“You do not really need a reason to enjoy good desserts.”
This is the motto Chef Edwin Chan goes by—which is why there is always something for every celebration on Edwin’s menu, be it a birthday, wedding, anniversary, or unplanned gift.
A professional pâtissier in his own right, Edwin’s venture into owning a business selling culinary desserts started from managing his own kitchen with a small mixer and one regular-sized oven. It wasn’t much, but it was from there that his ambition grew into Elevete.
Opened in 2014 and specialising in macarons, desserts and cakes, the 27-year-old baker handcrafts all of the desserts with precise perfection.
“I wanted to improve the state of macarons in Malaysia which I found to be very lackluster, by baking them in the most authentic way. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, with a pronounced flavour that will satisfy any macaron connoisseur.”
True to his word, all his desserts are aesthetically pleasing and they have designs ranging from unicorn cakes, to macaron giftboxes, and even a towering macaron tower!
The most popular products are the ones in the Salted Caramel Chocolate range, which includes the salted caramel macarons and Salted Caramel Chocolate Popstar Cake.
One box of 12 macarons with assorted flavours will cost RM65, and cakes cost upwards of RM110.
Each of the giftboxes can be arranged for delivery within Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to certain postcodes which you can check here. If your area is not listed, you can opt to pick up your package from Elevete’s store in SS2 Petaling Jaya.
To spice up the surprise, customers can choose to add a personalised gift message to the receiver which will be printed on a card and attached to the cake box.
It isn’t surprising that the culinary gene runs deep in the family, as his late grandparents used to run a heritage restaurant specialising in Cantonese cuisine and pastries. As a child, Edwin would observe them carrying out day-to-day duties of the restaurant and it served as an inspiration to him to become a chef of his own and set up his own kitchen one day.
Back when he was a culinary student, he blogged about food, writing how-to articles and eventually testing the recipes himself.
“I also gained experience from being a caterer as I was at that time, was catering for certain clients. I am proud to say that I am still doing so today.”
“All in all, I have a decade’s worth of experience in the industry. That’s where where I learnt about my market and about branding myself to the right audience.”
One major enemy to his progress? The hot and humid Malaysian weather could be unconducive to making macarons. The limited ingredients in the market also posed a problem, which sometimes meant roadblocks to creative ideas in the menu.
“With my limited equipment at the start, my one and only oven broke down. It was a terrifying moment that time to find ways to cope with the orders and dealing with my clients,” he said.
Elevete is 3 years old now and Edwin ponders over how far they’ve come.
“In the span of 3 years, I am thrilled to say that I have achieved several milestones in my business. I have been able to supply to several well known F&B establishments and some outstation establishments, plus having a bigger production scale now.”
“I remember we were selling an average of 300 pieces of macarons in the first quarter when we started. We are now coming about 10 times that number now, on a monthly average,” he added.
With a constant increase of dessert and macaron business now entering the market, Edwin notes that quality, service and self-improvement are the few things to improve on to remain competitive and being remembered in the F&B industry.
Keeping up to date on trending flavours and customer feedback is another important matter he is always looking out for. An example he gives is when he managed to develop a creative recipe out of a recommendation from someone he knew.
“I remember being requested by a close friend to make the ultimate bitter chocolate cake. So I developed the recipe and to my surprise, it was divine. It was then named as the ‘Midnight Sin’ by my friend. It really has a very sinful yet delicious chocolate tasting notes.
Still essentially a one-man show, Edwin is not a chef to rest easy once he’s reached this point.
“As of now, I’m focusing on growing the operation of the bakery and hopefully expand it to a full-fledged central kitchen when the time is right. I’m also looking forward to hiring new enthusiastic talents to join our family and explore new opportunities, new ideas and new creations in the pastry business.”
The Elevete macarons are a generous size of 4.5cm to 5cm, as Edwin said, they would like to give you more than one bite. Elevete also allows you to customise your own macarons, so if you have a specific event that requires a logo to be printed on the macaron, you can enquire about it on their website.
“We are Malaysians born to be eaters, hence as a chef, we would love to bring to our customers another level of enjoyment with our masterpiece. At the end of the day, I enjoy putting a smile on my customers, especially on their special day when they need something sweet to celebrate with!”
Feature Image Credit: Elevete
