The familiar sight whets your appetite while the traditional mashed potato slathered with gravy sits in its little bowl and the golden french fries simply beg to be snatched.
Your mouth waters at the thought of the crispy chicken skin and tender flesh marinated in the legendary yet mysterious 11 herbs and spices.
You reach out for a piece, only to realise that it is dense, fluffy and tastes different from the famous chicken. In fact, it tastes like vanilla.
Then, staring at the not-quite-chicken, you realise that it’s actually… made of cake.
That’s what you get when Karmen-Ann Mariswamy, 29, a baker who took her friend’s love for KFC to a whole new level, creates her signature super-realistic cake.
One would struggle to tell the difference between Karmen’s cake and the famous chicken many Malaysians know and love.
In fact, this little commission catapulted this extremely talented baker to social media fame just recently.
During a chat with FMT, Karmen said that she developed a passion for all things sweet from watching her eldest sister in the kitchen.
“She would bake for her colleagues and friends so I began learning the tricks of the trade from her.”
But, the tables have turned and her sister now goes to her for advice in all things cake.
Having studied culinary arts, Karmen once imagined herself whipping up dishes in the hot kitchen instead of working with dough and icing.
As it turned out, life does work in mysterious ways and Karmen received a contract from the Westin Hotel to work in their pastry kitchen after her internship, and this marked the start of her love affair with cake decorating.
“After working at JW Marriott three years ago, I left my job and tried my hand at selling homemade cakes while looking for another job,” related Karmen.
“During that period, a lot of things happened with my family which made baking from home a much better option.”
She then took a leap of faith and introduced Karmen’s Cupcakery to the world, and orders began flying in.
Word got around that her cakes were heavenly and this encouragement spurred Karmen on to turn Karmen’s Cupcakery into a full-time business.
Don’t expect to find brownies or pies in her baking portfolio, though, as Karmen’s Cupcakery focuses solely on customised cakes and cupcakes.
“I don’t venture outside of what I do now much, as I love cake decorating. There is a certain sense of joy that fills me when I look at my finished product.
“Of course, the looks on my satisfied customers’ faces when they celebrate their special day with my cakes also lifts my spirits.”
According to Karmen, chocolate cake is a popular choice among her customers, but she does have regulars who are more fond of vanilla butter cakes.
As for the KFC cake, Karmen explained that the realistic-looking cake was actually an order from a former schoolmate – who sent Karmen a photograph of a KFC-themed cake after stumbling upon it online.
Using that as inspiration, Karmen wasted no time and got to work. She started designing and baking her own version of the cake, which took two whole days.
The signature red and white striped KFC bucket, she said, was made of lemon butter cake, lemon buttercream and white chocolate ganache, while the crispy looking chicken was simply vanilla cake pops shrouded in cornflakes.
And the mashed potato with gravy? That’s fondant topped with white chocolate.
Talk about a dream come true! The cake turned out to be so lifelike that even Colonel Sanders himself would have proclaimed it to be finger-lickin’ good.
“I usually just go with the flow and out pops the end product. I rarely come up with a drawn-up design unless it’s specifically requested by my customers.”
The word “desserts” spelled backwards is “stressed”, and Karmen agrees to this as she has experienced many sleepless nights trying to bring her cakes to life.
She confessed that she has even suffered anxiety attacks, worrying about whether the colour and design would be something that the customer would go for or not.
Plus, the daunting task of discovering what types of ingredients and textures would work in Malaysia’s humid climate certainly took a lot of trials and errors.
“It’s crazy stressful but once you see the end product, that’s when you find that it is all worth it.
“I have no regrets embarking on this sweet journey and every cake baked is a new learning experience for me.”
There were many order cancellations during the first Covid-19 lockdown, but things looked up for Karmen very quickly as the public adapted to events being held off.
Customers started ordering boxes of cupcakes as pick-me-ups amid the doom and gloom of the pandemic, and Karmen even baked cakes that catered to Zoom birthday parties.
When asked about what savoury delights she prefers herself, the baker laughed and said that she ironically would rather indulge in a curry puff than a slice of cake.
“However, if I had to have one last dessert, it would definitely be Kenny Hills Bakers’ key lime pie!”
Craving for cupcakes and indulgent cakes during the lockdown? You can place your order at Karmen’s Cupcakery via Facebook or Instagram. Otherwise, you can drop Karmen a WhatsApp message at (017) 412 9043.