She takes the cake

For those who have been following me around on my culinary adventures, you must know by now that I really don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Sure, just like any other normal human being, there are a handful of sweet treats I crave around merienda time. But more often than not, I’ll take the cheese platter and pass on dessert.

As a child I grew up only being allowed to eat candies on Saturdays so I would save up, go with my allowance to buy Airheads, Skittles, Blow Pop, Sour Apple BeltsÉ I would binge on them and would go into a candy coma. I would get ultra-hyper, then plummet down into a ball of laziness rubbing my tummy. Maybe this is the reason why I don’t really care much for sweets — a far echo of these ultra-processed, neon-colored sugars.

On the other hand, my sister, Bea, she would bake away in our kitchen, producing the yummiest oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chewy and soft, bits of milk chocolate bursting on my tongue. She made banana bread, banana cream pie, Oreo cheesecake, Cookie Monster-style chocolate cake. She could even pipe out Cookie Monster’s face on a cake… I watched, amazed and frustrated, because the only thing I ever made were these cinnamon Christmas cookies from a kiddy baking book that I wasn’t even that fond of. It was just the easiest recipe there. To this day I’m a pastry disaster, simply because it’s really quite scientific and I don’t have the patience for exactness.

A few days ago I was invited to the American Hospitality Academy to watch a demo by Toba Garrett, hailed as the most sought-after cake decorator in New York.

“If you have a dress by Vera Wang and your wedding at the Plaza, then you must have a Toba Garrett cake,” explained Daki Fernando, AHA’s marketing director.

Cupcakes by Toba: Intricate cupcakes that resemble fruit baskets

Instantly, images of that movie with Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway flooded my head, brides fighting over the perfect dress, perfect venue and perfect cake. While staring blankly at the perfect little sugar cookies waiting on the demo station, I contemplated how super-swanky, fondant decorated cakes look pretty but never appeal to me because they usually taste like cardboard and more often than not, 75 percent of it is made from cardboard! Still, I kept an open mind and waited for chef Toba’s little demo.

As soon as she got up and spoke, I warmed up to her instantly. She had a calm, collected yet commanding voice. Each word chosen carefully, well thought out and had purpose. She was speaking about her first experience in Manila, how she loved this place because the people were all smiles, patient and eager to learn. She described that she shed some tears on her last plane ride home and was truly ecstatic to be back. True sincerity resonated in her voice as her eyes softened and she looked at her AHA colleagues.

What actually struck me as different is that this lady will not sacrifice taste for beauty. I mean, that is my biggest pet peeve with fancy-schmancy pastries. They look good but they taste awful. One of the first things she said was that once she got hold of the multi colored glace icing bottles, “I would normally flavor the icing in something that is reflective of the color.”

“Picked up the violet and started talking about crème de cassis, the pink was maybe raspberry liquor or cherry, the green could be lime or even melon Midori, brown was of course chocolate or even take it a step up and do Godiva liquor. Last but not the least, white icing,” she said. “Just as important as any other, it can be flavored with lemon juice or vanilla.”

Chef Toba garret (second from left) with celebrity bake-off participants Leica Carpo, Louis Claparols and Celine Gabriel

I kid you not; her eyes truly lit up as she was imagining the different flavors that could correspond to each color.

As she proceeded to make the most mundane baked goods look like little works of art, I was mesmerized by the steadiness and deftness of her hands. Every technique she explained seemed so easy. It made me feel absolutely confident I could do this, though in the back of my head I knew I would have to buy the cookies because I was pretty sure mine would come out disastrous and ogre-shaped.

I later learned that apart from her long list of pastry and culinary achievements and diplomas, chef Toba majored in Fine Arts at Fordham University, had art training at Parsons School of Design and more training from the Loft School of Calligraphy. That explains it all. A masterful work made to look so simple can only be done by the hands of a true artist.

What struck me the most, however, is her fondest childhood memory of her grandmother, who would bake everything from scratch “with a handful of this and a handful of that, a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. There was no recipe, just her experience and memory of cooking and baking. We never had icing on the cake as it never seemed to require it.”

It’s this down-to-earthiness and her impeccable 30-year career that won even the saltiest of hearts — mine.

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Master pastry chef Toba Garrett will conduct a three-day workshop at the American Hospitality Academy on Upscale Cupcakes from Oct. 8 to 10. For more information contact the AHA located on 2/F of Aguirre Building, 108 HV de la Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati, tel. 892-7372, 892-7702, 892-0744 or visit www.ahaphil.com.

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You can reach me at stephanie_zubiri@yahoo.fr.