Meet the bakers - Part 4

In today's special, we'll be meeting another interesting bakeraani - Sangeetha Potty of Lil' Delights fame. She is very responsive (as were all the other bakers), that is making my life a lot easier in interviewing these pretty ladies.

Sangeetha has represented the state and country in Badminton, and now satisfies her craving by attending live events for tennis or cricket. She has recently started running, and did a 10km marathon in Chennai. She hopes to do a half marathon this year - Go girl ! (What a way to burn off those calories ! )

What I really loved about Sangeetha's goodies are the names she has given to some of her creations - Match made in heaven, Southern belle, Blue Eyed Beauty (reminds of me some ranch in Texas with all hot cow boys - *drool drool*). The customized cup cakes are to watch for. Choose your cake, choose your topping and icing and lick away to glory !

Excerpts:

D: I read that you source your ingredients from around the world. Could you elaborate please?
SP: I do source most of my ingredients from around the world. However, I don’t import them. It is usually brought in by my husband who travels out frequently to Singapore, Dubai, Europe and other parts. My friends have also helped me out when they travel and I need something brought in. Regarding cost effectiveness, most of these materials are not available in India(now Passionate baking have started to stock some of them) but for the small quantities required for a home baking store, I think it makes more sense to pick it up when you travel rather than import.

D: What's your thought on this bake fest? How far do you think it's going to help you as a home baker?
SP: Firstly, I think the HBG is a fantastic initiative from Bala and Nanditha. Kudos to both of them for coming up with this idea and more importantly pursuing it by creating up the FB page & coming up with events such as these. I am still smiling thinking about how Bala’s blog reviewing work done by the 4 of us started this initiative. Some hilarious comments flowed that day on the warrior girls and their costumes leading to this fantastic initiative HBG.

Lil’Delights has been operational for the past one year now and a lot of our orders come from people seeing our work and hearing feedback on social networking pages like CFG. I have come across multiple talented bakers in the past year with whom I have interacted who have provided encouragement as well as motivation to improve. I think HBG is a natural progression from something like CFG which is food centric to something which is Baking specific. The additional big plus for all of us home bakers is the inputs that we receive on any baking question / supplies / whatever! All the girls are prompt and this is akin to a Google guide now.

D: Do you specialize only in cup cakes? 
SP: No. Apart from all kinds of cup cakes, our specialities include celebration / character themed cakes, tarts, cheesecakes, trifles and so on. Cup Cakes are my favourites though. Even though they are bite sized, they absolutely let you express yourself!
(My personal favorite is the baptism cake :D)


D: What's your theme for this showcase event?
SP: We are doing a combination of the existing all time favourites such as the Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes and couple of eggless cupcakes as well as our newer creations such as the baked yoghurt tart as well as Bailey’s Cheesecake. It is going to be a day for meeting friends, partying, having fun, learning and interacting with Chennai’s best home baking talent. Can’t wait for the big day to arrive.

That's the pretty lady here and wishing you the best for completing a full marathon some time ! :) And good luck for the fest ! 

Meet the bakers - Part 3

I'm still basking in the glory of my previous post on The ழ cafe touching over 225 hits in under 24 hours. That's my biggest till date. And now it's time to surpass that, what say people?

Presenting on today's "Meet the baker" - Linu Paul.

First off, Congratulations Linu - her online store opens today ! (So, I am just in time to congratulate her for the new addition to her website - and she has Rich Plum Cake, Rich Fruit Cake and Diamond cuts on sale)

When I told her I saw her website, and over and above that I had a few questions for her, she was thankful I'd taken the time to see her website, because not many people realize the effort and time it takes to maintain a website, especially when you plan an online store.

Excerpts:

D: What's special about your baking?
LP: I believe in healthy baking like for e.g. incorporating veggies and fruits that kids refuse to have otherwise like banana, apples, carrots, pumpkins and beetroots, yes you heard me right beets! (People - did you get that - beetroots ! :) )


D: Oh ! Healthy baking ! :)
LP: Yes, What I would love my audience to realize is that I dont use any kind of shortening or preservatives like cake gel in my products...its all healthy....another reason I am not too fond of fondant... (All you health conscious sweet toothies - you know where to go for your cakes now)


D: Where do you source your ingredients from?
LP: I source my ingredients from Nuts & Spices and the bakeware from Passionate Baking and Walltax Road.

