Sharon Wee’s Cake Tasting

31 May 2010
by Phuoc
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Did someone just mention cake? This was one of the many things that I have been looking forward to after the completion/submission of my thesis. The talented Sharon Wee sent me an email a while back inviting me to a cake tasting session. The timing could not have been more perfect as it was the weekend of thesis submission. So without any hesitation I said yes straight away. Might as well celebrate with cake right?

What started off as a hobby; making cakes and cupcakes for friends and family, grew into a part time business for this full-time working girl. I can’t remember how I came upon to discovering Sharon’s blog but I was so impressed with the things she made; the amount of detail and effort she puts in everything she touches has got to be commended. Truth be told that I’m not that big of a cupcake fan; mainly due to the disappointment of mass produced products out there. Sure they may look pretty, but shouldn’t you pay for something that taste as good as it looks as well? It was good to learn that Sharon makes all her cakes from scratch from a little oven in her appartment; that’s right, she doesn’t have an industrial oven so she makes professional designer cakes, caupcakes and cookies all at home. (I wish I could do that).

Anti-clockwaise from bottom left: Miss Red, Basic coconut, Jaffa, Orange and poppy seed, Tea in Japan, "Catch up cake platter" (Clockwise from left: Summer on the beach, My little jiggly butter cup, basic white chocolate, basic chocolate mud, choc muddy)

So on the day of the cake tasting, I decided to leave my house 30 mins earlier so I would have ample time to park and get to the location on time. But thanks to a 6 car accident on the M4, I arrived about 1 hour later! There was catching up for me to do as the other guest had about 5 cake samples already. This purpose of the cake tasting session was to allow potential customers to see what’s on offer and for Sharon to have some cake with her food blogger friends (but also to receive some constructive feedback).

The cakes we sampled were (which doesn’t cover the entire flavours she has on offer; there are gluten-free options as well):

Summer on the Beach: Lemon and lime cake brushed with Malibu syrup and covered with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache

My Little Jiggly Butter Cup: Moist chocolate mud cake with dark chocolate ganache and a thin spread of peanut butter and strawberry jam between the layers

Basic white chocolate: White chocolate cake topped with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache

Chocolate Muddy: Moist rich chocolate mudcake with creamy dark chocolate ganache

Basic chocolate mud: Basic chocolate mud cake topped with dark chocolate ganache

Tea in Japan: Light green tea cake with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache

Miss Red: Soft red velvet cake with lemon and vanilla bean white chocolate ganache

Apples in Mud: Caramelised apple pieces with ginger swirled inside a chocolate mud cake and brushed with strawberry jam. Topped with dark creamy chocolate ganache

Basic coconut: Moist coconut cake topped with lemon and lime white chocolate ganache

Jaffa: Moist orange-chocolate cake with creamy dark chocolate ganache

Orange and poppy seed: Orange and poppy seed cake with white chocolate ganache

The stand out flavours for me would have to be Summer on the Beach and My Little Jiggly Butter Cup. Summer on the Beach was a refreshing cake; although it didn’t have a strong Malibu flavour (something she’s working on), the zesty flavours packed a punch to this wonderfully light cake. When I was younger I remember having my sandwiches with crunchy peanut butter and nutella, so My Little Jiggly Butter Cup brought back fond memories for me. At the session I didn’t eat these layers all at once, I broke off the different layers and had them separately. Whoops! But I managed to score another slice to take home; the flavours were wonderful and I’m pleased that crushed pieces of peanut were incorporated into the peanut butter layer.

All the cakes were light and moist (expect for the Chocolate Muddy, which I found to be slightly dense but not to the point that it clogs up your arteries and makes you sick after having two spoonfuls). There were some comments that I have provided to Sharon where I felt that the flavour of some cakes need to stand out more eg Tea in Japan, Apples in Mud and Jaffa, and she is working on doing so. However, she is pretty accomodating in terms of working with flavours to suit your taste. For those who have never tried Red Velvet Cake before, the closest I could get to explaining the flavour is by saying it has a mild chocolate flavour with a creaminess to it due to the buttermilk used; and look at that striking red colour!

For those who are going to the Sydney Good Food and Wine Show this year, Sharon is having a stall there so feel free to check out some of her designer goodies on offer. Sharon also holds cupcake and cake decorating workshops, so for more information check out her website and blog.

26 Comments

  1. Maria

    Hmm, I definitely wouldn’t say no to these kinds of invitations! Those cakes look amazing!

