers who are contemplating to have a baking business, Joy has these words of wisdom:

“Try to bake pastries for your family and friends then ask yourself if it’s really your passion and if you are enjoying your work. To have a successful baking business, you need to work very, very hard. But, at the same time, enjoy every part of the experience”.

“You should not be afraid to try new things. Do not compete with other cake shops. I realized that it's not healthy in our business. In fact, I also recommend some of my clients to other cake shops here in Davao. Always aim to make each cake distinct”.

“Think twice before going into this kind of business because all the equipments and other things needed to start a baking business are very expensive. Buy good quality equipments for longer use.”

And most important of all, “trust yourself!”.

“My eldest son Mojo is now assisting us with the cake decorating while the youngest Matty is trying to make cake toppers but actually, he’s only playing”, giggles the dedicated mom.

Joy tries to balance her business and mommy duties by working during the daytime when the kids are in school and in the evening around 10 p.m. till 2 a.m. She tries to rest at least two days in a week to spend precious time with the family.

She is thankful to God for giving her so many blessings in life: her loving Ramirez and Achanzar family; encouraging friends; and a business that she’s truly passionate about.

Such is the sweet life of Joy!

Cake Temptations is located at Door 2 Galicana Arcade, Bonifacio St., Corner Artiaga, Davao City (By appointment only). Contact nos. (0920)9213626; (0920)7001654; and (082)3031032. Websites: www.caketemptations.multiply.com and
www.caketemptations.net.

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(E-mail the author at mom.about.town.dvo@gmail.com.Visit www.mom-about-town.blogspot.com to view articles with photos.)