BENTO CAKES, mini cakes, or lunchbox cakes are trendy treats that fit all your sweet cravings and Instagram needs in cute little boxes.
These cakes are South Korean bakers’ answer to their neighbor Japan’s bento lunch boxes. The Japanese term “bento,” which means lunch box or packed meal, was adopted to refer to cakes that are small in size but not in quality.
These “kawaii” lunch boxed cakes are not just decorated to fit in one’s Instagram feeds, or flavored just to linger in one’s lips.
Because of the cakes’ midget size, they are also portioned to keep forever out of our hips, as the saying goes.
The Flame filtered out the overwhelming lists of “must-try” South Korean-inspired cakes to find the bento-est of them all in Metro Manila.
Delicielo
Can a person have their cake and eat it too? Is eating an entire box of a cake by himself close enough? Delicielo made that possible. Its consciously portioned cakes are not just bento-sized, but are also gluten-free and vegan.
Delicielo’s cakes sound like a greedy dream come true.
WATCH: Delicielo – Gluten-free cakes
The dark chocolate moringa and calamansi coconut cake are its best sellers.
The dark chocolate moringa smoothly incorporates the superfood moringa or malunggay leaves into their toppings and sponge cake. This cake is organically sweetened by coconut sugars and covered in locally-sourced dark chocolates.
The calamansi coconut cake fits the best of the Philippines’ tropical flavors—tangy calamansi and creamy coconut—in a mini-box. Its heavenly calamansi cake is then frosted by cashew cream cheese frosting, and then blanketed by desiccated coconuts.
These best-sellers highlighted the healthiest dessert trait: locally-sourced. They are beneficial for our economy and our gastronomy.
Find your next vegan treats at San Antonio, Parañaque, Metro Manila.
Cakes by Alyanna
For those who curate their Instagram profiles with these aesthetics: cottage-core, Ghibli stills, minimalist, and maximalist designs, bento cakes can now fit into those swoon worthy grids.
Cakes by Alyanna offers a wide-range of custom-made cake styles. Their 64,000 followers on Instagram are a testament to their online appeal.
They have wide-palette of aesthetic cake designs ranging from roses to rainbows.
Cakes by Alyanna can even make cakes look like your favorite local chips, like this Clover Chips cake in the post below:
The shop lets their customers have their cake, and appreciate the artistry too. Cake lovers should feed their style with these bento cakes.
Located in Cainta, Rizal, Cakes by Alyanna delivers via Lalamove or Grab within Metro Manila.
Baked by Trimy
Baked by Trimy can give you an experience that does not only satisfy your taste buds, but your eyes as well. Have you ever tried eating a salad, a snowglobe, or even kare-kare that is actually a cake?
The best unique designs among the most popular bento cake-sellers are these two personalized kare-kare and Potato Corner-inspired cakes by Baked by Trimy. (Bento cakes start at ₱1,500)
This shop brings a special Filipino twist to the “kawaii” lunch box trend. Why not try to have a cake designed like your own favorite dish, like sinigang and lechon?
An Artlets’ top favorite is even featured in one of their designs. The realistic Potato Corner-inspired cake shows such tremendous artistry that it is almost a crime to try to eat it like fries, or just eat it at all.
Its cafe is located at Santa Mesa Heights in Quezon City, and is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m to 9 p.m.
Good Karma Bakery
Apparently, some shops think the best cakes to have are the ones that are shared. Good Karma Bakery believes that the only karma you will need is the one it offers.
You can even request for portraits to be decorated on their cakes. What could be a more intimate gift than a bento cake with your loved ones’ portraits on it?
One of its cakes features a girl with five pets. A customized cake for a fur parent and his or her fur baby sounds like a very cute surprise.
Artlets may even request for a cake resembling a portrait of a graduating friend that features tigers and other Thomasian motifs.
Good Karma Bakery even made a pair of truly fashionable cake portraits, featuring Dior and the Paris Fashion week for its favorite fashionista, queen and real crazy rich Asian Heart Evangelista.
Enjoy sharing good karma at Rose Avenue in Las Piñas, Metro Manila.
Aegyo Cakes
We reserved the last section of this piece for Aegyo Cakes because it might be the bento-est of them all. This shop stayed true to the roots of bento cakes. Its name “Aegyo” is even inspired by a Korean word which means “cute.”
Aegyo Cakes fitted in its bento boxes almost all of the best qualities from the previous shops. Its cakes are ‘aegyo’ enough for all Instagram aesthetics, with designs ranging from minimalist to galactic and textured to 3D.
WATCH: aegyocakes – Lunchbox signature cakes
Other than having “design-your-own-cakes” and having portion sizes of four to six inches, customers can also choose which flavor their cake can be: either dark-choco bonbon or rainbow velvet with cream cheese.
Finally, what can be more personal than Mother’s day, anniversaries, and other events’ greetings in bento cake forms?
Every mother or father deserves a personalized cake greeting that can truly be called designer, like the impasto painting-like cake in this post.
WATCH: aegyocakes – Designer cakes
Indeed, Aegyo Cakes is where art meets food. The video below features how Aegyo achieves the painting-like designs they make of cakes. A very special one is made in this post for a 35th anniversary greeting.
WATCH: aegyocakes – Where art meets food
Aesthetic, properly-portioned, unique, and handcrafted, Aegyo cakes truly have the ‘aegyo’-est and ‘bento’-est cakes. The shop is located in Diliman, Quezon City and delivers via Lalamove, Grab, and Mr. Speedy.
Need a sweet treat for that end-of-the-school-year party or an academic break pat-on-the-back? Celebrate your love with your partners, friends, self, or even just cakes with bento cakes.
Bento cakes fit all you could ask for in cakes: heavenly flavors, health-conscious portioning, attractive designs, and an incredibly unique enjoyment.
Wait no more, for these cakes are good to go for that next mini celebration favors. F – Marvin Mygs M. Mangubat
