How Japonaise cake made Aussie pastry chef go viral

What happens when your business goes viral for a hot minute? Paul Adam, pastry chef, chocolatier and owner of the Du Plessy Pralin & Otello patisserie and chocolate shop, shares his story about the day his Japonaise cake exploded on social media.

It's hard not to be drawn in by Paul Adam's recollections of his father, Marcel. Born in north-eastern France, Marcel trained as a master pastry chef in Switzerland, fought in the Second World War and ended up working as a pastry chef in an English hotel frequented by Winston Churchill.

After seeing an advertisement for the Snowy Mountains Scheme, Marcel packed his bags for Australia in the 1950s, first opening a bakery in Cooma before relocating to Sydney with his wife, Martha. Then in 1961 the couple opened a chocolate shop in the suburb of Pymble on the Upper North Shore: Du Plessy Pralin & Otello.

"I still have the original lease from Petersons of Pymble, which was the merchant store at the time," says Paul.

"The original lease from George Peterson says, 'Here's a three by three lease to open up a chocolate shop. I don't think it's going to work. Good luck.' That was over 60 years ago."

Paul, however, was not set on following in his parents' footsteps.

Instead, he was studying hotel management, drawn by a desire to travel and work in international hotels.

That all changed when Marcel died suddenly of a heart attack in 1979 and Paul came back to the family business. Luckily, he didn't need much training. Growing up, Paul had been put to work at the shop during school holidays when his friends were off surfing at the beach.

"I was always in the shop," he recalls. "You know, I was tempering chocolate when I was seven, eight years old. I'm sure I bleed chocolate."

The history of the viral Japonaise cake

Given the number of chocolates and cakes that Paul has made over the four-and-a-half decades since he joined the family business full-time, that's probably not that far from the truth.

They are, after all, at the heart of Du Plessy Pralin & Otello.

"We specialise in cakes. Most of them are very old recipes that go back 40 or 50 years. Everything's natural. There are no pre-mixes. And then we do a complete range of chocolates. We do way too many, I can tell you that. Our range is currently about 90 to 95 different types."

Paul also has a signature cake - one that he's been making since 1988: his Japonaise.

"We actually developed it for coeliacs because it hasn't got any flour in it. It's just almond meal, hazelnut, egg white, sugar, chocolate and cream. That's it. We just kept it as simple."

To Paul's ongoing amazement, his Japonaise - made distinctive with its lorikeet-adorned top - has become an internet sensation in recent months, turning his business and life upside down.

The food blogger who started it all

It all started with a conversation on a train. Video blogger Max Li (not pictured to protect anonymity when reviewing food outlets without fear or favour) and English teacher Margie found themselves sitting next to each other on the two-hour trip between Bowral and Sydney.

"It happened last December," Margie recalls. "I didn't know Max, but I thought, I'm going to be sitting next to this guy for two hours, so I'll chat. I have no problems talking to strangers at all, because that's where adventure happens."

Max had journeyed to Bowral to sample some cakes from a well-known local patisserie, so while the two were chatting away he offered some to Margie. Already being familiar with them, Margie initially declined, noting that they were a bit too sweet for her liking.

"He then asked me if I had a favourite cake or a favourite shop," Margie recalls. "At that stage I knew that he was a social influencer. I told him that, for decades, I have been going to Otello, and that my favourite cake is called La Japonaise.

"The cake isn't sugary, so when you have a bite, the flavour isn't sugar, it's chocolate. Paul [Adam] has found what I believe to be a perfect balance of texture, colour and taste. So this is 
the cake I recommended."

With Margie's permission. Max recorded the interaction, which was later posted on Chinese social media platforms BiliBili and Rednote. Then at the end of the trip the two exchanged numbers, with plans to meet up again.

That happened a few months later. This time, in West Pymble, where Max finally got the chance to try the Japonaise for himself.

This meeting spawned a second video. And together, they created a storm on social media. Raking in millions of views, people were heartened by the genuine nature of the interaction between the pair.

In fact, some commenters gave her the nickname 'Old baby' - one which she has adopted with pride.

