Walking On Crafty Icing

CEBU, Philippines - “I'm almost 30. I think like I'm 40 yet I feel like I'm 22. I live in the most beautiful place I know – Cebu City.”

These are the words of a journalist-turned-corporate junkie-turned-cake designer and baker, Arvy Lopez. After nine years, Arvy said goodbye to the corporate world and devoted herself to the politics of flour, icing and fondant. And ArvyLopez was on a roll.

The FREEMAN: When did you start molding creativeness in pastries?

Arvy Lopez:I've always painted my whole life. I love to draw. In grade school, my school made me join international art competitions. As for baking, I grew up with a lot of homemade cakes and pastries in the house. I occasionally baked as a kid because it was an activity that I enjoyed with my mother, not because I grew up wanting to be baker. I never thought that I'd choose cake making and cake decorating as a career.

TF: Have you ever thought about moving someplace else to gain more market? Not that we don't want to keep you here.

AL:I watch all these shows and I'm like, wow, they have all those tools! Here, I buy whatever is available or order online and wait a long time. But it's not all that bad. I love Cebu. I grew up here. I belong here. People are modern and exposed and my cakes, fortunately, have a market.

TF: Can you still remember where you made your first pastry?

AL: My mother's kitchen. Chocolate chip cookies. I was in the third or fourth grade. After those came out from the oven, I remember how I was still able to feel the texture of the brown sugar. I learned my lesson.

Pastry de Resistance

Who would thought that cake toppers are very much edible? Or that you couldn't wait to sink your teeth into Barney's head? Arvy, also a sucker for all things sweet, said she is extremely hands on.

“I personally bake and decorate the cakes solely because I love doing it,” Arvy explained. “Plus, my seven-year old is the best coach in the world when it comes to molding cartoon characters and other popular figures. She would tell me the exact shape of Piglet's head or the right shade of purple for Barney.”

Fawned over by cohorts, the Cupcake Theory's red velvet cupcakes make people dream about them in their sleep.

"Sultry, Sexy, Red,"Arvy answered when asked about her favorite flavor. "That's the red velvet and that's a given. I can say that it's arguably everyone's favorite and the bestseller. I also love Chocolate Addiction (chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting) and Mint To Be (chocolate cupcakes with peppermint frosting)."

Apart from the others who have had opportunities to study the craft, Arvy had to whisk her way with trial and error and the formula is beautiful. When you grow up watching your mom as your teacher in the kitchen, it definitely beats going to school. "My mother loves her kitchen. Most of the time, when my mother would make me and my father eat whatever it is that she baked, she would mutter and say, ‘I should have used cake flour instead of all purpose flour’, or ‘Next time, I'll gently whip the eggs first instead of directly mixing it with the batter.’ These were things that I unconsciously learned over the years," she said.

TF: How competitive is the pastry business in Cebu?

AL: There are a lot of talented cake decorators and makers in Cebu. A lot. One would think that there wouldn't be a lot of market. Wrong. Cebuanos are very discriminating and they know what they want. They will pay good money on a cake so long as it is something that they want, something that they expect. Competition is the last thing I'm worried about. If anything, I welcome it. It keeps me on my feet, forces me to outdo myself every time. I look at other people's work and I go, "That's one great cake!" My concern is the quality of work that I do. I'm very grateful to my loyal customers.

TF: Has your style/design evolved since?

AL: Yes. Definitely. I think the more I'm doing it, the more challenged and pumped up I am in outperforming myself every time. I go with the flow and adjust according to my customers' needs and wants.

Sponge Off Accolades

She is so talented Arvy is always two steps ahead. Her can-do approach to everything earned her customers' trust and confidence all these years. "I still get surprised by people's comments.I've always said that I didn't expect this to take off. It's all very inspiring but I just really want to make and decorate cakes and it has always been about that."

And her happiest moment? "Customers who go out of their way to text, call or email me on how happy and satisfied they are. These are very important to me. My family has always been supportive. My husband never doubted me. He got me my first Kitchen Aid mixer without asking. My friends are my overworked non-paid marketing team. They have blogged, talked, twittered, shouted and done every imaginable thing possible to market The Cupcake Theory. I'll always be thankful and grateful to them."

TF: Tell us about that favorite red velvet story we all love.

AL:The first red velvet that I had was a present from my husband. He got it in the US during a business trip. It became a favorite. That's when I started making those and that's how The Cupcake Theory started. My very first flavor is the red velvet. I made some and decided to let family and friends try it. For that very first batch, my husband said it was too sweet, my colleagues commented it was too buttery and my mom advised that the frosting should be piped a different way. I gathered all their comments and tweaked and changed some of the ingredients until I got it right. When these people agreed that it was probably the best cupcake in the world, I felt that I was ready to start selling cupcakes and cakes.

Her red velvets now are the closest thing to luxury that the mouth has ever experienced.

To order from The Cupcake Theory Gourmet Cupcakes and Hand-carved Cakes, visit http://www.facebook.com/www.thecupcaketheory.cakesandcupcakes or email [email protected]