Fritz Edmund Manlagñit couldn't thank Chef RV enough for his moist chocolate cake recipe

One of the most inspiring stories we featured last year, during the same month, was about Chef RV Manabat who shared his secret baking and cooking recipes on social media with an intention to help many Filipinos start their own home business during the lockdown. And just recently, he posted a message from one of his followers, Fritz Edmund Manlagñit, who thanked him for being instrumental in successfully building his own café.

Fritz expressed his gratitude to Chef RV for being generous in giving recipes, especially the moist chocolate cake, which he adopted for his part-time cake business. “Dahil po sa choco moist cake n’yo, unti-unti na po nabubuo ang pangarap kong magkaroon ng sariling business po (Because of your choco moist cake, I am gradually fulfilling my dreams to have my own business),” penned Fritz to Chef RV.

According to the 29-year-old baker, who works full-time as an online public access operator in Catanduanes State University Library, he started selling cakes and muffins to relatives only in 2018. But when the enhanced community quarantine was implemented in the first quarter of 2020, baking became his immediate source of income. Then in June 2020, he followed Chef RV's baking recipes after seeing the "Easy Super Moist Chocolate Cake" video on Facebook. Two months after, he decided to start an online cake shop he named Papa Pli.

What really gave Fritz his big break was sharing with his relatives his version of the Brazilian chocolate cake Brigadeiro during a family gathering before Christmas last year. Using Chef RV’s moist choco cake recipe, he added white brigadeiro fillings in between the moist cake and chocolate ganache.

Through word of mouth, vouching how delicious his Brigadeiro is, his customers multiplied during the Holidays. In fact, a total of 500 orders from December 23 to 24, 2020 gave him sleepless days yet countless future sales.

A display of bulk orders of Papa Pli's Brazilian chocolate cake Brigadeiro

As a one-man team in the kitchen, Fritz was also able to sell around 300 tubs during New Year’s Eve. He said that his siblings helped him pack and delivered the cakes, but he did all the job from preparation to baking to decorating because he wanted to keep the quality of the baked goods.

But what really makes the cake recipe a must-try? “It is not too sweet and the taste is just right that keeps you coming back for more,” answered Fritz.

With his customers’ continuous patronage since late last year, Fritz was able to construct Papa Pli café and the venue for his production. “It will have a cake display on the first floor and alfresco dining on the second. Then aside from cakes, I plan to offer rice meals, pasta, hot beverages, and more when I open the café in November,” disclosed Fritz, who is also a graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management from Far Eastern University.

Fritz Edmund Manlagñit and Chef RV Manabat

Chef RV is so proud of Fritz for making it far from trusting his recipes. "I was very happy for him (Fritz). Actually, I saw in them (followers) my humble beginnings, how I started selling chocolate cakes and cheesecakes. And how I used my savings to put up a bigger kitchen and invest in new equipment," said Chef RV. "May it inspire more of our kababayans to start a small yet really sustainable home business."

In the comment section of Chef RV’s post, many expressed their gratitude to the vlogger chef for selflessly sharing knowledge and for being a Godsend during these challenging times.

#Chocolate Cake

This part-time baker builds own cafe by selling cake he learned from chef RV Manabat