Maria Rosana Cruz of Katamisan recently wed Roger Lee, an electrician with City contracts.
Maria Rosana Cruz-Lee: I’m also the crazy bride who made her own wedding cake. I told you – I love this! I’m thankful this moment was captured - Thanks Sunny Kam Photography!
The FilAm: The Cruzes were the typical Filipino family who loves to eat, and cooking was an integral part of that ritual. Her father, who worked for top hotels, specialized in French-style cooking noted for its freshest flavors and artful presentations. Her mother, on the other hand, was always ready with home-cooked Philippine dishes like ‘tortang talong.’
“I grew up with French everything. My dad was into showing me and my brothers how to act in a restaurant, how to order, and we’d always come home to a wonderful spread of food (courtesy of mom),” she said. “It was the best of both worlds.”
Her father’s culinary skills paved the way for an “intensive” cake design course at the French Culinary Institute (now known as International Culinary Center). There, Maria learned how to craft pretty flowers. Thus was born Katamisan Cakes, a home-based enterprise for now which she hopes to grow into a cake studio known for French-style patisserie in the flavors of the tropics. Mango-filled white cake is just one of her creations. Tamarind-flavored ‘dacquoise’? That can be arranged. (‘Katamisan’ is Tagalog word for ‘sweetness.’)
