Meet the Bakers - Karthika Shravanthi

As we move into the next season of the Baker Showcase, we bring you a scoop on each of the most talented and creative bakers who are taking part in this showcase. We continue the tradition and today's blog post will feature perhaps the youngest baker in this showcase - Bakeman aka Karthika Shravanthi.

In conversation with Karthika, who graduated last year from SSN College of Engineering

D: Bakeman - A big batman fan? :)
K: I started learning baking during the time when The Dark Knight Rises movie released! Plus I am a Nolan fan :D When I posted the pictures on FB , I named the album Bakeman Begins , which eventually became the name of my home baked goodies :)

D: You are open only on weekends and Mondays. What's the funda?
K:  I work as a Software Engineer in Bangalore. I travel to Chennai every weekend. More like a weekend entrepreneur. So Bakeman Begins is my weekend work :) Like most of them, I am also a midnight baker. I make use of that 48 hrs(weekend) to the fullest ! I start baking as early as 4 30 am just after reaching Chennai from Bangalore :P

D: How has Home Bakers Guild and this showcase helped you in your baking / promoting your business?
K: Home Bakers Guild is all the reason I am on Facebook. I always say, I log in to FB to check out HBG more than my profile :D. HBG is a wealth of knowledge and experience. Tons of thanks to KP for that. Because of HBG , my learning curve that taken a steep rise. It is such an inspiration.

I am also extremely thankful to 2 people at this point. Marina Charles (My first Baking Instructor ) and Joonie Tan for making me who I am today.

D: A  bit about your dancing?
K: I started learning Bharatnatyam at the age of 9. I did my Arangetram when I was 13. Regular performer in Natyanjali Dance festival ,Chidambaram till I graduated. I was expecting to have a career in dance, but later my focus shifted to work in Bangalore.

D: And your first commercial order would be?
K: This Diwali was the first time when I decided I would put up a menu and take bulk orders from friends, family & colleagues. Trust me I had no idea how much effort it required single-handedly finishing up all the promised orders. I applied for a couple of days off from work and traveled to Chennai (carrying all the necessary ingredients) that I usually buy from Bangalore. When I consolidated all the orders, I realized that except for 2-3 orders all of them were for my colleagues in Bangalore. I burnt my midnight oil and managed to whip up about 80 muffins, 50 cake pops , a hundred cookies, tartlets and kilos of sponges. I still cant believe I brought them all to Bangalore all by myself. Many thanks to the SRM bus driver who helped me with it ! :)

A huge Dexter and Nolan fan, from my alma mater, I am super happy to know that Karthika and I have quite a bit in common :)

Look foward to your yummilicious goodies very soon - at The Baker Showcase!









And if you want to grab some of those mouth watering delicacies, please drop in to Asan Memorial School on Feb 2nd between 2 and 6 pm!

Stay tuned to Food and All - https://www.facebook.com/Foodandall - for more updates.