Home Bakers in Mumbai We Are Crushing On RN!
A lot of us have grown up with aunties around us who would bake delicious cakes at home and take orders for the same. Back then, these cakes were very homely and not very fancy in terms of design. Fast forward to today where there are so many home bakers who have turned cakes into masterpieces with their craft and scrolling up their feed makes you want to want to dig into these goodnesses!
We spoke to a few such home bakers whose Instagram feed has us crushing over their fancy pieces of art (as we like to describe it). Let's get to know them better!
1. Through The Food Door, Thane
Mani is someone who has always loved cooking. A couple of years ago, a friend of hers was working for a store and wanted her to test an OTG that they were hoping to sell. Mani was a little lost, she hadn't baked a cake in a really long time and didn't know what and how to go about the whole affair. She started off with baking some lasagne, baked vegetables and pizzas. Somehow she mustered the courage to bake cakes using her mother's recipes and they turned out to be pretty nice, and soon, she simply couldn't stop baking!
She started baking for anyone and everyone she knew until one day, when a friend of hers who had eaten one too many of her cakes insisted on paying for them. Clueless about the money involved, Mani simply charged her for ingredients. Soon, the word spread and Mani became the go to home baker for many!
While her egg-free chocolate cake is delicious, Mani's brownies are phenomenal. They are widely loved by celebrities and fellow bakers alike and even ended up being part of the coveted Koffee hamper on Koffee with Karan Season 5!
Location: Thane
Price: Starts at Rs. 1,400 a kilo
2. MishMash
Shikha, the founder-owner of the brand MishMash actually has a Masters in Marketing and owned her own design agency for the longest time. However, she felt her inner creativity was stifled by the continuous demands for very typical and safe ideas. She then made a very bold move of shutting shop to pursue her passion, that was both rewarding as well as making her happy and start off as a home baker. She went on to professionally learn baking from the Saffire Institute of Baking in Mumbai after which she went on to pursue a more rigorous, hands-on course at PME, London and that is how Mish Mash was born.
Known for her unconventional flavours and designs, Shikha does make classic desserts like Thick Chocolate Pastries, Crisp Oatmeal Cookies and Superhero Fruit Cakes. At the same time, she also makes takes it a notch up with flavours like Gulab Jamun in a Tiramisu, Rasmalai in traditional cakes and Kesar in cupcakes.
Location: Juhu
Price: Starts at Rs. 1,500 a kilo for regular cakes and Rs. 2,100/- a kilo for customised cakes
3. 12 Baker Street by Drushti
Drushti is someone who has always liked to cook and bake in general. She is also someone who loves taking up hobby classes. It was at one such class that her talent for hand painted cakes was recognised and she ended up getting selected to make Arpita Khan's wedding cake. Still not wanting to make a career out of baking cakes, she took it up from the experience point of view and the rest, as they say, is history. Her family and friends saw how passionate and talented she was about baking and pushed her to start doing this professionally, and hence her home baker brand, 12 Baker Street was born.
Her Dark Chocolate cakes are to die for. Not very sweet in flavour, one can go back for a second serving without feeling any guilt!
Location: Churchgate
Price: Starts at Rs. 1,800 a kilo
4. Fleur Cupcake Bouquets
After running Fleur de Lys Patisserie for 4 years, Tanvi realised that she needed a space where she was able to show off her creativity and one that focused mainly on edible gifts and custom-made desserts; which is how Fleur was born. The idea was to have a sub-brand that had beautiful bespoke cakes and cupcake bouquets that were ideal for gifting and celebrating special occasions.
Her Cupcake Bouquets and Edible Terrarium Bowls are her highest sellers. Everyone loves cupcakes and the cupcake in the bouquets mimic the look of flowers, along with actual fresh flowers. The Edible Terrarium Bowls are a new concept, inspired by the look of soil and succulents, she has created her own Edible version, which consists of a complex layered dessert with edible sugar succulent decoration. Her basic aim is for it to look very realistic.
The Bouquets are available in a variety of designs and budgets.
Location: Shivaji Park
Price: Starts at Rs. 1,500 for cupcake bouquets and Rs. 700 for terrariums
Also Read: Top 5 tried and tested chocolate cakes in Mumbai
5. Bombay Bizarre Baker
The need to feed her son tasty cakes, cookies and desserts who was newly diagnosed with several food allergies, Tara started Bombay Bizare Baker. She felt that there was a great need in the market for such bakes that catered to people who had food restrictions.
Though Tara does make other "fully loaded" cakes, she specialises in vegan, gluten-free, eggless, sugar-free, low carb, low fat and Keto bakes as well.
Her Keto Almond Chocolate Cake is the best-seller. Committed to delivering high quality bakes and use good quality and fresh ingredients, Tara makes everything that goes into making her products from the very scratch.
Location: Bandra West
Price: Vegan and Gluten Free Cakes start at Rs. 1,500 a kilo
6. Baked By Ree
Rhea is someone who has always been passionate about baking ever since she can remember. Her mother has been a home baker for years and she grew up watching the mother pipe out meringues and roll out dozens of pie shells for her signature Cheese Flans. Watching her mother inspired Rhea and she soon started following in her footsteps and that is when she turned her hopes and dreams into reality with Baked by Ree.
She specialises in brownies and offers a large variety of unusual and interesting flavours to choose from, although the best-seller is the signature White Magic, made with white chocolate.
Location: Colaba
Price: The brownies come in both, a box of 6 or 12, for which the price range would be between 275-600, depending on the flavours.
Also Read: 4 Home Bakers share their childhood memories of a Black Forest Cake
7. Ann Maries
For Ann-Marie, baking is something she grew fond of as a teenager and soon decided to master it. After completing her culinary education and working across various hotels in India and Thailand, Ann-Marie started her own business.
The roasted hazelnut chocolate cake is her best-seller!
Location: Bandra West
Price: Cakes range from Rs. 1,500 a kilo to Rs. 2,800 a kilo
8. Tiernom Patisserie
Tiernom Patisserie is a direct result of Vahishta's undying passion for art and dessert. Tiernom's desserts are not only deliciously made with fresh and imported produce, but are also works of art. Their indulgent Sea Salt Caramel and Chocolate Cake, made with Belgian chocolate ganache, a golden sea salt caramel filling, cookie crunch, caramel crispearls and Maldon Sea Salt is the best-selling cake.
Location: Colaba
Price: Cakes start at Rs. 2,400 a kilo
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