On National Cake Day, I baked Vallery Lomas’s Pecan Bundt Cake from “Life Is What You Bake It” — and even the little crumb I stole while unmolding blew my mind. Toasted pecans, juicy pineapple, golden raisins, and a splash of my homemade vanilla blended into a fragrant, exceptionally moist crumb that felt richer than the ingredients alone.

Happy National Cake Day! My can-do-ness was strong enough for me to blanch the pistachios from scratch, make meringue buttercream for the first time and somehow ice the cake without a turntable. Thankfully, there was enough leftover lemon curd from another bake that it meant one thing less to do from scratch. All that aside, I think this is my best attempt at a layer cake. Or cake, period. Best cake I ever made from scratch. Yum!

Been eyeing their cakes for a while and today I decided to take the plunge. This one had layers of strawberry (with strawberry sauce) sandwiched between soft, fluffy vanilla sponge and topped with perfectly whipped fresh cream. Everything, from the quality of the ingredients to the techniques applied to produce this deceptively basic-looking slice was top notch. Simplicity at its best!

Bursting with ORANGE. I mean, minus the seeds, literally every ounce of 🍊 went into the making of this cake. Is it no wonder that indulging in this cake feels like you’re bursting through a gigantic orange?

Waistless with minimal shrinkage from the cake pan walls. All in all, this cake had a much better rise compared to v.1.

A fluffy yet moist confection properly infused with the botanical fragrance of 60 pandan leaves and delicately balanced with the coconutty aromas of the tropics. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Last slice 🍰

BRIEF: “Taiwan Pink Guava - Roasted Oolong Tea -Green Grapes” SOOT’S TAKE: Lovely flavors and the cake had a wonderfully light and soft crumb.

Happy Sponge Cake Day! Since I won’t be in Portugal anytime soon, why not experience a slice of it through this tender, eggy, vanilla-scented, self-saucing sponge cake that comes with a surprise layer of “gooey, barely baked batter?” I had mine with a drizzle of EVOO and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, but it’s also great unadorned.

This was quite a high maintenance recipe, setting me back a whopping 10 egg yolks, 5 egg whites and a whole block of butter 🧈. On top of that, I had to use the better part of my discretion in interpreting the recipe, pureeing the cempedak flesh (when it wasn’t specified) to better incorporate its flavor into the batter and to extend the baking time by over 20 min because 18 minutes simply did not make sense for a 1-pound loaf pan of batter. The outcome, thankfully, a rich, moist, fragrant and flavorful cake, unapologetically of cempedak.

BRIEF: “brown sugar vanilla sponge with tart cherries, chopped pecans and chocolate, laced in almond amaretto cream cheese frosting” SOOT’S TAKE: Good cake. Part of their $15 Teatime Bliss cake and beverage set.

A delicious but pricey slice.

Happy International Tea Day. Celebrating with this ethereal beauty of an Earl Grey tea-infused chiffon cake from @justonecookbook. It is as “light, spongy, and airy” as the recipe promises.

These were my favorite sweet treat although I'd never have known there was banana in them. They reminded me of English toffee.

Cannoli, meet pound cake. Pound cake, meet cannoli. But it’s pound cake’s day today, so happy National Pound Cake Day.

From top to bottom: Caramel Glaze Valrhona Caraibe Mousse Dark Chocolate Sponge Dark Chocolate Cremeux Hazelnut Praline Feuilletine All very excellent.

Worth its weight in fruit and alcohol as over a kilo of fruit went into this massive super-fruit-filled cylinder of brandy-infused cake. A solidly scrumptious fruit cake if I ever had one and it will be staying in rotation for future Christmases.

Dark choco mousse with pistachio custard cream, cherry and cranberry compote and fresh choco cream

From a cafe onsite called Zhu Coffee 渚咖. The name of the cake literally translates to “Rum Chestnuts.” A lovely slice to enjoy especially because of the chestnut filling even if I tasted no rum.

First time trying this and it works!

Last slice on the stand. Scrumptious. & happy International Cake Day.

BRIEF: “Rich and fruity, crowned with marzipan and soft icing.” SOOT’S TAKE: Got these to try on Boxing Day for $1 when they would’ve cost $17.90 24 h ago. The back of the package states the cake contains sultanas, currants, raisins and glacé cherries and they’re pretty good. But I don’t know how anyone pays almost $20 for such a measly amount of fruit cake?

BRIEF: “Pistachio white chocolate cake layered with pistachio buttercream and pistachio praline.” SOOT’S TAKE: As good as it looks and you’re really getting a bang for your buck with such a generous filling of pistachios and buttercream!

BRIEF: “Thin layers of soft honey sponge cake alternating with light dulce de leche cream in each layer.” SOOT’S TAKE: After years of unfulfilled curiosity about Russian honey cake, I can’t believe I’m finally trying it today! It’s sweet and spicy and kind of tastes old school in my anemoia of the “old country” so to speak.

Light and fluffy coffee sponge cake filled with coffee cream

Basic but good. I love the coffee flavor and that it’s not overly sweet.

Topped with fresh grated coconut, marigold petals and cosmos and served with whipped cream coffee and tea. The cake reminded me of sugee cake.

Purchased in lieu of the YAMANASHI WHITE PEACH FAIR that would allow the local populace to indulge in seasonal white peaches freshly harvested from Yamanashi Prefecture farmers. It is my first time sampling peach from Japan and what I had on the cake was sweet and juicy as described, although this is most definitely not a cheesecake in the traditional sense.

BRIEF: “Fragrant, with distinct flavors of bergamot and citrus. A classic tea time treat.” SOOT’S TAKE: This was delightful too. Cake was light yet flavorful. Everything came together nicely without the lavender dominating. I had this for tea with a cuppa Russian Caravan.

BRIEF: “Vanilla sponge with mascarpone cream and fresh strawberries.” SOOT’S TAKE: This seemed to be the slowest-selling cake at the Luna Cakes’ stand but it was scrumptious.