You can’t help but put a smile on your face when you talk to Gregory “Greggy” Soriano. The 26-year-old affable Fil-Am is a gregarious and fun-loving cake designer and pastry chef. His outgoing personality shows in his designer cake work and is probably a big reason why so many TV reality show producers cast the Filipino—self described as the Lady Gaga of cake designs—on their programs.
Soriano has already appeared on Beauty and Geek season 5 and this December you can watch Greggy, as his friends like to call him, on the Cake Boss: Next Great Baker airing Mondays at 9pm on TLC.
The Next Great Baker is a show where 10 of America’s top bakers compete to win a cash prize of $50,000 and a chance to work with renowned award-winning cake designer Buddy Valastro of Cake Boss.
In an exclusive interview with the Asian Journal, Soriano, the diva of wedding cake designers, said he was chosen out of thousands who auditioned for the show.
He said being a former reality star on Beauty and the Geek, he thought it would be fun to be a part of a show where he can express his creative side and something he’s very passionate about—food and design.
“I literally use my cake as a canvas,” said Soriano. “It’s art and something I’m passionate about.
“I wanted to show the world that there’s more to cake design than just sculpting a cake in the shape of The White House or a typical Mad Hatter-style cake,” he added. “I like things to be avant-garde and lush. I’ve always been artistic and crafty and I want people to go out there, get inspired, and make something.”
He’s done well so far.
In the first episode, which aired on December 6, Soriano rebounded from a horrendous start (in which he literally broke down in tears when Valestro commented that his “hug-your-baby-momma-all-night-long” chocolate hazelnut cake looked “disastrous”) to win that episode’s elimination challenge.
The win was a little bittersweet. The challenge was for the contestants to make a celebration cake. Soriano chose to make a sweet 16 cake since growing up, he never had a sweet 16 of his own. He also brought up a tidbit of his life. He said that his father had passed away during this time.
“The win was in honor of my dad,” said Soriano. “It’s the most amazing feeling ever.”
Born in Glendora, California, Soriano said his family is originally from Lucena City, Philippines.
Soriano said he grew up around food, though none of his family members are professional chefs.
“Food has always brought my family together,” he said. “My mom and dad are amazing cooks. My aunts and uncles have competitions on who can make the best longganisa and the cousins would do a blind tasting and be the adjudicators. My Dad would always win.”
Soriano said he knew in high school that he wanted to be a cake designer. In high school, he took classes from a local cake decorating supply store and loved it. His first cake creation was a woman’s torso wearing a red Cornelli lace bodice.
He brought it to class and everyone marveled at the creation, although, he did get in trouble.
“The principal said that ‘It’s very well done and you have great talent, but it’s something I would bring home to my wife, not to Mrs. Kendricks,’” recalled Soriano. “I cried like a lil’ girl, but at that moment, I discovered that I had an unusual talent.”
Soriano honed that talent at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and studied under pastry and cake industry luminaries Bettie Van NorStrand and Dieter Schorner.
Soriano said he approaches a cake like an artist looking at a blank canvas.
“I’m inspired by all things beautiful,” he said. “ 24/7, I’m constantly aware of the beautiful things around me. I have a large collection of images on my Blackberry archives of anything and everything that inspires me. I digitally sketch and design cakes before working on it.”
Soriano said he’s living his dream and this is the perfect time to be a Filipino chef since many of them are being recognized for their work in the mainstream media.
“Growing up, I’ve always wanted that person where I would look up onto the screen and say, ‘Hey, I want to be like him!’ Unfortunately, there wasn’t really any of that. It makes me so happy to see Filipinos gaining recognition by the mainstream.”
Soriano is now part of a small Filipino group who are being recognized for their talents and are being showcased in reality TV programs. Fil-Am Dale Talde of Chicago is on Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars; Lou Ross Edralin was a contestant in Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen with Chef Gordon Ramsey; and Cristeta Comerford, the executive chef at the White House, is a regular on the Food Network.
Soriano was not allowed to divulge how well he did in the Cake Boss show but it doesn’t matter. Soriano is a treat and fun to watch.
He said he plans to open his very own cake design business in New Jersey sometime next year. You can visit his website www.cakelush.com for more information.
Greggy’s sweet tooth recipe
Ube Trifle
Ube Cake
2 large purple yams (ube)
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup evaporated milk
(I like to do these in cupcake form, because they’re easier to cut into bite-size pieces, for layering the trifle.)
• Peel and slice the yams into inch thick slices. Transfer into a medium pan, rinse, then cover with cool water. Bring to boil and simmer until tender. Mash with a fork.
• Crack eggs into a large bowl. Beat with a whisk until eggs are combined.
• Gradually add sugar and whisk until combined.
• Add oil and whisk until combined. Add vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.
• Add about a third of the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix to combine.
• Add about one half of the buttermilk and mix to combined.
• Repeat above, alternating flour and buttermilk and ending with the flour mixture.
• Scoop into cupcake papers about half to two-thirds full (depending on whether you want flat or domed cupcakes. Note that these cupcakes will not shrink. Two-thirds full will result in domed cupcakes.).
•Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
Ube Halaya
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups grated cooked purple yam
1 cup evaporated milk or (traditionally) coconut milk
1 14oz can condensed milk
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon butter/margarine
•In a deep pot or saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the butter or margarine. Stir to combine well and on medium high heat, cook until the mixture thickens. Constantly stir to avoid lumps.
• Halfway through the cooking, add a tablespoon of butter. Mix well and continue cooking until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.
• Allow to cool for layering trifle.
Leche Flan Pastry Cream
2 cups scalded fresh milk
½ cup condensed milk
6 tbsp. flour
4 egg yolks
• Combine all ingredients and stir with a whisk until thickened. Stir constantly as it can curdle and burn easily.
• Allow to cool and place plastic wrap directly on top of pastry cream to avoid a skin on top.
Chantilly Cream
2 pints heavy whipping cream.
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
• Beat heavy cream to a medium peak with powdered sugar and add vanilla. Keep cool in refrigerator
How to construct the Trifle
-Vanilla wafers
-Macapuno Shreds
1. Slice each cupcake into 4 pieces. Put a layer of the ube
cake at the bottom.
2. Place even chunks of ube halaya on top of cake.
3. Evenly place some Macapuno shreds on top.
4. Drizzle with Leche Flan Pastry Cream
5. Cover entire layer with a lil’ bit of pastry cream.
6. Crumble Vanilla wafers on top.
7. Repeat layers, starting with more ube cake. Top off with more crumbled Vanilla wafers.
*Be creative with the layering. It’s all about getting every single yummy component when you take a bite. I like to place this dessert in those really nice, large Trifle Bowls.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek Dec 15-17 MDWK p.2)
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