Cakes in a Box

01/18/2022

Y'all ready to celebrate the Year of the Tiger?

This year, I'm offering cupcakes inspired by Chinese desserts this Lunar New Year! Each pack comes with black sesame cupcakes and baked taro tapioca pudding cupcakes. Choose from a four-pack or a dozen cupcakes.

Limited quantities available. Preorder yours below!

Usher in the Year of the Tiger and celebrate with some cupcakes inspired by Chinese desserts this Lunar New Year! Each pack comes with black sesame cupcakes and baked taro sago pudding cupcakes, which means they’re perfect for sharing or devouring on your own. Black Sesame Cupcakes: black sesame

11/25/2021

Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing when I’m painting cakes! I don’t loosely outline what I’m gonna put where. I don’t figure out in what order I’m going to paint things. I probably (most definitely) don’t study the source material enough.

This has always been my problem. I wish I had a thoroughly type A personality because I admire people who can plan far ahead and see the bigger picture. But nine times out of 10, I’m just winging it, and I’m simply lucky it’s worked out most of the time.

Idkkkk maybe one day I’ll have all my cakes sketched out, plan exactly what I’ll do before I even make buttercream, and feel confident because I am prepared. In the meantime, I’m sort of enjoying the excitement (and sheer terror) that comes with recklessly slathering buttercream onto a cake and just seeing what happens next.

03/29/2021

I honestly could not figure out what jasmine tasted like in my brain until I made this cake (jasmine cake layers, jasmine swiss meringue buttercream). It’s nice and subtle—I’m into it.

Anyway just a little floral and textured buttercream action on this baby 4”. Enjoy. 🎨

03/23/2021

Posting a pretty cake right now feels wildly trivial. I've been thinking a lot, talking a lot about anti-Asian racism and the violence enacted against my community. It's been hard, and I'm tired. To bring to light all the microaggressions and explicit racism that my fellow Asians and I have experienced has been a lot.

The pain and trauma felt by my community is so tangible, and it's so much worse to be gaslit into thinking what I’m feeling isn’t real. I'm worried about my parents, I'm worried about my friends' parents, I'm worried about everyone's grandparents. I feel like a broken record, and moreover, I just feel a little broken. Suddenly, I’m faced with the realization that everything I hated about myself growing up and actively tried to conceal is what other people actually hate, too.

It is easy to feel helpless and hopeless, but I want to do what I can, and I urge you to do the same and support the Asian community during this time. I urge you to support the same people whose philosophy you live by, whose traditional medicine you practice, whose food you love to eat, and keep the conversation going, stand up to anti-Asian hate (if it's safe to do so), and learn more about Canada's history of anti-Asian racism.

Going forward, money from this month's fundraiser and a portion of proceeds from Easter cupcake sales will go towards SWAN Vancouver as per 世代同行會 Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice’s suggestion. SWAN supports and advocates for immigrant and migrant women engaged in s*x work, one of the most marginalized groups of people in our community who continue to experience violence. As promised, I will still be matching all donations from my March fundraiser.

Thank you to everyone who’s reached out and checked in on me. To my Asian community and BIPOC who've been hurting, I hope you find some time for yourself.

03/14/2021

Hi hello! For the month of March, I'll be fundraising for the 世代同行會 Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice.

Why Yarrow Society: The Yarrow Society supports low-income immigrant seniors in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside, and helps seniors overcome language and cultural barriers to services that meet their basic needs. Their efforts have been especially important during COVID-19 and in the midst of a rise in anti-Asian racism across the country. They’re also currently only $2,000 away from their fundraising goal of $50,000!

As someone who is Chinese and has a gooey, melty soft spot for the elderly, these incidents have been scary and worrisome, and the most vulnerable demographic in the Chinese community needs our support more than ever.

In exchange for your donation, you'll get one strawberry Pocky Cakes in a Cup and one chocolate five-spice Cakes in a Cup, which are 12 oz. delis full of cake (and not the ones shown in this photo). Please note that I'll only be offering 15, which means only the first 15 people to donate a minimum of $20 to the Yarrow Society and email me their receipt (or a screenshot of it) will get cake.

To make your dollar go further, I’ll be matching your donations. Note that even when these spots fill up, you’ll still be able to donate *and* purchase some Cakes in a Cup!

Learn more about Yarrow Society and their fundraising initiative via the link in my profile, and forward your receipts to joyce [at] cakesinabox [dot] com.

Questions? Hmu! Be sure to donate before all the cake bits are all gone!

