Covid turnaround: This Christmas, home bakers can have their cake and eat it too

New Delhi: The year might not have been sweet to many hospitality professionals after the Covid-19 pandemic robbed them of their jobs, but for the enterprising, the uncertain employment scenario provided the opportunity to start their own ventures. From gingerbread cookies and plum cakes to jams and baked items, these trained people transformed the home baker experience into profitable entities delivering top quality items at par with those from a top-notch bakery.
The decision of these pastry entrepreneurs to turn a crisis into an opportunity is bearing fruit, with the social media posts of these chefs and bakers eagerly anticipated by buyers, especially in the days leading up to Christmas.
After losing his job in May, chef Amit Wadhawan started his own range of relishes, jams and preserves with wife Reetica Sawhney. After selling his first product in July, Wadhawan says his kiwi and yuzu jam, black currant and apple jam, apple brandy butter, malted chocolate and gluten- and fat-free and vegan options have become the choice of buyers in his locality. Even some hotels have started stocking his jams for their unique taste and quality.
Pastry chef Sakshi Singh, who was stranded home during the lockdown, started helping her mother, Vandana Singh, in the latter’s baking delivery La Leurre Cakes and Desserts. Sakshi baked sourdough bread to while away her time, but soon found herself overwhelmed with orders for cookies, babkas (sweet braided bread), plum cakes, brownies and customised cakes. As word spread about the goodness of her goodies, she had to struggle with numerous orders every day. Not that she is complaining. Sakshi happily explains her modest venture is thriving.
Hospitality professional Meenakshi Sharma Bajaj is equally happy about having begun her own home enterprise, French Heart Bakery, under the guidance of her pastry chef husband. Bajaj says people can expect a home touch to her products, which are made in small batches, are made to order and freshly baked. Rather than devise her own menu, she noted the demand to finally come up with her offerings, such as ragi and barley breads and customised cakes.
Those who turned their hobby into a profession, such as Mona Kapoor who opened Mona’s Bake Box, are already fulfilling several daily orders for festive cakes. Kapoor says the demand from friends has been for “guilt-free” cakes and as a result she is daily sending out sugar-free and gluten-free confections made with almond flour, jaggery and organic cocoa — all stuff that’s easy on the conscience.
It has been an eventful year for pastry chef Mitali Sahni too. She had to close a stable bakery during the lockdown, but has now started her own home bakery brand, Mr and Mitts Bakery. Her cakes, mini desserts, rustic beads and artisanal coffee plus her savoury snacks gained popularity in no time. For the festive season, Sahni’s reindeer macarons, snowman choux, DIY gingerbread houses and hot chocolate premixes are proving a rage.
These stalwart efforts of home bakers are being supplemented in the Christmas season by the city’s prominent bakeries. Ankita Sood of The Artful Baker says the past few days have been good, with customers in good numbers placing orders, particularly of millet and sesame crackers, banana bread, bite-sized pastries, regular cakes, and, of course, healthy and gluten-free items.