D: What's your theme for this fest?
LP: For the event I was planning to bake some rich plum cakes(the plums would be soaked in brandy), banana walnut loaves, some muffins and some cookies. So I guess it is definitely a banana theme! (Go Bananas ! )

Linu started to cook post marriage, and she says she graduated to baking. But going by what she's creating, I think she's a PhD.







Take a bow Linu. The field is yours on 30th. Good luck for a great show ! 

The ழ Cafe - Special

When Nishanth asked me if I wanted to go to The Zha (ழ) cafe for a CFG Showcase, I was reluctant. My first experience, in their Adyar outlet, wasn't impressive. In fact, it was negative. But then, I thought, since this outlet is closer to work, might as well try it out. And I am glad I said yes.

OK, now people come on, say with me - ழ - roll your tongue and from the bottom of the throat, say ழ. No, not la. ழ. And not jha / za either ! Right, I give up.

Funny how English doesn't have this letter and we have to get to weird spellings to write this. And as unique as this letter is to Tamil, explains Arasi, is this restaurant. Arasi owns The ழ Cafe.

I had a very difficult day at work, and all I wanted to do was unwind. And this place let me exactly do that ! I wish the wi-fi had worked, so I could have sent out some emails urgently, but then, glad it didn't, else I wouldn't have enjoyed the evening.

The entire CFG gang was around and the fun began.

The specialty of this place is its ability to serve food starting from the local tea kadai menu to funky sandwiches and English dorai menu (consisting of toast , omelettes and the likes). And Arasi made sure we were served a bit of everything.

The evening began with some kadalai putting, er, eating peanuts and few other nuts and plate full of pori urundai, palli mittai, butter biscuit and some other goodies. Nishanth walked in so late, that I thought he'd get only the palli mittai ;-)

Mean time, Bharani started playing with the pallanguzhi (a traditional game), and the juices and vaazhapoo vadai started making the rounds. The juices were called Jalapula Jungs and Spoonlings (I have no clue why the name). The good thing about the vadai, bonda and bajji here is there was absolutely no oil sticking on to the fingers. I was handling the camera and eating at the same time and was surprised to see there were no oil marks on the camera.






The mint chutney was awesome. There were cheese balls, adai and vellam (jaggery) - S - you'd have loved the adai, it was super spicy, kaara aval, sweet aval, karupatti kaapi, panangalkandu paal, rose milk, adhirasam with banana (now, this one was innovative), veg kaati rolls, sundal sandwich, and most of all, my beloved MAGGI ! 


That said, I also loved the interiors here. They had the soppanasundari car of Karagattakaran fame, an auto, low seating, medium seating, high seating, a tree with a sombu and a vadivelu comedy track pinned up on the tree (kaiya pudichi izhuthiya).

Learnings for today:

a. Wheat = maida. :P - courtesy Sathish
b. Panangalkandu = sugar from the palm tree coming no, that getting converted to candy form, no ! ;-) courtesy  - Bharani
c. PG quit eating parotta and biriyani (oh wait, you still haven't decided on that one, no?) :P

Pallanguzhi

Vaazhapoo Vadai

Inippu Aval

Risk.. er. Rusk ! 

Palm Sugar Candy Milk ;-)

Bajjiiiiii

Bonda

Adirasam, with Banana drizzled with honey

Cheese filled what?

Veg Kaati Rolls

Kaara Adai + Vellam

Sundal Sandwich

Kaara Aval

Maggi Maggi Maggi

And finally the star attraction - Soppana Sundari Car ! :)

Meet the bakers - Part 2

I'm super hungry after reading an email from Nanditha; So here I am, gorging on some left over penne pasta in basil sauce, topped with generous portions of olive oil and some herbs, and I wonder - do all men like "penne"? ;-) Technically, they should also be liking spaghetti (oh but that'll be on a penne - if you get what I mean? ;-)  - S - I'm so sorry; couldn't resist this one *grin*).

