Home bakers to tickle palate at annual annual sale

CHENNAI: Harini Sankarnarayan has loved baking since she was seven. But this weekend, the home baker will be working overtime making her specialties. For, the Grand Annual Bake Sale is back after a one-year hiatus.
Organised by the Home Bakers Guild (HBG), the event aims to help home bakers gain access to a larger pool of customers and also introduce Chennaiites to a whole new set of bakers and the delicacies they come up with.It will be held on February 12 at St Patrick's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Adyar, from 4pm to 7pm.
“This time, 15 home bakers and three commercial bakeries/chocolatiers – Old Madras Baking Company, Radio Room, and Cocoatrait -- will be participating in the event,” says K P Balakumar, founder of HBG. The Facebook group, launched in May 2012, now has 1,26,000 members from across India as well as all over the world. It provides a platform for baking enthusiasts to meet, interact, promote businesses, gather tips, share experiences and also get in touch with suppliers.
While the bake sale is being held for the sixth time in Chennai, two editions have also been held in Bengaluru.
The 18 food stalls have a wide variety of delicacies. But Balakumar says that the USP is the large array of fusion desserts – from tender coconut jello jars, and rasmalai cake shots to flavoured macaroons, such as gulab jamun caramel macaroon. “There is also Muslim inspired cuisine, such as zafrani badam halwa, and za’atar spiced whole roast chicken by Tasmeen Ayub,” he adds.
A mouth-watering selection of breads and cakes will be showcased by Harini. “My favourites include grape schiacciata, a flatbread with purple grapes, a little bit of rosemary and a touch of sea salt, and sugar; and pickled bread -- bread layered with pickle and baked – which is very popular with customers,” she says.
Shwetha Balakumar, who specialises in flavour pairing, has delicious cakes on offer. But the ones to look out for are the ooey-gooey fudgy salted caramel brownie, a moist brownie with salted caramel incorporated into it along with Belgian chocolate chunks; and her hot cocoa mixes.