03/10/2021

Whether you paint eggs or down mimosas, include some cupcakes in your Easter tradition this year! Each pack comes with six cupcakes (making them perfect for sharing), and features three spring-inspired flavours: chocolate malt, salted honey chamomile, and strawberry balsamic black pepper. I’m super excited about them and I hope you’ll like them, too! 💘

10% from each purchase will benefit the 世代同行會 Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice. Orders must be made by March 28, and pickup will be on April 2, 3, and 4.

Aaaand I think that’s it! Preorder below now. 🐰🌷🥚

https://www.cakesinabox.com/shop/easter-cupcake-pack-preorder

01/19/2021

Usher in the Year of the 🐮 and celebrate with some cupcakes inspired by Chinese desserts this Lunar New Year!

Each four-pack comes with two black sesame cupcakes (black sesame cupcake base, black sesame tong yuen filling, ginger syrup, brown sugar swiss meringue buttercream) and two mango sago cupcakes (coconut cupcake base, coconut sago filling, mango swiss meringue buttercream) that feature mini macarons from my bb Noms by Mon.

Limited quantities available! Impress all the aunties and uncles in your life and reserve your cupcakes below:

https://www.cakesinabox.com/shop/lunar-new-year-preorder-2021

01/12/2021

This Valentine’s Day, show someone you care (or at least tolerate them)!

Say what your heart desires (by choosing one of the five options provided) with my 5” three-layer conversation heart cakes, which can feed two people generously, and are now available for pre-order.

10% from each purchase will benefit the WISH Drop-In Centre Society! Pre-orders close on February 7, and it's pick-up only on either February 13 or 14. There are only a limited number of cakes available because I am only one person, so be sure to order ASAP.

Learn more and pre-order now at my brand spankin' new online shop below!

https://www.cakesinabox.com/shop/valentines-day-cake-preorder

01/10/2021

It feels a little weird to resume posting about cakes, but baking is where I find solace and joy, so here’s a cake that’s special to me.

Before the end of last year, I got to make a birthday cake for an author and artist I’ve admired since the eighth grade on behalf of his friend. I read Douglas Coupland ‘All Families Are Psychotic’ and used it as the topic of my book report, which, looking back, probably wasn’t the most age appropriate choice. I had a voracious appetite for his books and his works were a strong influence on me. When Coupland delved further into visual art, I learned that one doesn’t have to be confined to a single medium, which inspired me to experiment with different techniques across mediums.

Anyway, this is a rambling post and this isn’t really a full circle moment, but it sort of feels like it. Behind the chocolate my “paint” is Coupland’s face, hand painted and inspired by a work of his. Swipe to see a closeup and his original piece. 🎨

01/03/2021

Something sparkly to kick off the year. Other things included in my 2021 kick-off: napping, eating too much pizza, and watching too many movies. 😴🍕🎥

01/01/2021

Happy last day of 2020, y'all!

I’m always tremendously grateful for the support I receive, but the feeling was magnified this year in particular. Every like, comment, share, story tag, recommendation, and order kept me afloat and reminded me as to why I love making cakes. I am always blown away by how generous people can be, and 2020 has proven that once again.

Of course, this year was also challenging for everyone, and I understand the urge to want to shed the remnants of 2020. But I'm wary of saying goodbye to it as if the world is going to magically change for the better as soon as the clock strikes midnight. The fact of the matter is that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In addition to the obvious requests of bringing kindness, joy, and compassion into the new year, my only other ask is that we all carry that fire we felt this year forward. The things that plagued this year have always been around and will continue to exist in 2021. Don't fall for the rampant toxic positivity on this platform. It's okay not to set goals if that's not where you are mentally. Keep buying local and small businesses. Continue to learn and support marginalized communities. This is a reminder for myself, too. put together some excellent anti-bias, anti-racist goals that I’ll be using as a starting point.

Anyway, here's my top nine, and once again, I'm learning what's most popular with y’all is almost never the cakes I loved working on most. So, I took the liberty of putting together a collage of my favourite cakes from 2020. Maybe one day what I love to do will align with what y'all like, but I'll definitely continue to do more things I want to do, and less of what I don't. That's the energy I'll be channeling all 2021.

Hope y'all enjoy your last day of 2020! 🎉🎉🎉 @ Vancouver - Unceeded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territory

12/05/2020

Birthdays have been particularly hard for some this year, especially if they’re hitting a milestone. A lovely friend of mine turned 30 at the beginning of November and though we couldn’t gather to celebrate, cake was (obviously) still essential.

As a person who has an entire corner of her and her boyfriend’s apartment covered with plants (and they’re all alive, unlike mine!), buttercream succulents in a concrete planter made of cake seemed fitting. Insides feature layers of fudgy chocolate cake with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream. 🌵🍰