KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — The Korean Wave phenomenon that hit the country turned out to be a blessing in disguise for bakers affected by the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Korean-style cakes with their clean and minimalist designs are aesthetically pleasing and instagram worthy making them social media trends lately.
It has become a lifeline for Nuraina Ezzati Abdul Rahman after experiencing sales decline following a three-month closure of her bakery shop due to MCO.
The highly-spirited 23-year-old baker decided to make a shift to making cakes that usually feature pastel-colours and bold font styles using the double-layer lettering technique.
“I received overwhelming response from my customers, especially for orders made through Twitter. My sales have also tripled,” she told Bernama recently.
Nuraina Ezzati who previously ran her business alone is now able to help others by providing job opportunities to some of her friends who were adversely affected by the spread of Covid-19.
“Before the MCO was implemented, I ran my business alone, from the baking process to delivering cakes to customers.
“Alhamdulillah, with the social media’s viral power, I’m now able to hire three staff and two delivery riders to help me run the business,” said the holder of the Diploma in Bakery and Pastry from Kuala Kangsar Vocational College.
Nuraina Ezzati who started her business in 2018 said the minimalist cake trends have also been influenced by Korean television dramas and pop music as she often received orders to write in Hangul (Korean alphabet) on the cake.
“Apart from the designs and decoration, the size of the cake which only about five inches has become quite a challenge for me especially when customers request me to write long words in Korean on it,” she said.
Butter Digger online cake shop owner Dahlia Fisol, 23, said in order to be different from other bakers, she came up with the idea of placing a ‘love letter’ and multiple types of sprinkles in the middle of her Korean-style cake.
“Customers can convey a message through the letter and this element of surprise will add more fun to the cake,” said Dahlia who was inspired to make the cake after visiting South Korea in 2019.
Dahlia said she received her first Korean-style cake order during Valentine’s Day celebration last February but did not expect it to be so well-received adding that she is now able to sell up to 200 cakes a month.
The minimalist cake trend also brings luck to Yasmin Zulkefli, 27, when her online cake shop Melurcakes’ Instagram account gained more followers after introducing the cake.
“The most popular (cake) design is the calendar design that is decorated with icing and mostly ordered for birthday celebration,” said Yasmin who has 10 years of experience in the pastry field.
Cushycandy cake shop owner Nur Hidayah Kamarudin, 34, was of the view that the cakes have been in trend especially among the younger generation for their simple and clean designs.
“Although it has rustic textures, it still has the artistic touch. We will try to create new designs and decorations every day by making Instagram of cake shops from South Korea and Japan as a reference and source of inspiration,” she said. — Bernama
