Bakers cater to Chennai's sweet craving

My parents Sindhu and Raghuveer were film actors and it was my grandmother who brought me up. I started doing cooking experiments when I was 7 years old. I love pudding and have been making it for the past 10 years. Every time I make it, my family and friends ask me to do it commercially. So, I decided to launch after the lockdown gets over. But, my friends constantly started asking me for puddings because they couldn't find any pudding stores in the city. I thought many would be having pudding craving as well. I went ahead and started India’s first exclusive pudding store called A Pudding Company in April. We have a limited menu of 18 flavours and every week, we choose 10-12 flavours and share the details on social media. The puddings are eggless and gelatin-free. A few of our puddings include triple chocolate, rose milk, mango, Belgian chocolate, brownie puddings, double chocolate (a combination of dark and white) and choco blueberry. We get more orders for Belgian chocolate, rose milk, black forest and white chocolate puddings. I am unable to do more fruit flavours because of the non-availability of certain fruits. There aren’t many stores that exclusively cater to serve puddings. So, foodies are trying out different flavours. I do follow all safety precautions while making puddings.

I was badly craving for brownies, chocolates, cakes, etc, during the lockdown. To satisfy my sweet tooth cravings, I decided to learn baking under the guidance of my mother-in-law. I learned to make gooey chocolate brownies and bread. Later, I started sending out freshly baked brownies to close friends and received an amazing response from them. I used to post pictures of the brownies on Instagram and people started enquiring about it. There was a huge demand for chocolate brownies. Well, chocolate is considered as the most commonly craved food. People are undergoing a lot of stress and anxiety now. This would be the best I can do and decided to make it commercial. That's how my baking start-up Brown was launched in June. Our specialty and one of our best selling is chocolate brownies; it is my mother-in-law's recipe. We also have almond flour & honey brownie, Lindt almond flour banana bread and more. I am extremely careful about cleanliness — I make sure to sanitise every utensil before I start baking. My husband helps in packaging, etc. I am getting a lot of orders from people living in the city outskirts as well. But because of the restrictions, I am delivering in and around Chennai only via Dunzo. Since I am a beginner, I am doing it slowly and steadily instead of hurrying. By interacting with the clients, I get to know their tastes and demands.

I have been baking for a decade and it was more like a hobby for me. My friends and family used to enjoy the desserts I make. During the lockdown, I thought of transforming my hobby into a business plan. I suggested the idea to my family and friends and they pushed me to start it professionally. I also understood that there is a huge demand for desserts. At the end of May, I launched The Tiny Baker where I sell cheesecakes, cupcakes, tarts, brownies, yogurts, chocolate mousse and more. My hot sellers are cheesecakes and brownies. Apart from other flavours in cheesecakes, I have Indian flavours like motichoor ladoo and gulab jamun cheesecake. Since DIY has become a huge thing now, I am giving out DIY cupcake kits for birthday parties. Since most of the shops are selling baking essentials, I haven’t faced any difficulties as such. I stock up all the essentials needed for making the desserts. Initially, I thought I wouldn't get many orders because of the lockdown and rules. But I was surprised to see my Instagram flooded with orders. From my experience, I would say that this is the right time to start any small-scale ventures. You will never know what the response of the people would be.