Threadcakes Contest

Have you heard about Threadless?  It's an apparel store that sells shirts designed by a online community and voted on by the public.  The creators of the winning designs receive a cash prize and store credit-- of course, bragging rights come with it as well. 

To make things more fun for the fans (say that ten times!),  Chris Cardinal hosted a cake contest based on Threadless shirt designs.  Threadless and other sponsors donate prizes!  And the amazing part is famous cakers judge the entries! Nicole of Baking Bites, Jen of Cakewrecks, Mary Alice of Charm City Cakes and Bakerella of the cakepops fame.  Fun, right? 

Smart Parenting Feature

Smart Parenting featured Quintbelles (and Elaine Shih) on their SP Momtrepreneurs:

For the full interview, please visit the site.

Her business idea: Quintbelles Celebration Cakes makes customized cakes for any occasion.  We customize based on a theme, a specific design or a character.  We use homemade style of baking which gives the cake the distinct flavour and personal touch to ensure that no detail is overlooked. 

How she started: I learned how to bake along with my sisters when we were still in school. One summer, we were feeling adventurous and decided to try to bake a cake. That started a hobby that turned into a passion. When my sisters and I made my wedding cake, we decided to put up a business. Quintbelles was born. The name “Quintbelles” came from “5 sisters” to represent our common love for baking. 

Her future plans: I want our business to grow at a gradual pace and eventually put up a store. To prepare for this eventuality, I want to continuously master my craft by refining my techniques in cake design. 

Work-life balance: Prioritization is key. It’s really difficult to balance family and career. I used to be part of the corporate world while Quintbelles was in its infancy but decided to            do my business full-time two years ago. Although I really love to bake cakes, family time is very important for me.  That is why I do not accept a large number of orders. 

My husband is also a great help in taking care of our son especially when I am busy with baking. My son is my greatest fan! He even markets our products to his classmates and their moms. 

Memorable Cake: I baked a huge choo-choo train cake filled with candies for my son’s first birthday. It was a big hit! 

Tips for Mompreneurs: We should remember to allot time for ourselves.  I believe a happy mom makes a happy home. Take some time off once in a while to relax and unwind.

Steve and Sheila's Chinese Themed Everything

It's fun when you meet a couple preparing to get married-- they'll all excited and giddy (Just the way it should be!) :D So when Steve and Sheila contacted Atch Elaine, we were as excited and giddy as they were.  


The theme (at least for cakes) is Chinese! 


As dictated by tradition, Engagement Cakes should come in pairs, one smaller than the other with 喜喜 somewhere in the cake.  Some time in the middle of the ceremony, the groom replaces the cakes inside the boxes.  He will carry the cake with bride's name and his wingman will bring the other cake. They will ride/walk around the house or restaurant carrying both cakes.  Some say twice!  In any case, the point is that going around means unending relationship of the couple.  He leaves the cake with the brides name for his family and brings the cake with his name to give to the family of the bride.  Cake swap, yes!


They liked the cake so much that they decided to order their wedding cake from us, too! 


We tried to make the cake as simple as possible.  Knowing that the location was going to be huge, we upgraded their ordered size to something bigger. Shhh, don't announce that we do that-- everyone might want to order something smaller and hope for a freebie upsize! 

Mocha cake! 

The kokeshi dolls. You can customize these! 

To keep with the chinese theme, we piped their names and surnames in gold coins liked Huangti of the past.  We also made coins that are used to greet the couple.  

Basically means love one another 

May you stay together for 100 years! 

We wish Steve and Sheila many decades of happy marriage! 

Bong's Boxing Gloves Cake

I've never been much of a boxing fan-- but, Manny Pacman Pacquiao surely makes every Filipino proud when he is inside the ring (yes, only when inside--outside of it is a different matter altogether).

Ms. Pia emailed Quintbelles for a cake -- she's organizing a surprise boxing themed birthday party for her hubby's 40th.  We thought instead of the normal boxing ring cake (which is actually easier to do), we'd make a pair of boxing gloves.

We haven't done that before so we researched (read: google) boxing gloves.  Her requirement was to make the cake red and it has to have a towel with his name on it.  It has to be a 3D cake and as close to the real size as possible.

3-1/2 batches of chocolate cake was used to make the cake. 

Would you say it looks close enough like a real set?  Maybe one day I can take up the sports -- for now this cake is as close as I get to boxing.

Sometimes, my sister would ask us to do cakes for her.  This rarely happens though because she knows how full our cake schedule is.  So we know that when she asks, she really wants the cake--

This time was for the special merienda for her previous manager.  Her manager uses this gigantic calculator so they decided that it'll be a perfect gag cake!

 

So they presented her with this:

We're glad that she's grinning like her miniature gumpaste model!