SWEET-LOVING consumers in Cagayan de Oro City will have little to no difficulty in searching for sugary treats to satisfy their cravings as there are several sweets shops established in the area.
One shop stands out among others in the city for its mouthwatering tin can chocolate cake called “Lata.” With its popularity that took social media by storm and the high recommendation by several cake lovers, this shop is located along the Kauswagan highway, across the Toyota Showroom, behind Citramina.
Cakeistry, owned by Chef Ma. Aurora "Awi" Chaves, is a cake shop that offers good-looking and tasty cakes made by people who are passionate in baking and cake decorating.
Established more than 8 years ago, Cakeistry sells not only cakes but also other treats like cupcakes, brownies, and others.
Other than its very famous Lata, Chaves' version of the popular Dream Cake, the sweets shop, is also well-known for its specialty goodies which are the Triple Goodness Bars and the Chandelier Cakes.
One could say that rather than a product of necessity and desire to put up a business, Cakeistry is born from Chaves' love and passion for baking, which started way back when she was young.
Young Aurora, or as her friends, staff and clients call her "Awi," started her fascination to baking when she first saw her mother making a chiffon cake.
She was amazed with how her mother manually mixed the butter, measure the ingredients, and the concept that if the measurement is off or the mixing stroke is in the wrong direction, there's a possibility the cake will fail to rise. She was also fascinated on how the egg white can turn into those fluffy white substance we call icing.
However, Awi's mother did not pursue baking and she, herself, got to take up baking class, with three of her best friends, only when she got out of high school in 1984.
It was then she met her first mentor: Lydia Robillos, who is the owner of the famous Rosita's Bake Shop.
"Before, I never had the opportunity to make cakes for other people, I just baked for the immediate family," Chaves said.
She never got to do much baking even after she graduated at Xavier University with a bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Major in Management.
It was not until 2008, when she was already a mom with four kids, three girls and one boy that her interest in baking lit up after she came across the name of Chef Ma. Erwina "Booboo" Maramba.
"I saw a poster nga mag teach sya og cake decorating in Cagayan de Oro and at that time, wala pay formal like kitchen or studio or culinary center or school in Cagayan who can teach," Chaves said.
She took baking and cake decorating lessons from Chef Maramba during the Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 and 2 workshop.
"Lumapit si Chef Booboo sa kin kasi she went around all the participants sa workshop. When she observed my work, parang she saw something in my work," Chaves said.
"So all the more I got inspired. Parang, 'Oi, ipagpatuloy mo yan,' sabi niya. So, at the end of the course, yung handbook namin, nagpa autograph ako. So, sinulatan niya. And it really struck me talaga yung message niya. It was so short but parang 'Hala, may pag-asa ako,'" she added.
At first, she really did not go into it seriously and it took her two years to get serious in the baking business, so to speak.
Primarily, Awi's baking skills was limited to the normal cakes we see which are decorated with icing and none of the fondants. That was due to the fact that she had difficulty in creating fondant from scratch even after she was mentored by Chef Jesuit Paul Nugas in 2009, according to Chaves.
However, with the encouragement and the huge impact she got from Chef Maramba's message, she pursued her interest in cake baking and decorating.
At present, Awi has created several great-looking cakes decorated with fondant, particularly her gravity-defying cakes and the Chandelier cakes.
According to Awi, Cakeistry is a shop that she never really planned and "just grew because it was meant to grow."
Unlike some establishments that got its reputation through advertising and social media, Cakeistry garnered its popularity via word of mouth.
Fame and the likes are nothing to Awi as she's only into doing what she loves even though part of her social life was cut off.
"You really have to love what you're doing. Kasi if secondary lang yung love and its more for the money, no," Awi said.
Cakes made from love and passion, definitely the kind of tasty treat sweet-lovers wouldn’t wanna miss.