Alright, now that the tummy stopped grumbling, I am going to concentrate on the main theme of this post. Part 1 of this series talked about the bake fest and the man behind it. This post is going to talk about one, no make that two, of the leading ladies of the event. (Update when I was half way through this: I decided each baker should have their own post, they sure deserve it, so this one talks about Nanditha of Sugar Hut Fame)

I'd sent her a 3 line email on what I was looking for, and she sent me a 3 page response. :-) No wonder, such enthusiasm  has spilled over in managing and multi-tasking a rock band and a dessert band ;-). The rock band called No idea is her first baby (I have no idea why she named it no idea; perhaps she has some idea? May be not?). Sugar hut is the second baby and going by the kind of desserts she's been whipping up, I'm sure she's partial to the second one. She's also a darling of the press and you can read the articles on her Facebook page.

Excerpts:

D: Why HBG?
NS: It is unfortunate that most don't have the kind of finances to open their own store. A shame really considering the mind blowing talent. While we all stick to authenticity and a whole lot of love  in our cooking, seems only fair we all get the same credit as those established restaurants, cafes and so on. There really is nothing better than home cooked food mainly owing to the amount of care and that personal kind of customization that comes only from those who really  want to please the people they care about. The thrill that comes from seeing the look on the face of someone when you have exceeded their expectations is just so rewarding.

D: Why the fest?
NS: It's not enough that we make and sell it, but the feedback is just as important. The reason KP and I decided to go all out on the Baker Showcase, with the help of Nikhil Moturi, is because of the number of bakers and dessert and baking enthusiasts who are now valued members of Home Bakers Guild. We never expected it to grow so fast. This made it easier for us to go ahead with this guns a blazing. The purpose of this is so each an every Baker gets the platform to sell their goodies and be judged solely on merit :). We have provided the platform and now it's about these beautiful talented women taking people's breath away. Not only do they get to show off their goodies to their heart's content but they also can ask for any help like about supplies and anything that will make their life a tad easier.

D: Advice to home bakers / participants in this event?
NS: What I would like those aspiring home bakers to know is that if you have the love for it, there is definitely a place for you in the food business in some form. :) It will be grueling but worth every minute you spend committed to it. I would say that The Sugar Hut is as successful as it is only because I aim to not only make something really delectable but also imprint in their minds a truly memorable experience. I think my fellow Home Bakers will agree :)

D: Your theme for the bake fest?
NS: The Sugar Hut will be introducing newer flavours like Lavender, Brownies and Cookies with brown butter, several kinds of cheesecakes, cupcakes draped in Salted Caramel,  Mojito Buttercream Cupcakes and so on. I'm looking to excite the taste buds with new flavours and combinations :)


OK, now I really can't wait for 30th. KP - Can't we do a sampling session earlier on? wink wink

Side note: KP: She did thank you profusely ;-)
Side note 2: She did thank me too, but I am just brushing it aside :) You are welcome :)


And ladies and gentlemen, that's Nanditha Sashidharan for you - Take a bow girl !

Psst: She looks as pretty in a saree, as in any other costume :) Loved you in the blue (or was that green?) saree ! 

Meet the bakers - Part 1

Cup cakes, Cakes, Muffins, Brownies anyone? Various flavors, shapes, sizes ? Sweet tooth? OK, I can see a lot of hands go up. All you need to do is to haul yourself up to Crimson Chakra on the 30th of this month, at 1530 hours. Come and watch 14 home bakers show case their goodies, and who knows, your next birthday party would have the yummies baked by one of these talented ladies !

And, a big thanks to KP Balakumar, for asking me to cover this event. :-) I'm so honored. :D

I'll be doing a series of posts on this event, covering as much info as possible.

This event is hosted by Home Bakers Guild. HBG is founded by KP Balakumar and Nanditha Sashidharan of The Sugar Hut fame.

KPB is a stock market trader by profession. Stock markets, food and sport are his three biggest interests. He's been playing tennis ever since he walked in diapers, was a top state ranked tennis player, captained the Madras university tennis team and continue to play tennis. His passion for food has taken him to two different avenues, a food blogger through his website www.thefoodiediaries.in and now, through the Home Bakers Guild. And KPB hopes to do his bit in helping these bakers in any way he can.

I'm missing a couple of my favorite bakers in this event, and I do hope you can make it next time. Marsha - are you listening? :)

I'm starting off this series with a few questions I bombarded KPB with and he was kind enough to respond.

