The baker behind the viral cakes

Everyone is talking about “the cake.” When Bea Alonzo posted photographs of her wedding cake, attention quickly found its way to the man who made it and to Wadough’s, his playful little cake shop. Another viral moment for chef Wado Tan Siman, who has been here before.

“We’ve been here before,” he remembers. Give it a week and the attention would die down. It hasn’t.

This time, people weren’t simply looking for a particular kind of cake. They wanted that cake—Bea’s cake by Wadough’s.

From writer to baker

But Siman’s story started long before. Before the baker, there was a writer. Siman graduated with a degree in communication arts in 2010 and went into television as a video editor and writer. He wrote comedy, working on shows like “Wow Mali” and “Lokomoko.”

Once you know that, his cakes begin to make sense. Scroll through Wadough’s socials and you’ll find cakes that are funny, light, and sometimes ridiculously simple. There are private jokes, little truths, and messages in icing that make you laugh because you know exactly what he means. That’s Wado Tan Siman for you.

By late 2012 or early 2013, he knew he wanted to bake. So he taught himself. YouTube. Recipes. A lot of experimenting. Then he started selling online.

But being self-taught bothered him. People would ask, “Saan ka graduate?” Siman felt he needed something to prove that he belonged. In 2015, he joined “The Clash: Search for the Next Great Dessert Master” on Lifestyle Network. He finished fourth.

The following year, he decided, “I have to win something.” So he joined Globe Pitch Tuesdays. He pitched his black bottom cupcakes. And this time, he won.

Flavors he knows and loves

In August 2017, Wadough’s opened in a small space in Maginhawa. All Siman really wanted was a little café where he could bake, sit with customers, and chat.

Meanwhile, his cakes are personal because his flavors come from things he knows and loves. His Kapeng Barako Cake is an homage to his Batangueño father. The 20 Egg Yolk Cake is a tribute to Lucena, where his mother hails from, and a personal favorite.

“I always attach the flavors to myself,” he says. That is why his cakes feel so approachable—the kind you somehow attach yourself to. They don’t try to impress you. They’re real.

And the messages he pipes on them? Real talk. Funny, irreverent, sometimes painfully accurate. That’s the writer in Siman still at work. Only now, he writes in buttercream.

Wadough’s big break

Then came the pandemic. Like many businesses, Wadough’s was in trouble. “We were close to shutting down,” says Siman. And then came a cake they almost didn’t make.

Before the pandemic, a customer had asked Siman for a cake combining three flavors: red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate. Siman said no. Making three flavors meant baking three different recipes. What would he do with the other halves of all those cakes?

Then the pandemic happened. The customer came back. “Can I order my cake now?” This time, Wado said yes. They needed the business.

Red velvet. Vanilla. Chocolate. Buttercream. And on top, simply: HBD. They posted it. Within seven hours, Siman remembers, it had reached two million people. He would refresh the inbox. Fifteen new messages. Refresh again. Another 15. Something was happening.

That simple HBD cake became part of the minimalist cake craze of the pandemic. People were stuck at home and looking for reasons to celebrate. And they needed cake. At a time when Wadough’s could have disappeared, it survived.

Six years later, Siman and his partners were wondering what would come next. A commissary? Another branch? Siman had been asking for a sign. Then came Alonzo’s cake. “If this isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.”

Putting in the work and building ahead

During the pandemic, people wanted the minimalist cake. Eventually, anyone could make one. This time, people wanted the cake from Wadough’s. I tell Siman that God had been very kind to him. “Always,” he answers.

In hindsight, it is hard not to notice how often something came along just when Siman needed it. Call it luck. Call it providence. Siman knows there has always been a guiding hand.

But Siman also worked hard. The young baker who once worried about people asking, “Saan ka graduate?” now works with major brands developing products and flavors. Nobody asks anymore. His cakes became his résumé.

His greatest business lesson, he tells me, was learning to invest in people. He began sharing what he knew and trusting his team. Eventually, “They become better than me,” he says.

Today, he says his team already forms 80 percent of Wadough’s. The man who once did everything himself has learned that growth also means trusting others to build with you.

From self-taught to self-made

There are plans for a commissary and another branch. Siman has even moved into savory food with his restaurant, Brutal by Wadough’s. Because unknown to many, Siman comes from a family of cooks. His parents ran a Filipino restaurant, where they met and fell in love.

Food had always been part of his story. These days, Siman is everywhere. Except there is nothing sudden about it.

Before the viral moments, there already was Siman, the television writer and self-taught baker. Between then and now were competitions won and lost, all sorts of cakes, a shop in Maginhawa, lucky breaks, a business that almost failed—and heaven’s hand each time Siman needed it.

The HBD and Bea cakes may have introduced Wadough’s to a whole new audience. But Siman, well… Siman has always been there.

Wado’s brownies

“This recipe from my TikTok got a lot of views.”

Yield: One 12×12 inch pan (approx. 2,400g batter)

Oven temperature: 175°C

Bake time: 25 minutes

Rest time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 300g brown butter
• 150g cocoa powder
• 300g eggs
• 700g brown sugar
• 192g all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 112g chocolate chips

Procedures

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease or line a 12×12 inch baking pan.

2. Brown the butter in a pan under low heat and let it cool slightly.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine brown butter, cocoa powder, and brown sugar.

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5. Stir in vanilla and salt.

6. Gently fold in the flour until just incorporated.

7. Mix in the chocolate chips.

8. Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

9. Bake for 25 minutes or until the center is just set.

10. Let brownies rest for 5 minutes before slicing or serving.