Pinoy pastry chef creates replica of St. Basil's Cathedral

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino pastry chef has caused a stir in Moscow, Russia for creating a two-meter-high cake replica of the famous St. Basil’s Cathedral, Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Victor Garcia III said. 

The pastry replica of the city landmark is the centerpiece at the posh Ritz Carlton Hotel in Moscow. US-based news network CNN ran a story on the replica on its website on Christmas Day.

Chef Troman Felizmenio started working on the cake in early September. Each day, he spent three hours baking and sculpting the pieces.

The edible cathedral is the exact exterior replica of the 16th century cathedral. A big tower at the center is surrounded by eight smaller, onion-domed towers.

The CNN story said the cake is made of gingerbread and decorated with royal icing.

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, with its colorful bulbous domes, is considered an architectural icon.

Ivan the Terrible, tsar of Muscovy, commissioned the cathedral’s construction to commemorate his military conquest of the city of Kazan in 1552. The city, located east of Moscow, was the stronghold of the Tatars, a Turkic ethnic group.

There is a chapel under each dome symbolizing one of Ivan’s assaults on Kazan. A ninth tower was constructed in the 1580s to become the tomb of St. Basil the Blessed.

The chef and his team of bakers are making a limited number of smaller cathedrals. Prices start at 50,000 rubles ($1,600).

Felizmenio is from Bicol and has been working at Ritz Carlton for two years. He has a six-month-old son with his Russian wife.