If you’re a dessert enthusiast like me, then you’ll be happy to know of the best creampuffs you can get in Malaysia. In 2020, I came across this Instagram page and I was instantly pulled in by all the beautiful and delicious-looking desserts on it. When I started this internship as a writer with Baanana, I figured I just had to try and get an interview with the owner of this page. I wanted to know what inspired the owner to open up this business and what was their key to success, and I got my answers. I sat down with the owner, Farisya, and had a talk about her business and what got her to where she is now.
Disclaimer: This interview was conducted way before MCO 3.0, and we maintained the SOPs as we went through it.
My first question was:
How Farisya Bakes Started
She started baking for fun at the age of 18, selling cheesecakes in jars to earn pocket money while she was in college. However, she stopped for a while before baking again in 2020, already knowing what she wanted her business to be. She was thinking of a name and a tagline to go with this page of hers and after some consideration, she decided on the name ‘Farisya Bakes’ along with the tagline, “The Cake Therapist” (we’ll get into the reasoning behind the tagline in a bit).
When asked how she gained so many followers, Farisya stated that it’s simply followers that accumulated over the many years of owning that page. These were followers that were around during her many eras which even consisted of a time where her content was mostly her writings and she was also handling her own blog. So, Farisya Bakes officially started in 2020, right before MCO.
“When I started going back (to baking), it was just so natural. I knew exactly what I wanted.”
She dabbled with a lot of recipes, which she got from Google at the time, and modified them to make them unique with her own touch. After launching Farisya Bakes, the business took off pretty smoothly and people have been going nuts over the desserts she sells, especially with the best creampuffs in Malaysia (no kidding, but I’ll get into that later).
A Little Dive Into Farisya’s Life
Farisya and I had a little side chat about what went on in her life before finally deciding to start Farisya Bakes. Remember how I said that she started baking during college? She was pursuing her degree in psychology and was trying to earn pocket money. Soon after that, this beautiful lady got married and decided to put a pause on baking. Her life then got a little hectic as she was carrying her second child and became less active on Instagram.
After she graduated, she started being very active in an organization called SPOT. SPOT is a great charity that advocates for sex education in Malaysia. They are recognized by both the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Malaysia and they’ve been working hard to implement proper sex education, especially among young girls. The thing that got Farisya recognized by SPOT was her final-year thesis on sex education in Malaysia. You can learn more about them on their website and Instagram page.
She then worked hand in hand with the founder of the said charity, giving talks about proper sex education. Soon, the owner got busy with the process of enterprising the charity, thus Farisya became less active with them but she’s still quite significantly involved. Farisya wasn’t used to staying still and not being involved in anything, and that was also around the time she gave birth to her second child (by the way, her children are adorable!), so she thought:
“I can’t just be a mother. I need to do something.”
Thus, Farisya Bakes was born. The business took off pretty well, especially being in MCO, people ordered her desserts a lot, since good quality creampuffs are hard to find in Malaysia. Although she juggles a pretty busy schedule with the orders and whatnot, she still manages to give her children and husband the love and attention they need. Farisya mentioned that her husband helps a lot in taking care of the children as well. She even created a schedule so that she can balance work and family well. She’s still struggling since her children are quite young, but she’s going through it as strong as she can. Plus, soon after starting Farisya Bakes, she hired an assistant so that work will be much more organized.
Desserts Available On Farisya Bakes
After a lot of dabbling with different recipes, Farisya Bakes now has a variety of desserts that you can simply order for any occasion or no occasion at all. The first ones she introduced to the dessert family were the chocolate tarts, creampuffs (which are honestly the best creampuffs in Malaysia, but we’ll get to that later), cheesecakes and banoffee pies. At this point, she was already receiving a lot of orders and a lot of love too because the desserts she sold simply made everyone who bought them happy.
“I didn’t want to make birthday cakes or whatsoever. I wanted to make desserts that people could have without having an occasion.”
Early this year, she decided to introduce another dessert to the family which were fruit tarts. People love how she uses fresh fruits accompanied by a vanilla bean custard topped with maple syrup. Other than that, she recently released a fudgy dessert called Nama Chocolate. The best thing about all the desserts on Farisya Bakes is that she only uses the best ingredients, the best combinations and she puts her own flare in each of the desserts she sells.
The Best-Seller + Review
Now, let’s get to the best-seller of the bunch, Farisya Bakes’ creampuffs or choux au craquelin. Basically, choux is the name of the pastry dough used for creampuffs and craquelin is a thin cookie disc placed on top of the creampuff pastry to form a sweet and crunchy topping. Another aspect of this dessert that made me fall for it was how tasty the cream filling was. It wasn’t too thick or too overwhelming. As a matter of fact, it was just the perfect consistency and taste.
Plus, she uses authentic vanilla bean pods in the cream filling. Speaking of which, she spent quite a while trying to find good vanilla bean pods. Some were too expensive, and some were not of good quality. Farisya wanted to find some that were affordable since she’ll be using a lot, and it should be of good quality and she did. She found a local farmer who grows vanilla bean pods, good ones. Then, she eventually started supplying those vanilla bean pods to other people too under a separate Instagram page, @thevanilin.my. She let me have a sniff and before even opening the container, the sweet vanilla scent hit my senses. This just proves that you should definitely opt for vanilla bean pods instead of vanilla essence, if possible.
When I sat down for this interview with Farisya, I had the honour of tasting this delicious dessert and I immediately understood why this can be considered one of the best creampuffs in Malaysia. I think that her desserts taste as good as they do because she puts a lot of effort into them. Like the fact that she uses vanilla bean pods is honestly a game-changer, she makes all the desserts fresh for each order, and each of the orders is delivered fresh by Grab. If you’re buying from Farisya Bakes, the creampuffs are a must-try (I licked the cream clean. Politely, of course) and her other desserts are just as worth it.
Future Plans For Farisya Bakes
When asked if Farisya Bakes would remain a hobby or would grow into something bigger, she answered the latter. Although she plans to continue her studies and go for her Master’s degree in psychology, she would really love to open up a cafe that doubles as a comfy and safe space where people could come by and talk to somebody while having desserts. Her dream is to become a psychologist and help people with mental health issues, but since her plans to pursue her Master’s degree was delayed, she settles for the title of “The Cake Therapist” for now and it suits her well.
Final Say
I admire Farisya for being able to juggle her family and work while also advocating for all the right things.
“Women are great at multitasking.”
And Farisya shows how great women are at multitasking. She works hard and makes a lot of people happy at the same time. She even made me happy by letting me have a taste of one of the best creampuffs in Malaysia. Nevertheless, her desserts are worth the try and you should definitely try them too.
Website: https://farisyabakesthecaketherapist.cococart.co/
Instagram: @farisyabakes
