'Caked in Sugar'

A new coffee table book titled "Caked in Sugar: Creations by Penk Ching and Shen Ratilla," was recently launched at the Coral Room of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casiono. The book, which was launched in Manila at the Peninsula last May 31, chronicles the authors' metamorphosis from baking hobbyist to cake artists. Sisters in real life, Penk and Shen trace their journey from the time they whipped up their first Wilton-inspired character cake to the time they re-created Beijing's landmark Summer Palace as a birthday centerpiece.

Elegantly designed and lavishly illustrated with hundreds of beautiful photographs of the best sugar confections that the authors have created for some of the country's biggest and most memorable social events, "Caked in Sugar" is divided into 5 chapters. The chapter titled Sweet Memories features the wedding cake that the Pastry Bin duo did for Ayala scion Fernando Zobel and his bride Kit Silverio in 1994. The cake was inspired by Colette Peter's Pas de Deux confection, a picture of sublime elegance which complemented the clean and structured lines of the bride's gown designed by Inno Sotto.

Pastry Bin at the Palace (Chapter 3) depicts the cakes that Penk and Shen created for three Malacañang weddings: the Beaver Lopez-Jackie Ejercito troth in 1999; the Mikey Arroyo-Angela Montenegro nuptials in 2002; and the Dato Arroyo-Kakai Manotok altar date in 2003. In the chapter titled Fantasies, Penk and Shen interpret the nuances of life's finer things not just as cake, but as sugar-artists. Working with fashion designer and Pastry Bin debutante Mich Dulce, they translate aspects of Filipino creativity into trompe l'oeil-inspired edible sugar art. Wrapping up the book is the chapter titled Cycles. In these pages, the sisters celebrate their ethnic heritage by interpreting each animal in the Chinese lunar calendar in sugar artworks inspired by popular symbols of Chinese culture. All caked in sugar, of course.

"Caked in Sugar: Creations by enk Ching and Shen Ratilla" is edited by Harriet Ann Dy. Photography by A. Chester Ong and Claudine Sia and book design by Tracie Anglo-Dizon. It is published by Tien Wah Press (PTE) Ltd., Singapore. It is available in local bookstore.