Cupcake Craze

CEBU, Philippines - Combine flour, sugar, eggs and butter to create a quick fix.

Most bakers have begun their baking odyssey with cupcakes. The experience brings sheer joy most specially while playing around with frosting and decors, of sprinklers and some edible accessories. The kitchen morphs into a playground when experimenting on different frosting ideas often inspired by some of a child’s favorite things. This is evident in most pastry shops where a merry mix display of artsy, fancy, fun, hip, simple yet charming frostings are up to give the sweet tooth great pleasure.

And as they say, cupcakes take the cake, thus the cupcake craze. Phoebe Roxane Ouano’s cupcake romance is in its honeymoon stage. She’s a young entrepreneur who surprisingly sells solely cupcakes via Facebook and is elated knowing the business is on its heyday. CupCakery Cebu has four creations each topped with pretty, whimsy frosting decorations, and each evokes a sense of nostalgia, taking you back to your childhood obsession of your mom’s or grandma’s home-made cupcakes. Ah, the joy of peeling the thin paper is synonymous to opening Christmas presents.

Each flavor is christened to create an identity that is exclusively CupCakery’s. Scarlette is her take on the red velvet cake that never fails to tease the appetite. Deserving of the bestseller seal, Scarlette is the leader of the squad with its luscious genuine cream cheese frosting on top. This has earned thumbs ups from mini-cake devotees who recommended: “It’s to-die-for!”

Go nuts with Nuts for Nana. This is a banana cake fan’s dose of sugar rush. Banana and the much-loved Nutella spread are combined to create a delish snack cake made especially for the health-conscious who wants to indulge. The moist cake is made from Cavendish bananas (long green, ripe bananas harvested in Mindanao) which are ideal in baking the pantry staple, banana cake.

Ice cream and smoothie flavor are the inspirations for Cookie Monster, which basically is cookies and cream. A kid magnet, this variety is the only chocolate cake among the four with cookies and cream + genuine cream cheese frosting + Oreo cookie on top. Playful yet unpretentious!

Lastly, Mocha Loca is chocolatey with a hint of coffee. Topped with a silky, fluffy meringue, this is a decadent treat. You won’t be disappointed.

These savory snacks are baked with just the right consistency – soft yet not too airy, moist yet not oily; frosting isn’t too sweet nor watery; icing design is “rustic” and arty.

Although the baker has no formal training in pastry arts and only credits her crash course in baking way back at her alma mater, Cebu City National Science High School, she takes inspiration from the cliché that goes, “Follow your heart.” And it paid off! Her first foray into the food business, with roughly P8,000-worth starting investment which she slashed from her stash, started on a sweet note. Her first order was seven dozens (seven boxes). Currently, orders average from two to three boxes a day which means more “meet-ups” (term used in online shopping when a seller meets up with a client to hand him/her the orders then the buyer pays the seller in cash) in Banilad Town Centre. She’s up to prove that a registered nurse can also rock the pastry scene!

Give in to the “sweet” itch, checkout Phoebe’s CupCakery (www.facebook.com/cupcakesbyphoebe). Minimum order is 12 pieces at P40 each (minimum of six orders per flavor). Orders must be placed two to three days in advance.