Excerpts below:

D: Idea of starting HBG?
KPB: forum that connected home bakers from anywhere so that there was a lot of exchange of information and ideas. The larger objective was to connect these home bakers with the ultimate customer using the power of social media. Rather than have each baker try and promote herself/himself through their own pages, a forum like the Home Bakers Guild would be a common platform through which customers would come to know about the wide variety on offer so that they needn't go back to the same retail chains for their orders for birthdays and parties.

D: Where do want to take HBG to?
KPB: The potential of the Home Bakers Guild is amazing. I hope it becomes a forum for Home Bakers not just in India but around the world. We are just a month old and we already have over 30-35 bakers from around the country as members and 100's of baking fanatics/just want to drool over the pictures kind of folks. Our membership as of today stands at nearly 700.

D: Future plans for HBG?
KPB: well, if anyone thought that they got the best desserts at the star hotels or the french loaf's of the world, they are terribly mistaken. The wealth of talent these home bakers possess and the vastness of their repertoire has to be seen to be believed. I want the forum to be rich from the experiences of the bakers and economically beneficial to the many talented ladies that are trying to make a career out of it. The Showcase events are towards accomplishing that objective for the home bakers, to open up new markets and customers to the home bakers. We will have 3-4 such showcase events through the year and also organize workshops like food photography so that bakers can take their business to the next level.  We want all the bakers to ultimately be that way, hands full with orders..and hopefully open their own stores at some point.

Poster Design  - Nanditha Sashidharan


Coming up: Interviews with Nanditha and the 14 lovely ladies who are going to bake(!!) our evening on the 30th !

Summer special - Kulfi

Who said summer ended in Chennai? The sun is on full action, even though the humidity has far reduced. And, it wouldn't hurt to dig into something sweet and chilled ;-)

I'd bought these small kulfi moulds from Currimbhoys, Adyar, a few months ago, and they were, for some reason, relegated to the back shelf. As I cleaned the kitchen a couple of months ago, I found them sitting there and had been deciding to put them to use ever since.

So, one evening when I was feeling pretty (oh yes, I feel pretty sometimes :-P), I just paddled around the kitchen - dumping about 3 cups of milk, 1 cup milkmaid, a few spoons of sugar (added later on, because I felt it wasn't sweet enough), some vanilla essence and coarsely pulsed nuts (pista, badam, cashew, pine nuts and whatever else was there in the tin of mixed nuts), and let it thicken on simmer. 45 minutes later, I let it cool, poured it into moulds, covered with foil and gently placed them in the freezer) and conveniently forgot about them. 


S always likes dessert after lunch / dinner and I remembered about the kulfis sitting in the freezer. What I didn't remember was the frequent power cuts ! I'd set the moulds out on the table for a couple of minutes, so I could remove them nicely (this being my first attempt and all). When I inserted the fork to pull the kulfi out, it was then I realized that the power cut had already melted it to an extent, so I could have removed it then and there. Still, I got the pieces out safe and sound.

Served it to S, who was curious as to how I got the liquid that was nicely served around the kulfi ! (haha.. with a sheepish smile, I had to explain the power cut phenomena). And R wanted me to get this to office DUH ! :P


And I got a thumbs up and a pass mark from S (and that's tantamount to vashistar vaayala brahmarishi :P).

Crimson Chakra - Magic

Nikhil Moturi - Just wanted to take a moment to say a few things (all good) about Crimson Chakra. For the nth time, I ordered the Elaneer Souffle. Pray tell me what it is that makes me disregard all the exotic chocolate desserts on the menu ( I am such a chocolate fanatic) and go for this plain Jane. (I didn't click a picture of the souffle, because I was so intent on eating it. Could you perhaps please send me a pic, so I can post it here?)

Update at 3 pm: fellow twitter @smilinggambler (http://saapaturaman.wordpress.com) graciously let me use his image here. Thanks Pravin

Like every other time, the dinner couldn't have been more perfect.

And I want to put in a  few good words here for Mohan, who serviced our table. Not only did he recognize me from my last visit, but ensured our order was perfectly timed and brought to the table. He was able to customize our order, as R and I haggled over what we liked best.  He's efficiency personified. I am amazed at how he doesn't write the order down, but remembers every customization and who ordered what !

These are the kind of people that make the dining experience more worthwhile.

A big Thanks from me and R, to Mohan and to Crimson.