HUMANS OF RV (HoRV): A Slice of Everything
Many of us like to bake simple treats as a pastime, but few would dream of pursuing baking as a career. Well, we know someone who dreams about it and you may have seen her as the serious and organised CCA leader in RV Girl Guides, or even know her personally as the witty friend with a great sense of humour. With close to 500 followers on her Instagram account @xiubakes, her delightful pastries have been enjoyed by both teachers and students in RVHS. In this editorial, RVSEC gives you a closer glimpse of this talented, ambitious, and self-taught pastry chef, Wong Xiu Ting of class 6T. Xiu Ting’s online baking business, Xiubakes, has spread across the student body in RV. Since its launch in 2013, Xiu Ting taken nearly a hundred orders from RV-ians - a number which she had never expected to hit. In fact, she started the business with a very humble yet practical intention in mind. “Like all teenagers,” she laughs, “I wanted to earn some money to buy the things I liked. I also figured that since I’m in a JC, I can’t be in a culinary school at the same time, right? Since I love baking, I decided to start this business to earn money and practise my baking skills.” Not only has she been able to achieve both money and baking experience, she has also made a name for herself as the “Aspiring Pastry Chef”, whose pastry creations and beautiful frosting have been loudly applauded by her customers.
If you're not a fan of creamy frostings, why not try some popcorn crunchiness?
If you're not a fan of creamy frostings, why not try some popcorn crunchiness?
Not one, not two, but twelve oreos! How's that for a cake topping?
“I’ve never expected the business to expand so much, not in my lifetime. At first I just thought about doing this for my friends, and maybe get a few orders a year.” It’s certainly not just “a few orders in a year” anymore. With orders ranging from birthday cakes to macarons, Xiu Ting has displayed creativity and precision in her fully customisable pastries. She has baked for hundreds of RV-ians, who have the wonderful opportunity to taste her creations at events like the History Department’s film screenings, birthday parties, and even RVSEC’s farewell party for the Year 6s last year.
Every RVSEC member enjoyed Xiu Ting’s red velvet cupcakes with oreo frosting for our Year 6 Farewell Party last year. Of course, the name flags were specially made for our seniors!
You may be wondering - how did Xiu Ting discover her passion for baking? Well, all aspirations start with an inspiration, right? Believe it or not, for Xiu Ting, her inspiration came from her very own television screen! She recalls fond memories of watching cooking shows on television as she grew up, starting with the Japanese anime series YumeiroPatissiere that finally ignited her passion for baking. While renowned chefs like Jamie Oliver have caught her eye from an early age, it is Singapore’s homegrown pastry chef Natalie Eng whom Xiu Ting looks up to the most. Specialising in French pastries and food photography, the precision and aesthetic appeal of Natalie’s creations are what Xiu Ting particularly admires, and strives to emulate. It is no wonder that she hopes to travel to Paris to learn more about culinary arts and pastry making! “Paris is the city of food. Everything originated from there. If you go there, you can learn the authentic way of making cakes.” Big dreams start small, and Xiu Ting has taken her first steps towards her goal of opening a cafe in Singapore. Xiubakes has given her invaluable experience, from learning how to publicise her beautifully decorated pastries on her Instagram page to understanding the value of money after all the hard work she’s invested into her passion. Xiu Ting also shares with us that because of the technicalities of pastry recipes, it is hard to always succeed on her first try and it leaves her frustrated. Nevertheless, she still perseveres in her attempts to produce a satisfying, mouth-watering product. Her baking experiences have certainly taught her that with a mixture of dedication, determination and a dash of patience, nothing is impossible! “What I enjoy the most about baking is that it’s very systematic. With the fixed instructions, it ensures that you can get the same results everytime. If you invest your hard work into it, then everything will turn out fine. Macarons are an exception though (laughs).”
A leaning tower of macarons is the true testament to Xiu Ting's perseverance and hard work
With a passion as firm as her cake bases, Xiu Ting is whisking her dream in the right direction, and there’s no stopping her. While her six years in RV may be coming to an end, her journey as an aspiring pastry chef is just beginning. Hoping to gain professional experience by applying for internships at hotels and cafes, Xiu Ting wishes to venture into more technical and higher-end pastries that are easy on the eyes and taste great in the mouth. Of course, while she is busy mixing and matching ingredients for innovative flavours, she will remain faithful to her baking business. That means, Xiubakes is here to stay! As she continually strives to keep her pastries affordable and delectable, Xiu Ting hopes to reach out to her friends in university as potential customers. They’re going to be in for a real treat - we can certainly affirm that. “Nowadays, most cafes out there sell very expensive cakes. So what I can do is to sell cakes that are more affordable to students. Cheaper cakes, who doesn’t like that?” If reading this hasn’t made you want to get up on your feet to place an order at Xiubakes, then we don’t know what will! But beyond that, Xiu Ting’s journey has taught us that no matter how big your dreams are, there’s always a way to get them going. Her best advice for RV-ians would be to start developing your passion as early as possible. Just like how she decided to start a baking business in school, you can hone your talents by catering them to RV-ians too! With that, we wish Xiu Ting, the aspiring Patissiere, all the best in realising her dreams! And don’t forget to invite us when you’ve opened your cafe, okay?