[PHOTOS] This KL Home Baker Makes The Prettiest Vintage Cakes
Like taking a step back in time.
By Tamara Jayne — 19 Aug 2021, 12:30 PM
Has cake ever put a smile on your face? If these adorable frogs don't, I don't know what will!
Charmaine, also nicknamed LinLin, is a Malaysian baker who makes charming, beautifully-intricate cakes that give off old school vibes
Based in Shah Alam, the small business owner began selling her vintage-inspired cakes in November last year.
Known as LinLin Cake, a name derived from her last name, the home baker creates all kinds of whimsical designs, from fairy frogs to floral and frilly swirls.
Having her own sense in fashion and art, Charmaine explains that this spills into her cake designs as well
"I may be influenced by trends but I'd like to interpret or improvise them to something that I like," the 25-year-old tells SAYS.
"Usually, I'll require my customers to give me a direction for the design by sharing anything they like for their cake. For example, a character, style or mood/colour/occasion, or maybe some description of the person. From there, I'll work on the idea. I usually get my inspiration from Pinterest!"
Although she handles 90% of the work, including marketing and socials, she's thankful for parents who help her deal with the more straightforward tasks.
"The biggest challenge is taking orders as it requires a lot of communication with the customer," she shares, adding that as one of her services is to create custom cakes, coming up with fresh new ideas also takes up a lot of time.
"[It would] sometimes take me up to two weeks to get the inspiration or the idea + multitasking with my other tasks."
In the beginning, the major stress for her was recreating other bakers' designs, which she no longer does. "It was truly challenging... because there was already a standard set to compare with, and as someone with a 'perfectionist' character, I had to make sure every detail from width to colour is as similar as possible."
Combining a mix of whipped cream and buttercream, the local baker makes adorable designs, said to taste just as good as they look
And are sometimes just too sayang to eat... like this little guy.
Check out this cool, retro space-inspired 'Kirby' cake she made that looks straight out of the '70s!
When asked if she's ever received any interesting requests before, she shares one incident.
"I had this customer who told me that she likes the cakes I made and wanted all of those elements on the cake. You know how we can differentiate between child-like and mature? She wanted to mix both together.
"It was something like this: 'I want a bunny on the cake with fresh flowers, gold leaf, and gold pearls, with 'these' specific ruffles, and a lot of colours'. With so much information, it was really hard for me to process the design. Long story short, we made the cake, I was still confused but she said she loved the cake. So it's all good! Haha."
"Our bestselling custom-made size is the seven-inch that is RM250 onwards. My normal design (semi-customisable) celebration cakes are between RM75 to around RM300, depending on the size and design," she explains.
The menu and rough price estimates can be found on her Instagram.
