The Singapore Couple Behind Those $10,000 Custom Cakes
Kai Yang Chan and Jiayi Zhuo run CakeInspiration, the Singapore bakery that has made custom cakes for Lisa of BLACKPINK, G-Dragon and Russell Simmons. They met on Tinder at 19, married in 2023, and the business Jiayi's parents founded brought in over S$850,000 in 2024. When we filmed their most expensive cake, the comments went from "that price is ridiculous" to "it's an art piece" in about one scroll.
What you are actually paying for
The reaction to a four-figure cake is always the same, and it is always about the wrong thing. Nobody is charging that for flour.
A sculpted custom cake is days of work: the structure has to hold itself up, the fondant work is done by hand, and it has to survive a delivery van in Singapore weather without slumping. Then it has to be edible at the end of it. That last constraint is what separates it from a sculpture, and it is the expensive part.
CakeInspiration's client list is the tell. Family offices, hospitals and celebrities are not price-shopping. They are buying a thing that has to be right the first time, on a fixed date, with no second attempt.
A second-generation business, run differently
The bakery was founded by Jiayi's parents. Chan and Zhuo took it over and split it cleanly: he runs partnerships, marketing and everything outward-facing, she runs day-to-day operations and everything internal. That division is the least glamorous part of the story and probably the reason it works.
They were also the bakery that made the Career Ladder cake when Max Klymenko brought the series to Singapore, complete with Merlion, Supertrees and kaya toast on it. That is the post most people saw them in first.
Revenue went past S$850,000 in 2024. For a shop that makes things one at a time, by hand, on deadline, that is a genuinely hard number to hit.
We have written about other Singapore founders building slowly in 6 moments that built EventfulSG.
Good to know
· Custom sculpted cakes need lead time. Weeks, not days, for anything structural.
· Give the baker the venue and the delivery window, not just the design. Heat and transport drive half the build decisions.
· If the budget is tight, ask for a simpler shape with detailed piping rather than a smaller sculpted cake. You get more visible craft per dollar.
FAQs
Who runs CakeInspiration?
Kai Yang Chan and Jiayi Zhuo, a married couple who took over the bakery founded by Jiayi's parents. They matched on Tinder at 19 and married in 2023.
How much does CakeInspiration make?
The business brought in more than S$850,000 in revenue in 2024, according to CNBC's reporting on the couple.
Which celebrities have ordered from them?
CakeInspiration has delivered custom cakes to Lisa of BLACKPINK, G-Dragon and Russell Simmons, among others. Its clients also include family offices and hospitals.
Why do custom cakes cost so much?
A sculpted cake takes days of hand work, needs internal structure to stay upright, has to survive delivery in Singapore's heat, and still has to be edible. It is one-off fabrication on a fixed deadline, not baking.
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