Charmy’s Homemade Goodness
The place: Started about five years ago, Charmaine’s healthy bakes have the potential of having you come back for more. This Bengalurean rustles up Christmas cakes, which are a riot of rich flavours of wine, dry fruits, fresh plum and authentic spices. Owing to the soaring popularity, the baker single handedly makes around 500 kg of Christmas cakes all through the year.
Price: Rs 1,300 per kilo
What makes it our pick: Speaking of the signature flavour of her Xmas cakes, the Mangalorean baker reveals how it’s got to do with a secret recipe handed over to her by her grandmother. The ingredients used are of the finest quality. So much so, the cakes allegedly last for at least two years!
Charmaine bakes out of her home and has namma ooru’s cake loving folk turning up at her doorstep to bring home their orders.
OrangeOven
The place: Keeping in step with the festivities, Deeksha Saria, a home baker is busy rustling up her Christmas creations. Her humble venture OrangeOven by Infinitea specialises in tea and food and is a patisserie dealing in bespoke fondant cakes and gourmet desserts. Deeksha states, “Christmas is what memories are made of. Every year, my friend’s mom would call us home for the traditional mixture and soaking of plum cakes and that’s when I got introduced to plums cakes and started loving the idea of these soaked fruit cakes! I started baking plum cakes at an early age and baking them has always become a Christmas ritual. My friends love ordering them from me and tell me that they find them divine,” says Deeksha.
Price: Half a kg plum cake costs Rs 600 and they are available in 100-500 gm beautiful Christmas packaging that Deeksha makes herself with all the festive fervour.
What makes it our pick: She also makes a whole range of Christmas treats like ginger bread cookies, butter cookies, almond cookies and Christmas hampers.
Sprinkled
The place: City lass Gautami Shankar and her husband have always shared a common love for baking. As a result, they conjured up Sprinkled, a boutique bakery, which operates out of their residential address in Kammanahalli. Having whipped up over 150 celebratory cakes in the past year, this young baker is prepping up to serve delectable treats to her patrons. Delivery is available free of cost within a 3 km radius.
Price: Rs 1,600 per kilo (additional charges as per customisation).
What makes it our pick: Gautami’s specialties include macaroon towers, celebratory cakes, dessert jars and the like. This X’mas, she will be conjuring up special silver laced hampers, which come brimming with sugar cookies with royal icing, liquor (rum and raisin) chocolates, fruit cakes and creamy puddings. And that’s not all. The USP of her cakes is a secret ingredient — only pure vanilla extracts from the bean are used, with drool-worthy sprinkles!
Ms K’s Cakes and Cupcakes
The Place: Ms K’s Cakes and Cupcakes was started around five years ago by Katherine Deborah, and has become the go-to place for Christmas bakes since. Her Christmas-inspired flavours include candy cane, cinnamon, rosemary, gingerbread and even egg-nogg flavoured cakes! She even makes customised cupcakes to add to the holiday cheer with Santa Claus and reindeer decorations.
Price: Rs 1500 per kilo and Rs 60 per cupcake
What makes it our pick: Everything in her workshop in Indiranagar is handmade and made to order, and her customisations and décor are to die for! Apart from customising decorations and frosting, this baker even customises flavours according to one's palette! A treat to the eyes and tummy, we must say!
