Our story · Since 2019
About Sestra's Cakes & Pastries Shop in Maasin City
Sestra’s started with one birthday cake for Mom. Since then, founder Apple Gil and her team have baked customized cakes and set up dessert buffets for families across Southern Leyte, won the Leyte Fantasy Cake Exhibit, and opened our first shop in Isagani, Maasin City.
Where the name comes from
A Slavic word for “sister.”
Apple runs Sestra’s with her sisters by her side. It’s a family kitchen, and every cake still gets that kind of care.
Baking for Southern Leyte
Leyte Fantasy Cake Exhibit champion
Our first shop in Isagani
How it started
From a Birthday Cake for Mom to Our First Shop
Sestra’s didn’t start as a business plan. It started in a home kitchen, with a daughter baking for the person she loves most.
High school
Baking just for fun
Apple bakes cakes and desserts in her free time. She’s also the artsy one, representing her high school in poster making at the national level.
College in Cebu
The oven goes quiet
She moves to Cebu to study nursing and puts baking on hold. She becomes a registered nurse.
May 28, 2019
Sestra’s opens on Mom’s birthday
Apple starts Sestra’s on her mom’s birthday, and her mom is our very first customer.
2020
Dessert buffets join the menu
Sestra’s starts setting up full dessert buffets for celebrations in Maasin City and nearby towns.
June 2021
Champions in Ormoc
Apple and her team win the Leyte Fantasy Cake Exhibit at Robinsons Ormoc.
September 8, 2026
Our first physical shop
Sestra’s opens its doors in Isagani, Maasin City. Come by, say hi, and pick up your cake in person.
Meet the founder
Apple Gil, the Nurse Who Came Back to Baking
Referred to as Ai Dear by her family, Apple is a registered nurse, and she’s been an artist for as long as anyone can remember. In high school she represented her school in poster making at the national level. Today, that same eye goes into every hand-painted and fondant cake that leaves our kitchen.
Her nursing background shows up in the kitchen too: careful work, attention to detail, and a steady hand when a cake has to be perfect for someone’s big day.
She doesn’t do it alone. Apple’s sisters work alongside her, which is exactly where the name Sestra’s comes from.
- Registered nurse
- National-level poster maker
- Cake exhibit champion
Award · June 2021
Champion, Leyte Fantasy Cake Exhibit
At the Leyte Fantasy Cake Exhibit at Robinsons Ormoc, Apple and the Sestra’s team were named champion, just two years after our first order.
What we bake
Customized Cakes and Dessert Buffets in Southern Leyte
Now open · Sept 8, 2026
Visit Our New Cake Shop in Isagani, Maasin City
After seven years of baking to order, Sestra’s finally has a home of its own. Drop by to pick up your cake, talk through a design, or just say hi.
Purok Nangka, Isagani
Maasin City, Southern Leyte
Monday to Sunday
7:00 AM to 11:00 PM
See what our customers say
Lami ang cake og kuhang kuha kaaju ang design sa imong ipahimo. Payter! 😉😉
