Now that lockdown is finally over, us cavemen may finally be free to roam our local malls in search of a sweet fix to satisfy itchy cravings… but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice the convenience of ordering in! The world of home baked goods on Instagram is truly inspiring! On top of that, I’m constantly amazed by the creativity, colour and delightful joy these these bakers showcase. Here are some local home bakers that I think will satisfy your taste-buds and leave you with heart-eyes!
So, let’s get to straight into checking out this amazingly cute and delicious looking home baked goods shall we? I’ll let each of these businesses tell you their unique story in their own words. After all, I think there’s no better way of getting to know someone then to hear it directly from them.
Sweet Hato (@sweet.hato)
Hello!
My name is Denise Teh founder of Sweet Hato. I am a Law graduate and I a qualified lawyer called to the Malaysian Bar in 2020. I was unemployed after I completed my legal training in 2020. Knowing that my employment would be affected during the pandemic, I started Sweet Hato after feeling “restless” from the lockdown. Thus, I created Sweet Hato on Instagram without expecting much. To me, it was just a page where I could express my creativity and share my baking creations. But ever since I started my page, orders have kept coming in until today.
Running a business was very new to me. I had to constantly wear many “hats” – from being a baker, to a photographer, to a creator, to even customer service. However, being able to wear those hats is also one of my favourite things about running Sweet Hato as I get to try out so many roles and take on the challenges that come with it.
All meringues are vanilla flavoured and it comes with various designs (almost any designs you can think of)! Additionally, Sweet Hato offers customisation of meringues. Whether it is your beloved pet, or your favourite plush toy, you can customise them!
Sweet Hato’s best seller designs/characters as of 2021:
- Disney Princesses
- BT21 (from BTS)
- Dumbo
For customers who don’t know what designs/characters to order, we usually have our “character of the week” where there is a fixed character for the week which comes at a cheaper price. We also prepare cake packages (check out my insta for pics) for special occasions and birthdays.
Customers enjoy placing the meringues on their drinks as it will “float” on any type of drinks. My favourite is to pair the meringues with a cup of coffee. The meringues will provide the perfect taste balance: a hint of sweetness to the bitter coffee!
Customers may browse through our website for the menu. The link is on our Instagram page bio. For any orders and enquires, DM @sweet.hato on Instagram and we will try our best to reply as soon as possible.
Kek Ni (@kek.ni)
Kek Ni is a solo baker 🐸👌🏽 (Nini) making cute macarons and pies with an affinity for party hats 🥳
I have always wanted to pursue my dream to own a bakery, and since I was still looking for a job in my field it sounded like the perfect time to try.
My family have never been cake people (ironically), cheesecakes and pies for birthdays were preferred in this household so it was a no brainer to focus on them. Meanwhile the macs are a fun cookie to play with, taste wise and visually!
Nini’s Recommendation
The macs change every month, so I would say to get the Picnic Box so you can try a lil bit of everything~ if you’re not sure on what pie to match, get the Limau Pie! Its refreshingly tart similar to the Solero lime ice cream. Custom macs are a fun way to celebrate the people you love (or yourself 😉), with party hats and all 🎂
Donut Plan (@donut_plan)
A short stint in one of KL’s coffee roasters completely changed our perspective on food (and our lives) and sparked a strong desire in us to live a life that revolves around it instead of being deskbound from Monday to Friday.
Our first attempt to do that was to start a micro bakery with someone whom we met whilst we were working as a barista. The other person decided to withdraw midway and with barely any resources or experience, it was a hill that was too high for us to climb.
We needed something else to work on, a different plan that could be undertaken alone. Consequently, a casual conversation with a friend led us down the donut hole. We thought despite the abundance of cafes in KL, no one was really offering speciality donuts, unlike the States, Australia, UK and even Indonesia. We felt there was great potential in donuts. After all, donuts and coffee are a great pair :). And at that time, donuts felt like they were relatively easy to make…
Many many fry days later, interjected with many hesitations and planning, the Donut Plan was born. After a year and a half operating from home, we’ve recently moved into a proper kitchen in Section 14 PJ.
Donut Plan’s Recommendation
If you’re adventurous – the Brown Butter Marmite.
If you enjoy classic flavours, we’ve spent many days refining the classic glazed donut – give our Vanilla Glaze a go.
Our latest creation – the Yuzu Blueberry. Also a current favourite of ours.
But we always say, go with your gut! We have quite an extensive list of flavours that are rotated every week for now, we believe there’s something for everyone.
Moment Wonders (@momentwonders)
Moment Wonders is a home bakery business specialising in eclairs and puffs started off by a retired accountant, inspired by eclairs created by world renowned Chef Christophe Adam.
We use only premium quality ingredients like Niko Neko for our matcha and houjicha collections and Callebaut for our chocolate collection. Our eclairs have zero artificial flavours and colouring, while our lemon orange collection uses real orange and lemon juice. Furthermore, there are no preservatives. Everything is made from scratch; from the pastry cream to even growing our own mint leaves to decorate our minty zest eclairs!
Perfect and lovely for any special occasion, Moment Wonders makes your precious moments more wonderful!
Sugar Mummy (@sugarmummii)
We’re a small business based in KL, mainly selling custom made cakes, tarts, macarons, pound cakes, lemon cupcakes etc.
Sugar Mummy’s Recommendation
One of our most popular flavours for our cakes are strawberry fresh cream, chocolate oreo and chocolate fresh cream. Also, some of our best-selling pastries are macarons, raspberry cheese tarts and lemon pound cake as well.
Bearly Cakes (@bearlycakes)
Bearly Cakes is a student-run business that opened during Christmas of 2020. As you can imagine, going through my senior year of high school online, during a pandemic, really skyrocketed my stress level. So, I turned to baking as a fun and productive way to cope with my situation. Because I’ve always loved baking—mostly for the pleasure of eating the yummy goods warm from the oven— during lockdown it was sort of only natural this little hobby of mine got amplified into a small business!
Furthermore, I thought it would be a great project to undertake to gain some valuable work experience, as well as enable me to fundraise for charity causes that matter to me. For instance, during Ramadhan of 2021, I started selling cookies as a way to raise money for The Lost Food Project. In the future, I hope to be able to organise more fundraisers like this.
As for my inspiration… I have a little obsession for miniature things, which is probably why it struck me to make mini cakes.
Bearly Cake’s Recommendation
If you’re a first-timer, I recommend you try out the apple crumble or lemon poppyseed mini loafs: they’re best-sellers, and perfect for a picnic! It started with just the mini loafs, but now we’ve expanded to some old favourites from grandma’s recipe book, like pineapple upside-down cake and walnut chess tarts which are perfect for any occassion. However, if you’re a chocoholic, the best choice for you may just be our chocolate fudgy crinkle cookies!
#Supportlocal
There you have it, my top picks for a sweet treat this week! Looking through Instagram really does make me feel blessed to live in KL, where there are so many incredible home businesses to try out. So if you’re looking to order in one of these days, think to #supportlokal when making your choice!