Mr. KIA, I am a 22-year-old art student in a critical culinary crisis. My sweetheart is a major foodie, and an extremely picky dessert snob to boot, which makes preparing the present for our looming one-year anniversary a ticking time bomb. I really want to wow him with a tasty treat to demonstrate my love, but the last time I went into a kitchen and tried to cook, the microwave exploded. Is there anywhere I can get help to create the sculptural gateau in my mind’s eye?—Cake Bomb

Dear CB, I commend your decision to outsource. The best way to a man’s heart is indeed through his stomach—not through his artistic sensibility. If you go ahead and make a post-constructivist abomination of a cake, let’s make sure you at least get professional help to make it edible—and presentable.
Cake2 Thailand Bakery (086-757-5325, www.cake2thailand.com). The online delivery-only shop has a selection that ranges from cartoony childen’s cakes and 3D object-based marzipan topped cakes to a myriad selection of fruity flavored, colorful ones. You can also design your own cake from scratch. Prices start at around B1,500. Average processing times are about two days.
Moderncake (15/131, Chokchai 4 Soi 72, Satreevit 2 intersection 18, Ladprao Rd., 02-931-1564, www.moderncake.com). Their flash-based online cake-designer gives you free reign in choosing from seven base flavors and arranging the selection of 20 toppings (fruit slices, chocolate pieces, nuts and whipped cream are all on offer). Minimum order for the custom cake is 3lbs and costs B295/lb. For tower style, the minimum size order is 5lbs, with prices starting from B320/lb.
Boat’s Bakery Shop (1/F, Pirapong Bldg Liangmuang Rd., Nontaburi, 02-962-7100, www.boatbakery.net). They specialize in large 3-D cakes of 5lbs upward as well, so your secret dreams of a life-size cake replica of Barbie’s summer home can finally be realized. Prices start around B1,300 but can go up to B13,500 for the really gargantuan 20lbs constructions.