From Styling Yanxi Palace’s Wu Jinyan To Selling Strawberry Cake & Tiramisu

Having spent close to 20 years in the fashion industry, CK is a sought-after name who has clothed the likes of Story of Yanxi Palace leading actress Wu Jinyan (pictured with CK) and Hong Kong Cantopop singer-songwriter Pakho Chao. He has also travelled to destinations such as Doha, Paris and Rome to do fashion shoots for glossy magazines. And if you happen to be a VIP customer of luxury brands like Burberry, Moschino or Brunello Cucinelli, you could have been invited to one of the many styling masterclasses he has conducted for them.

But since the Circuit Breaker, he has had zero jobs. While he shares that he is planning for some upcoming shoots right now, things aren’t getting back to action in full force yet. “I think the impact on the luxury industry will be quite long lasting – high society folk need balls and events as reasons for them to dress up and flaunt!” he shares.

With his work not likely to get back into full swing soon, CK started I Feel Like Baking in the first week of May. Don’t mistake him for yet another Circuit Baker though. In 2009, before the wave of hipster places took over Singapore, CK had already set up now-defunct super hip Café Caramel – a lifestyle shop-cum-diner attached to a hair salon.

“I was tired of styling at that point and wanted a different challenge. Then the opportunity to open a café came up so I jumped on it with a few friends,” says CK. “I was inspired by a lot of the hip western-style cafes in Bangkok, and back then there were none in Singapore.” He started out having a friend supply cupcakes to the shop while he whipped up savouries such as pasta and lasagne. Later on, he started to experiment with baking cakes for the cafe, first consulting recipes from Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson, and then modifying the recipes as he went along. While the café closed down in 2011, CK continued to cook and bake at home, at times catering for friends’ parties.

Despite having a sweet tooth, CK’s desserts are never too sugary. In fact, they are generally light and reminiscent of Japanese-style cakes. He also takes pride injecting something different into familiar flavours, so that they don’t taste too run-of-the-mill. His current list of sweets for sale is largely a reprisal of the favourites he sold at Café Caramel, including the tiramisu ($38 for a 1L-box), the Vertical Strawberry Cream Cake and the Salted Caramel Creme cake (both $80 for a 9" cake; the latter pictured). “I create items based on what I like to eat. For example, a lot of people make green tea tiramisu, and many have told me that it will be very sellable. But it is not a flavour combination that I agree with, so I will never make something like that.”

“The tiramisu was the first dessert I learnt how to make,” shares CK. He first followed a recipe by Hong Kong food writer and curator Craig Au-Yeung Ying Chai, but has since modified it into something completely different. CK insists on using made-in-Italy mascarpone and sponge fingers for this mascarpone, and uses rum instead of coffee liqueur. Instead of mixing the coffee together with the alcohol, he soaks the sponge fingers in coffee first, then spoons over the rum. “This way, the flavours are kept distinct,” says CK. He also adopts a different process for whisking eggs to give it a fluffier texture – though that is a trade secret that he cannot disclose. The end result is a boozy, creamy tiramisu with a deceptive lightness that will have you eating way more than you intended. This is one of the best takeaway tiramisu we’ve had – even better than those from those from famous Italian restaurants.

CK’s five-inch tall whole cakes are all built on a light chiffon cake base, and layered with fresh cream. The strawberry cake – which he used to supply to edible gold atelier Takumi Artisans – boasts three layers of chiffon, fresh cream, and fresh seasonal strawberry slices marinated in a mixture of lemon, honey and rum. Meanwhile, the salted caramel cake, the big sister version of the bestselling cupcakes at Caramel Café, features a lightly burnt caramel sauce – and we like it that you really can taste that bit of smokiness.

CK also created a series of roll cakes. “Whole cakes are for special occasions, whereas a roll cake is something people can buy for themselves just to eat for fun,” says CK. He started off with a rather dreamy Earl Grey, pistachio and salted caramel combination, and has now moved on to a new flavour of salted caramel and honeycomb. Based on the Earl Grey flavour we’ve tried, these boast a generous cream centre nestled within light sponge. The salted caramel brittle bits on top of the roll cake added a welcome pop of flavour and texture too. While it is a pretty pricey roll cake, the flavours are extremely elegant and lovely for a gift.

Due to the use of fresh cream, all of CK's cakes require setting in the fridge overnight. And with the limited capacity he has in his quaint walk-up apartment’s kitchen, he can make at most four portions of tiramisu and two whole cakes or three roll cakes at a time. This means that he has had to turn down large orders, but he has no regrets about it: “If I really want to make money out of this venture, I will have to buy a whole new fridge and set up whole new operations! This is really just a way to pass my time and also to supplement my income during this period.” While he is already planning for fashion shoots right now, he will continue to bake casually and is open to expanding it into a bigger operation, depending on how the work situation goes during the pandemic. And while he lives with two other housemates, he does his cooking solo. “My housemates don’t help at all! Not even to help to eat cake scraps – we are all tired of eating my cakes,” he says with a guffaw.

Place orders at least a week in advance by messaging @ifeellike_baking (subject to availability of slots). Orders can be picked up from CK’s home in the Marine Parade area. Alternatively, delivery can also be arranged at a price.

​​​​​​​Photos: CK Koo/Angela Guo/Zaphs Zhang