Cover Cake artist Miko Kaw Hok Uy and his most memorable creations
Cake artist Miko Kaw Hok Uy and his most memorable creations
1 / 1
Bringing Filipino ingredients to the spotlight, this Mindanao-born cake designer wows on Netflix’s ‘Is It Cake, Too?’, Max’s ‘Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking’, and more
A contestant at the Netflix reality show, Is It Cake, Too? was daring enough to recreate Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, one of the most popular paintings in the world. Made with layers of dark chocolate cake filled with peanut butter buttercream, peanut brittle and raspberry purée drizzle, and framed in tempered chocolate, the cake artist carefully painted the iconic face, attempting to replicate it down to the minute details. “Am I crazy for doing this? Yes, I am… I want to make the Philippines proud,” says the Filipino-born NYC-based artist Miko Kaw Hok Uy in the final episode of the reality show. The result was a mind-blowing hyper-realistic piece, so realistic that no one guessed that it was, indeed, a cake.
“The Mona Lisa is my favourite artwork and I want to promote Filipino flavours and ingredients,” Uy tells Tatler, explaining why he opted to replicate the revered artwork as well as justifying the use of the pinyato, or local peanut brittle, to add texture. Pinyato is a famous snack made of small peanuts and sugar from his hometown, Iligan, a city in Northern Mindanao.
Read also: The Weasley twins talk about ‘Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking’
Above Uy painting the Mona Lisa on tempered chocolate as seen in 'Is It Cake, Too?'
Uy painting the Mona Lisa on tempered chocolate as seen in 'Is It Cake, Too?'
1 / 1
While Uy failed to bring home Is It Cake, Too?’s US$ 75,000 grand prize (he finished second place), this did not stop him from carving his own path in artistic cake design. In 2024, he got a call to audition for another show. “Basically, it was by invitation, and I was in the shortlist,” he recalls, even having second thoughts about whether to participate in another contest or not. “But when the casting producer told me it was for a Harry Potter show, I was like, no-brainer, it’s a yes!” he says, obviously a Potterhead himself.
Above OFFICIAL TRAILER: Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking | Food Network
Above Contestant Miko Kaw Hok Uy, as seen on ‘Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking’, Season 1. (Photo: Courtesy of Food Network)
Contestant Miko Kaw Hok Uy, as seen on ‘Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking’, Season 1. (Photo: Courtesy of Food Network)
1 / 1
Above Uy with fellow contestant, Chris Teixeira. (Photo: Courtesy of Food Network)
Uy with fellow contestant, Chris Teixeira. (Photo: Courtesy of Food Network)
1 / 1
The invitation to audition was for Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, a six-episode reality show hosted by James and Oliver Phelps (a.k.a. The Weasley twins). In this show, participants were asked to make spellbinding edible showpieces based on the actual sets and characters of the Harry Potter films. “[In my head] this is not just your regular Harry Potter show. The production is going to be Warner Brothers, HBO Max, and Food Network. This is going to be big. This is going to be different. Hello, it’s Harry Potter!” And off he flew to Los Angeles.
Arriving in LA for the in-person audition and a series of screening interviews, Uy and his fellow aspirants were assigned to make their own showpiece in three hours, a time constraint that he found “nerve-wracking”. All the auditioners were also asked to bring their own petit fours so the judges could sample their cakes and not just evaluate them based on aesthetics. “I had to fly with my petit fours and [at the airport] when they had to check them through the X-ray machine, the dragon I made as a decoration was ruined. It was so stressful,” he narrates. Despite the setbacks, he persevered. A week or so later, he got a call: “I’m in!” he enthuses. Out of the many auditioners, only 18 made it, and Uy was honoured to be one of them. They were then grouped into pairs.
Just like what he did in Is It Cake, Too? Uy ensured to highlight Filipino ingredients and flavours—from the calamansi curd of the Slytherin-themed concoction to the spectacular stalagmite-shaped ube cake that was the tasting element of Gringott's underground showpiece. “For a Filipino to be a part of a Harry Potter show is such a great honour,” he humbly says. “With Filipino flavours, the possibilities are endless. You can seamlessly combine them with Western flavours. That’s exactly what I did, I combined calamansi, for example, with Earl Grey to give it contrast and avoid monotony.”
Related:
Uy earned a degree in Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Coming from a business-oriented Filipino-Taiwanese-Chinese family, his parents naturally wanted him to take a business course in college. However, he knew deep inside that he wanted something else. “I love to paint,” he says, recalling that as early as age three or four, he was already attending art workshops in their town. “I wanted to pursue my passion in the arts,” he adds. Uy then made a bet with his parents: if he passed the entrance exam at the University of the Philippines, he would choose Fine Arts; if he didn't, he would follow their footsteps and take business at another university. “I passed [UP]!,” he enthuses, and that’s where it all started.
Above Uy graduated Magna Cum Laude at the University of the Philippines Diliman
Uy graduated Magna Cum Laude at the University of the Philippines Diliman
1 / 1
The creative genius later on became an art and art history teacher in the Philippines and in China for several years before he decided to come home and pursue a diploma course in baking and pastry arts at the Culinary Institute of Cagayan de Oro. “I was trying to merge my passion for baking and the arts. I would paint on cakes and French macarons,” Uy says. Fortunately, he landed a job at Maison Kayser in New York, and eventually scored an internship at Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York, which is dubbed as the Manolo Blahnik of wedding cakes in America. “I was so grateful that I was offered the full-time internship position,” he says.
It is working under the tutelage of the celebrity chef and cake designer Ron Ben-Israel that gave him the opportunity to hone his skills and techniques in making sugar flowers. “I was nervous the entire time [of my internship] because I didn’t want to fail them. I didn’t want to ruin his cakes because they are super expensive. But this also shaped me into who I am today. If it’s just an easy environment, you will never grow as a person. That's why I always appreciate constructive criticism. I never treat negative comments in a bad way. I always take them positively because it's for my growth as an individual and as an artist.”
Above Miko Kaw Hok Uy
Miko Kaw Hok Uy
1 / 1
Uy continues to flourish in the field where he finds himself at ease. Right after he finished filming for Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, the talented Filipino cake designer joined Is It Cake? Holiday, which also streams on Netflix. And just recently, he launched Miko Edible Oil Pastels—an ingredient that can probably add colour to every cake artist’s dreams. With all these impressive achievements, the humble creative hopes to continue representing his home country, the Philippines, on the global stage.
NOW READ
The Best Food and Cooking Shows On Netflix: What To Watch
Credits
Images: Courtesy of Miko Kaw Hok Uy; Courtesy of Food Network
Topics
Whether on assignment or not, Maritess is always on the lookout for off-the-beaten-path destinations as well as the yummiest finds in the Philippines and abroad. In 2020, she plunged into the black hole of Korean la la land. Follow her escapades at @matetreyes.