  2. Steph

    Mmm any excuse to eat a ton of cake sounds good to me! The Summer on the Beach flavour sound really nice, that totally sucks you got stuck in that mess on the M4!

  3. OohLookBel

    The decorated cakes are cute, and I love the names – summer on the beach, mmm….

  4. Y

    What cute cakes! Especially love that tree cake.

  5. betty

    ohthose watermelon cupcakes lok sooooo cuTE!! iwould love the basic coconut one..

  6. Angie

    Oh what a tough life you have =p
    Cakes flavours all sound wonderful, or is it just their names? =D
    Very cute!

  7. Phuoc

    Maria: We need more of these invites 🙂

    Steph: It’s a really lovely cake to have if you don’t want something heavy.

    Bel: There are so many cute designs on her blog/website too. These were on display at her home.

    Y: It’s pretty amazing hey? I don’t know how the cake supports itself

    Betty: There is so much cuteness from this girl

    Angie: Yeah the things I do for “research”… It’s hard trying to have 12 different cakes 🙂

  8. FFichiban

    Sounds like a super fun and tasty day hee hee. I am sure u caught up on those 5 cakes quick-smart 😛

  9. Trissa

    Cake tasting?! I’m so jealous – where do I sign up? I am on my way to Sharon’s website now!

  10. Betty @ The Hungry Girl

    Ahh what a great way to celebrate! Lucky you 🙂 I like the sound of ‘tea in japan’ – i love green tea flavoured cakes! That cake with the blue hummingbird on top is so cute!

  11. foodwink

    Welcome back to blogging. Congrats on your thesis submission and what a way to celebrate that with a “cake tasting” .. you lucky gal!

  12. Dolly

    omg i want…

    im considering to take a classs

    x
    x

  13. Phuoc

    FFichiban: Of course! There was no other way…

    Trissa: She did mention that she’ll be doing future cake tastings in the future so keep an eye out for them 🙂

    Betty: The “Tea in Japa” cake would be nice if the green tea flavour was bumped up a bit. I could imagine it being a good cake choice for an Asian function, especially if paired with red bean paste or something like that

    Foodwink: That’s what I thought; I’m going to celebrate again with more cake this week. No such thing as too much cake I’d say 🙂

    Dolly: Do it! Look through her blog to see what classes are like (she’s conducted 4 cupcake ones so far and I think a cake decorating one recently). I’ll learn how to decorate them later..

  14. Anh

    I know cakes should be tasty but… sometimes i’m more than happy just to look at how pretty they are lol

  15. Simon @ the heart of food

    Despite being so late, it looks like you did ok for yourself when it came to the taste testing.

    The Jilly Butter Cup sounds like a fantastic combination of flavours. Would love to see how that’s like, if given the opportunity.

  16. Forager

    Wow what amazing cakes. The creativity around cakes never ceases to astound me!

  17. linda

    Wow Sharon’s cakes sure look gorgeous. I admire her decorating skills. I bet it was a hard job sampling the cakes =p

  18. Sarah

    Ooooo! I like I like! So traditional too, Classic!

  19. Phuoc

    Anh: Yeah I know what you mean but sometimes it’s just a bonus if they taste really good too.

    Simon: Little Jiggly Butter Cup touched all the right notes. I had another slice of it the other day and left it sitting on my table and when I came back to it the next day it was still magically moist..

    Forager: Some people in this world have such amazing talent; if I could I would stare at these cakes forever, especially the wedding cakes..

    Linda: Oh yeah… It was very hard indeed, especially when they were all pretty good 😛 So when do I get to sample yours missy?

    Sarah:They are simple and cute

  20. Trisha

    Ahh yes I remember that 6 car accident in the M4. Everything was a stand still… pffft! Anyway glad you still managed to make it to the cake tasting! Such a shame if you missed it!

  21. Mark @ Cafe Campana

    Mmmm these cakes look very good. I love a really most cake but unfortunately most cupcakes are dry :(. I might have to try out these cakes at the good food and wine show.

  22. Linda V

    Yum a cake tasting, how wonderful. Those cakes look so good.

  23. Phuoc

    Trisha: Yeah it would have been but I was able to hang out with Sharon afterwards.

    Mark: Cool, if you go try it let me know what you think of them 🙂

    Linda: Yes I was quite lucky 🙂

  24. Juliana

    Cake tasting! Sounds good to me 😉 You have an awesome selection of cakes…beautifully done!

  25. Sarah

    Wow what a fantastic event!! Love it!! 🙂

  26. Phuoc

    Juliana: Thanks! They were pretty good..

    Sarah: Yeah it was pretty fun

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