Filipino bakery’s team wins Food Network Canada cake-off

The team of Sugar Blooms co-owner Marie Mallari (middle), Geraldine Ong and Erika Rotor, impressed the judges with its ube-macapuno Filipino themed  cake within the alloted five-hour period. FACEBOOK

A Filipino Canadian bakery’s team won this year’s “The Big Bake: Holiday,” which is Food Network Canada’s baking competition.

Sugar Blooms and Cakes, located on McPhillips Street in Winnipeg, Manitoba, beat two American teams and took home the $10,000 grand prize with its “Paw Express Cargo Cake.”

Jingle Bakes, the team of Sugar Blooms co-owner Marie Mallari, Geraldine Ong and Erika Rotor, impressed the judges with its ube-macapuno Filipino themed  cake within the alloted five-hour period.

Known for its bestsellers Ube Macapuno, Sans Rival and Ensaymada, Sugar Blooms and Cakes is the first ever cake bakeshop from Winnipeg featured on the Food Network, according to a Facebook post of radio station 92.7 FM CKJS.

“It was very surreal to say the least,” said Mallari, head cake artist at the bakery and her team’s lead baker, in a report by winnipegfreepress.com. “Joining the competition, we did not expect to take home a win.”

The team created a nearly five-foot-tall custom cake in five hours.

With the theme “Santa Paws,” the bakers created edible replicas of balikbayan boxes, or cargo boxes filled with gifts, toys, and goodies that Filipinos send to family back home.

“They can’t be there physically, but in a way that’s their way of celebrating Christmas with their families,” Mallari said of their design idea.

The final design included a carabao, a rooster and mice. They also included a a polar bear dressed in a Santa suit to pay homage to the team’s home base, Churchill,  Manitoba.

Since the episode of their victory aired, Sugar Blooms and Cakes has seen an influx of customers.

“It was insane. It was so busy. Our customers are so proud, especially the ones who have been with us for years,” Mallari gushed.

The winning design includes a Philippine carabao, a rooster, a mice and a Canadian Polar Bear sitting on top of Balikbayan Boxes. SCREENGRAB/Omni News

Sugar Blooms and Cakes opened in 2011 at a smaller location on Selkirk Avenue, seven years after Genevieve Melegrito, the bakery’s owner and Mallari’s mother, immigrated to Winnipeg with her family from Papua New Guinea, where she had a cake business. Melegrito then expanded and opened a new location on McPhillips Street.

Mallari, who was studying to become a chiropractor, soon found a knack for cake decorating and decided to pursue it

The company’s cakes have won awards from Seven Oaks Foundation – One Sweet Affair Cake Competition  and received coverage from Canadian bridal Magazine Weddingbells, according to 92.7 FM CJKS.