" 'Old baby' is a term of endearment for someone who is older, but the person has to have youthful energy - they have to be playful and humorous," Margie explains.

"So it just evolved for me to become 'old baby' and for it to be the 'old baby cake', because it's the cake that 'old baby' recommended."

The day everything changed

The first time Paul remembers things changing was a Saturday in early March.

It was his 'chill out' morning, when he goes for a swim and grabs a coffee with his mates. But when he arrived at the shop, he was confronted by a queue out the door.

"I came in about 11am and my wife was just frantic. There's cake rings and cocoa powder everywhere. It took me an hour to walk outside and I asked a lady lining up what was happening and she goes, 'You don't know? You haven't seen the video?' And I said, no.

"She showed me and I said, 'You're kidding, this is why all these people are here?' And she says, 'Oh yeah, this is just the start. You're huge'. So it just exploded. It was busy every single day. It was a shock to all of us, let me tell you.

"The following Saturday we thought we'd made enough but we were nowhere near. There were like 50, 60 people lined up outside the store at the start of the day. And they just kept coming until we ran out."

As the weeks wore on the lines didn't let up. People were coming from everywhere to get their hands on an 'old baby' cake. And not just from Sydney. Paul says that people have flown in from other States, New Zealand and even China.

"Last Saturday we had two backpackers turn up from Brisbane with huge rucksacks. They had been coming by Greyhound bus, but they got caught in the floods in Coffs [Harbour, in NSW], so they ended up making their way inland and it took them five days to get here.

"It was actually one of their birthdays and when I asked him what he wanted he said this cake [the Japonaise]. So we put a happy birthday on it and they headed off to Sydney Airport to fly back to Brisbane so they could share it with their friends and family.

"Every day there are different stories. I keep telling everybody, 'It's only a cake. I can't believe you're doing all this for a cake'."

The reality of going viral

It's easy to assume that going viral would be a major coup for a small business such as Paul's. But as he explains, it hasn't all been rosy.

"Mentally, it is a stress. It is a strain. You cannot get your head above water. You're on a train that you can't get off. There's plenty of people getting on, but you can't get your way to the door to get off.

"We had to completely adapt. We couldn't make any biscuits. There was no way we could even attempt to make any of the other cakes."

Paul says that they were making around 100 cakes a week before everything blew up. As of May, they were producing about 800 to 900 a week - the very upper limit of what they can produce.

Baking has been a balancing act, but so too has Paul's endeavour to do right by his long-term clients and the sea of new customers coming to the store.

The balancing act

This came to a head before Easter. Japonaise-mania was in full swing, so the prospect of Paul being able to make his usual consignment of Easter eggs seemed slim. That is, until he reached out to Max Li.

"Easter is huge for us and we have a lot of loyal customers coming in. Some have been coming for over 40 years and their kids and grandkids now come in too.

"So I rang him [Max] and said you've got to help me. So he posted, 'Paul needs to concentrate on making his Easter eggs, so please show him respect'. And without a word of a lie, there was not one person standing out the front of the shop after."

Even with the challenges, there have also been plenty of positives. For one, Paul says the financial impact has been quite incredible.

"My staff keep telling me we could double the price on these cakes and they'll still be bought. But I'm not going to do that. I don't think that's right, particularly to the loyal customers."

The human connection

Then there's the human side. The story may have started with an unexpected connection between Max and Margie, but it's led to many more.

A few weeks ago Paul got a parcel in the mail plastered in stamps. Inside was an old brass pendant, some packets of soybean paste and a letter. It was from a young Chinese man who had seen the videos online.

"He said that he wished he could meet me one day, but he didn't think he'd ever be able to afford to come to Australia. So he hoped we would be able to send some chocolates for him to try.

"We contacted him and sent some chocolates. I said I was honoured and flattered - it's probably the nicest thing that's happened to me - but that he mustn't post it online, otherwise I'd get 5000 letters a month.

"I said that I just feel like we will meet up one day.

"And I hope we do, because out of all the things that have happened, it's undoubtedly the best. That sort of thing is why it's worth it."

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