Bakery Queen for the Navy community

What is the most rewarding part of being a cake designer?

Radhika Jagan:- The rewarding point for any cake designer and baker is the creative opportunities it provides along with the customer’s satisfaction. It is like icing on the cake. The more smiles I get, the more inspired I become. The celebration and expression of their happiness drive me to innovate every time and aim for excellence.

How was your experience at lavonne academy and do you think there”s a need for more baking academy?

Radhika Jagan:- The Lavonne academy has opened a world of opportunities for a small-time baker like me. I did diploma de patisserie from Lavonne academy of baking science and pastry arts in 2017. The duration of my course was 6 months and I was fortunate to learn from the best chefs in the baking field in India and globally during the period of my course. I’m proud to be Lavonne alumni and feel great to be a part of this prestigious academy.
Yes, I do feel that there should be more such academies in every state for the betterment of baking as a part of skill development for small-time bakers like me.

Yes, I do feel that there should be more such academies in every state for the betterment of baking as a part of skill development for small-time bakers like me.

What is your inspiration for designing a cake? and where did you get an idea of making bucket cake?

Radhika Jagan:- To me, each and every baker is a teacher as they teach and expose different ideas, skills and techniques. It is an ad on experience from social media like Facebook, Pinterest, dedicated blogs & TV channels etc. Also, I knew that to survive and at the same time to be successful, I need to be innovative, creative as well as adaptive and also evolve to customer’s requirements. Therefore, with the help of social media and other platforms where people share their ideas, I recreate it adding my own special touch to develop ‘face in the crowd’. Joonie Tan, one of the Lavonne cake artists inspired me to introduce the concept of bucket cake.

What was the most challenging thing when you started candy box patisserie and how did you overcome this challenge?

Radhika Jagan:- Ever Since, I started Candy Box Patisserie i.e., 5 years back, the biggest challenge was the frequent transfer of my husband as he is a serving naval officer in Indian Navy. This made it difficult for me to promote my brand and work in any place. At the same time, I was fortunate to be a part of the naval wives community where my work was recognized and appreciated due to its small but well-organized community. My work got spread by word of mouth amongst naval wives community and its magazine. Another challenge was to make my clients understand and justify it to them about the work involved and the pricing of my product (as compared to the market) as against the compromise on quality. After an initial struggle, I could make a mark of my own and got recognized for my work. Therefore, ‘Recognition and Not Profit’ I feel the best way to meet the challenge.

Which pastry chef you admire the most and why.

Radhika Jagan:- Bartolo “Buddy” Valastro Jr. also known as the cake boss is my favourite Pastry Chef. He is an expert in creating edible art cake. The important aspect of his success is how he built a great team of employees in his shop. He helped them to get together and focused on their interpersonal relationship and also made them to give equal importance to their family, personal time and relationships. I never miss his reality shows on TLC and also eagerly looking for a chance to work with him. It would be an amazing experience and honour too.

What according to you, is the underrated part about bakers and growth do you see in bakery business?

Radhika Jagan:- To me, the most underrated part of baking is the importance of hygienic methods used in preparation by a home baker. Also using raw products as against a commercial baking industry is being run to gain only profits. Also, showcasing it to a customer about the importance and kind of work being done by a home baker and as to the importance of home-baked products as against the much sought after commercial products.

A home baker chooses quality ingredients, takes care to implant her creative instincts and ideas with no added preservatives along with freshness given as the top priority.

If you ever get a chance to bake for a celebrity or a celebrity chef, who would it be ? and what will you bake?

Radhika Jagan:- Antonio Bachour is an American pastry chef. I’m quite fond of his work on lamination of dough. He is also known as “confection master” and is also into making coloured croissant. It will be an honour and dream come true for me to bake an Indian style filling Croissant for him.   

Adriano Zumbo is an Australian pastry chef. He is known for his challenging desserts and also famous for his weird and wonderfully flavoured macarons. It would be an honour and dream come true for me to bake macarons with the Indian classic flavours for him.

How do you make sure that customers receive cake appropriately and without getting spoilt?

Radhika Jagan:- The occasion for celebration is carved forever as memories in my customer’s life. Therefore, sometimes on big occasions/ orders, I take the responsibility to deliver personally. On other occasions, I brief customers personally about the handling and storing procedure to ensure that the work involved did not get spoilt in a split second. On a few occasions, I have even had regrets of taking orders with certain customers who handled the cake casually despite telling them the work and man-hours involved in designing a cake.

Please tell us the importance ofcorrect and appropriate nozzle and pippingtoolsfor proper cake decoration and which is your favourite nozzle and pipping tools brand? 

Radhika Jagan:- The trick of this trade lies in the right use of nozzles for a particular design as it plays a major role in decoration or piping border on cakes. Nozzles are of many types, with right nozzles you can turn your cake and baked goods into stunning work of art. Therefore, it’s too important to possess the knowledge in nozzles and the experience in piping. My favourite piping nozzles are star tip #13 and rose tips #104 of Wilton brand.

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