With Flights Cancelled, Airline Worker Sells Thai Tea Crepe Cakes From Home

When her jet-setting life came to a halt in March, 35-year-old “aviation industry professional” (a term we’re using to respect her company’s strict confidentiality policy) Kitty R. suddenly found herself with a pay cut and more time on her hands. With her Singaporean husband in the same industry also facing wage cuts, Thai-born Singaporean PR Kitty decided to sell Thai Milk Tea crepe cakes from home to supplement her family’s income. Her home-based business Two Bake Boys — named in honour of Kitty’s two sons — was thus launched on 1 July.

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“I have two kids to provide for. I cannot just sit around and wait for things to get better,” says the beautiful mother to adorable boys aged four and two-and-a-half years respectively. Her cake orders might not be big in quantities, but they keep her energised. “It is something I look forward to doing, just like how I felt when I went to work in the past.”

“The Thai milk tea crepe cake is something that I learnt from a cooking class in Bangkok about eight years ago. You can find this dessert in some famous cafes in Bangkok. However, none of my friends in Singapore knew the existence of this dessert [back then]! So, I made some for them to try and they all enjoyed it,” shares Kitty. “Starting the business is a way for me to share this dessert with more people, while earning some extra income.”

Kitty’s boys are her biggest fans. “My children love it so much that I have to cook extra sauce for them every time I make it. My older son doesn’t usually like cakes or breads but he loves this too, and it makes me very happy,” says the doting mother. The kids used to help crack eggs and whisk flour when Kitty was making them for private consumption. However, Kitty — who took a food safety course — now does it all by herself for hygiene reasons. The rest of the family are just as supportive: while her husband (pictured above) helps occasionally with delivery of the cakes, her mother-in-law who lives with them in their condo often buys new pans for her to experiment with and also gives her suggestions on how to improve the product.

Kitty shares that most of her ingredients are imported from Thailand, and the tea she uses is specially picked to recreate the authentic flavour of cha yen — the style of sweet, spice-kissed, creamy milk tea one finds in Thailand. “The red and green tea that I use are from a specific Thai brand that can only be found in a few shops in Golden Mile,” she shares. “The green tea in particular is very different from Japanese green tea – I find it less bitter, with more rounded flavours and more fragrant, with a hint of jasmine.”

Apart from using the tea to make the milk tea drizzle, Kitty also takes the effort to soak the tea leaves in the milk used to make the crepe, so that every layer is well-infused with the tea flavours.

Kitty also chose to sell the crepe cake as she does not have an oven at home — this is a dessert she can make with a pan on the stove. To assemble it, however, is time-consuming. She wakes up at about 3am to start making the cakes. “The cake has many layers of whipped cream, and disintegrates in the heat. Since I don’t have an air-conditioned kitchen, it is better for me to do this at night, when it is cool.” Each 6cm-tall cake has about 18 to 20 layers of tea-infused crepe, and takes about an hour to make. To cook the crepes takes her about 30 minutes, layering them with whipped cream takes another 30 minutes. “Because it is so time-consuming, I can only make a maximum of four cakes each day and 15 a week. Any more is too much for me!” The assembled crepe cake then sets in the fridge for at least six hours. Kitty then spends 45 minutes cooking the Thai milk tea sauce: “You have to stir it constantly for 45 minutes, so I do this in the morning while my boys are having their breakfast — it’s quite pleasurable for me!”

Apart from mum duties of sending her children to school, Kitty is also activated by her airline employer to help out in “essential services” on alternate days. So the odd hours of the day are when she’s most free to make her crepe cakes.

Kitty makes the crepe cakes as she likes them: less sweet, with thin and soft layers, and an overall melt-in-your-mouth effect. She also prefers to have the crispy edges of the crepes trimmed off, a style different from the popular Lady M crepe cakes. “I wouldn’t dare compare my crepe cakes with those with those from the big brands,” says Kitty with a laugh. She is constantly trying to improve her crepe cakes through her customers’ suggestions. But she also has to field negative comments: “Somebody looked at my Instagram pictures (on @twobakeboys) and told me that I should know what crepe cakes are before I even sell them – and this person hasn’t even tried my cakes!” she recalls. “I felt sad for quite a few days, but I realised that there will be those who believe in me and those who don’t. I just try to take things positively.”

The crepe layers of Kitty’s crepe cakes are not as thin and porous as a classic French mille crepe cake, but slightly thicker, smoother and silkier — reminiscent of nonya kueh dadar skin. Those used to Lady M’s cakes will find it a very different animal — and one at a very different price too (prices for a 6-inch crepe cake from Lady M starts from $71.70, while a Two Bake Boys one costs $35). Despite the layers being thicker, the overall texture is still quite light and the tea flavours distinct yet rounded, making it a rather enjoyable confection. Those who want a sampler can also try Kitty’s cakes through a four-slice box set priced at $25.

Photo: Koh Yuen Lin

Due to her limited production quantities, Kitty recommends ordering one to two days in advance. Her current pool of clients include a good number of repeat customers and corporates orders. “I want to make sure that my customers get to enjoy the cakes fresh, so I won’t make them to freeze, even if that could mean increasing production quantities,” says Kitty. Her crepe cakes are also made without preservatives, and last about three to four days in the chiller. As the cakes need to stay chilled, she makes sure that they are delivered in cooler boxes, and to no more than four places a day.

Photo: Koh Yuen Lin

While she and her husband used to do the deliveries personally (and the man is still her ingredient shopper and go-to delivery guy who will drop everything to help her move cakes in unexpected situations), she now pays a friend — a musician with no gigs now — to do the job. Kitty has also hired another friend whose income has been impacted by the pandemic to illustrate greeting cards that customers can request for. “Everybody is having a hard time, we should just help each other out wherever we can!” she says. Kitty and her husband haven’t figured out their future plans yet, but Kitty is open to seeing where this business can take her.

Photo: Two Bake Boys

The six-inch cake comes with two boxes of Thai milk tea sauce, one slightly sweeter than the other. They taste more elegant than the usual cha yen one gets at a street-side stall, and isn’t overly sweet — it has a robust, balanced flavour. The smooth sauce is creamy but not too thick, so that you can drizzle it over the crepe cake liberally and not feel too guilty about it. What we especially like is that the crepe layers are infused with tea — so that the leaves' toasty, earthy flavours come through even when you eat the cake on its own, without any sauce.

On her mother-in-law’s suggestion, Kitty added gold dust to the top layer of her crepe cakes, and specks of gold foil on the sides and the top, adding a touch of glam to an otherwise plain-looking cake. The green tea option with its light green hue is especially pretty, reminding us of Swedish princess cakes. However, we found the flavour less distinctive and memorable than the original Thai milk tea version. While we didn’t find a discernible jasmine flavour, the sauce is also well balanced, neither too thick nor sweet. Those who like the bitter edge of Japanese green tea might find this a little lacking in personality, though.

Think of this more as a springy, soft kueh dadar-textured cake than the usual super thin crepey one. We like that the tea flavours came through even without the accompanying sauce — we’d happily eat the cake on its own. We also like that it remained moist and light even after four days in our fridge. Next on Kitty's menu: eggless crepes for vegetarians and a Thai Rose Tea Crepe Cake.

To order, Whatsapp 92272815. The cakes can be self-collected from St Michael Road. Island-wide delivery can also be arranged for $7. @twobakeboys

Photos: Kelvin Chia

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