Vanessa’s cocktail creations take the cake

CAKE maker Vanessa Rogasch has found a sweet way to shake things up for Surf Coast mums enduring stage three lockdown and a second batch of remote learning.
The Torquay cake maker launched a cocktail inspired cupcake on her Facebook page and it seems her customers can’t get enough of the cheeky treats.“Cheers! Mumma needs a mojito… it’s 12 o’clock somewhere” was the catchy caption Vanessa posted alongside a photo of her tempting creation – a delicious cupcake infused with lime, mint and rum and topped with rum frosting and syrup.
The clever home cook has dubbed them her “Iso 2.0 Sanity Sweets” and they have stirred plenty of interest, with orders flowing in for the six-packs, which are home delivered each Friday.
“When we went back into iso number two I was with my neighbour and we said ‘let’s have a bit of fun with this’ and we came up with a couple of ideas that would make people have a giggle,” Vanessa explains of her fresh take on Friday drinks.

“We were tossing around ideas like ‘it’s a rocky road ahead’, ‘let’s fudge our way through it’ but ‘Mumma needs a mojito’ just rolled off the tongue.
“The idea was to be able to finish the week off with a cocktail if all else fails.”
Vanessa, a teacher by trade, says she will add a new flavour each week as part of her ‘cocktail bar’.
“I was so surprised by the amazing response to it and also the comments and other fun suggestions of cocktails they would like me to bake,” she says.
Vanessa’s latest creation is the Espresso Martini and she plans to eventually offer a cocktail pack of six different flavours.
“A lot of people have been ordering them for family and friends so they can have their own little cocktail hour at home,” she says.
“When I do deliveries and I get to see the faces on customers who aren’t expecting them, it’s just awesome – you get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.”

Vanessa, who is mum to Olivia, 7, and Georgia, 4, turned her hand to cake making while on maternity leave with her second child after she kept getting requests when people saw the impressive cakes she made for her girls.
As a result, she registered the business name Happiness Is and began making custom cakes from her commercial-grade kitchen.
Vanessa says while wedding cake orders have stopped for now, birthday cakes and cupcakes are still in high demand but in smaller sizes.
Pivoting her business during the pandemic has meant selling a wide variety of goodies including scones, biscotti, lemon tarts and slices to name a few.
“I’m only doing emergency teaching so obviously that has been put on hold because I can’t go into the classroom but I have this to fall back on and it’s just been a wonderful thing to do.”
As for Vanessa’s neighbours, they are reaping the benefits of being her willing taste testers.
“If anything is left over, they get a little knock on the door and a little delivery on their doorstep,” she says happily.
“I love to feed people and this is a really good way for me to help keep people feeling upbeat and put a smile on their face.”
To find out more visit @Happiness_is on Facebook.