A slice of heaven- aesthetically beautiful cakes!

Can you tell us about how you fell in love with baking and how did you begin to transition that into your career? 

Nayan-Gupta:- It started with baking simple marble cakes and date walnut cakes for family and school picnics. I got positive reviews and got motivated to try out new recipes from the internet. While working as a Software Engineer, I used to bake on the weekends. This continued for a while and I realised I was happiest when baking and looked forward to the weekends. This led me to quit my job and start taking orders. Initially I started receiving orders from family and known circles. As the orders started growing, I opened my business page ‘Sugar Deli’ and there was no looking back. I wanted to learn more about pastry and so I went for the Patisserie diploma at Le Cordon Bleu. 

How would you express your experience in Le Cordon Bleu, Paris? 

Nayan-Gupta:- I did the Patisserie diploma at LCB which was a 9 month course. The experience was superb, very different from what I had expected as it was mainly about French pastry which is not just sponge and cream. There was so much to learn every day. You are exposed to a great variety of food, recipes, and techniques. From the chef instructors to the ingredients and the final dessert we made, everything was top notch. I learnt a lot of things I would never have even thought of. Working in a professional kitchen, how things run, how to work with different flavours and textures. It changed my perspective about desserts. LCB helped me move from baking for friends and family to starting a new career in the food industry. 

As India is not a baking nation what measures do you think educationist should take for improving the techniques in baking? 

Nayan-Gupta:- Slowly, we have moved on from the basic Black Forest cakes but there is a need for awareness about different flavours and types of desserts. Not only the bakers, but the audience should be educated about new flavour combinations. Nowadays, there are many workshops and short courses by famous chefs which are great for learning the basics which is very important to have a strong foundation. The most important is using good quality and fresh ingredients as it affects the taste of your final product. 

What is your 2020 motto? 

Nayan-Gupta:- I want to reach out to a wider audience and display my quality work. I also plan on conducting more workshops for aspiring bakers as I love to teach as well. I will also be coming up with new exciting flavours and French desserts and hope that people like them. 

Demands are moving forward to substitution for diabetic and vegan pastries, how you’re developing your creatives with this concern? 

Nayan-Gupta:- With the rise of gluten free, vegan, keto, paleo diets, there is a need to develop desserts catering to this group of the population. It is not simple as the basic ingredients in a pastry, like flour, butter, sugar, are not easy to replace. I am working on incorporating different flours and millets, and vegan alternatives in my recipes. I have also been developing recipes using various fruits, dates and jaggery as sweeteners instead of our regular white sugar, without compromising on the flavour. 

Share with us what is your specialization as a bakers and how Sugar Deli is a resemblance of you? 

Nayan-Gupta:- I love making wedding cakes and customised cakes. I try to customise the cakes as per the client’s requirements. Every cake has to be unique. I pay attention to every detail on my cake whether it’s a small or big cake. Pinterest and Instagram are my biggest sources of inspiration. I also look at fellow bakers for inspiration. I also specialise in making cake in a jar which makes for the best gift for somebody. 

I keep learning and keeping up with the trends and wish to keep improving and getting better with each cake. The feeling when you get the cake on the table and see people’s reactions is surreal. You know you did something special for someone’s special day! 

Working as a home baker sounds like a life around chocolates 7 flavours, but it’s time to fess up: how many treats and batters do you end up eating over a day’s work? 

Nayan-Gupta:- Being a HUGE chocolate fan I do have chocolate cravings on some days and I do end up eating a few leftovers. A small amount of chocolate is good for your health, right? 

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