Young chef finds purpose in cakes

Chef Tyler Buan of Fahrenheit by Tyler and his elaborate cakes

If there’s anything that can make one smile even in these uncertain times, it’s a good cake.

And the good news is that while we are in quarantine, we are discovering so many new amazing chefs, including those who have just recently graduated from culinary school and are now making a name for themselves in the culinary world.

One such chef is a 25-year-old named Joey Tyler Buan.

Chef Tyler graduated from the Angelicum College for the Culinary Arts only in 2016 before learning specialty courses at the Magsaysay Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts and interning at the Peninsula Manila.

It was his childhood dream to become a chef and his supportive mom, Geo Buan, has helped him pursue this dream, although it was initially his grandmother who inspired him to cook. Tyler recalled he would watch his lola, whom he described a “goddess in the kitchen,” cook tuyo and it became the first dish that he would learn to make.

Indeed, he has come a long way from cooking tuyo.

In school, he specialized in Asian cuisine. Today, he makes a delicious parmesan-crusted baked salmon for his online bakeshop, Fahrenheit by Tyler, which opened only last July 18.

The online bakeshop is a quarantine creation. He and his batchmates were supposed to apply for a cruise line but the COVID-19 pandemic put all those plans on hold.

Realizing his passion was in pastries and not just fish, he has developed a product line of delicious and eye-catching cakes and cookies.

He makes a very delicate strawberry shortcake, with sweetness that unfolds with the strawberries. This is perfect for those who love dessert but don’t want it too sweet.

For the layer of vanilla cream mousse, he makes the texture—and not the sweetness—stand out. For the Chantilly cream frosting, he ensures that this supports and does not overpower the star of the show—the strawberries.

Knowing the strawberries are the draw, he adds another layer of them inside the cake, not just on top, making the end-product literally a beautiful cake inside and out.

He also makes an opulent wild berries cheesecake that will wow you upon opening the box with the sheer amount of strawberries and blueberries on the top layer of the cake (depends on berries that are in season). This is another example of Tyler’s sophisticated grasp of desserts, even at his young age, as the New York cheesecake base is neither too sour nor too rich. Instead, the richness is balanced by the spiced graham crust, the Chantilly cream and the berries on top, resulting in a truly delectable cheesecake.

He also makes Basque burnt cheesecake, vegan banana loaf and cookies (chocolate chip, red velvet and triple chocolate).

The young chef has been very productive this lockdown. Aside from opening his online store, he has also baked for front-liners, donating oatmeal cookies.With stories like this, I can’t help but get misty-eyed with hope.

While millennials have been perceived as a “me” generation, we are now seeing how they are not only tech-savvy survivors but also fine examples of generosity, compassion and hard work. Bravo to this new generation!

Fahrenheit by Tyler, call 0917-8870774 or order via Facebook.com/fahrenheitbytyler or Instagram @fahrenheitbytyler.More from the author at margauxsalcedo.com. Follow @margauxsalcedo on Instagram.