Mothers at parties called back to ask for recipes and also asked if they could place an order,” begins Hema. Hema then decided why not take it up as a business venture, since she had all the time as her children were grown up and away at school. Today, Hema bakes wonderful cakes, makes delicious chocolates and fruit cakes. “The latest introduction is cup cakes, since these cakes are small, you can
learn plenty of icing decorations. I decided to introduce a class only for brownies and cupcakes, since these are easy and popular,” she informs. The taste for finer things in life probably was instilled in South Africa, which was home for a long time. Then she came to Mumbai and got married. “I was born and brought up in Durban, South Africa and used to bake even as a child. My mother was a home science student and we had a lot of baked stuff at home,” she recalls. Hema got back to baking once she had time on her hands.
“Now, besides baking cakes for occasions, I also conduct classes,” she adds. “I teach baking in a single day. I teach a basic sponge cake, pineapple upside down cake, biscuits and chocolates. The classes also depend on the students, I teach whatever they prefer to learn and in order to give special attention, do not take more than five students.”
The busiest time for Hema is during Christmas, when her fruit cake is booked almost a month in advance. “I bake only cakes during Christmas time and some of the ingredients in the cakes are from South Africa – chocolate vermicelli, mixed dried fruits. The fruit is soaked in rum for about three weeks and then mixed with the flour,” explains Hema. Some of her specialties are the date and walnut, chocolate, plain, black forest and carrot and nut cake. If you are looking for even more exotic desserts, Hema has chocolates too! Liqueurs, truffle and milk, coffee, strawberry, orange, mint kahlua, too. Hema markets her cakes in a small way, her publicity being more word-of-mouth. Hema also teaches how to make chocolates. Her specialty is that she highlights and teaches how to make your own fillings. Her specialty is liqueur chocolates, and she teaches how to make own liqueurs.
