Everyone loves a well built, delicious cake that promises flavours and textures to die for. Well, there are plenty of choices available in the City where one can go and satisfy their cravings for such cakes. One of them is ‘Do It Sweet’, whose owner Heena Awasthi thinks baking to be a therapy and believes in putting a smile on faces; she helps people make memories with her bakes.
Heena started her own baking shop in 2008 as she was tired of killing time sitting at home and doing nothing. She started off by baking at home for her friends and family but soon realised that she could take it to a different level as she always got a positive response from people.
Apart form baking cakes, she loves making cupcakes, cookies, desserts in a jar, tarts, cheesecakes and eggless bakes. Ask her about her personal favourite flavour and she says, “I love fresh fruit gateau and Belgium chocolate cake with the hint of coffee and crunch of toasted nuts.” But the most popular item in her shop is ‘Gooey chocolate cake’.
Heena thinks that her patience in this business is her biggest strength as keeping the pantry stocked with raw material when there are so many power cuts is not easy. Apart from that, she hates nothing more than artificial flavouring and she says that she would never put artificial flavours in her cakes because that doesn’t fit in her ethics of baking. A lot of books and bakers around the world inspire her as she is a self- taught baking artist.
And just like any other, she has made mistakes too. She recalls an incident from when she had just started getting orders for cakes. She says “Once, I baked the cake but I forgot to add sugar in it and there was no time left to re-bake it either. I infused the cake with fruit juice which balanced the sweetness of the filling. It was a stressful day, I remember. Thankfully the clients enjoyed the cake. Fresh fruit played the trick.”
She also talks about what makes her baking special. “I don’t follow any menu for flavours. You name it, I’ll make it. Uniqueness in flavours, neatness in fondant work and customisation as per a client’s requirement keeps them coming back.”