How Renee’s Cake Art was born?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- Reneesha is my daughter’s name & I named my venture on her. I started the venture as Renee’s Pasteleria, later named as Renee’s Cake Art. I was always passionate about baking But never thought of taking it as a profession. After marriage, I left my job as a Research Assistant (Biotechnology) & came here to Bangalore. A new city, no friends but plenty of time. Feel to invest the time learning something new & different. And found Home Baker as a profession. Initially family won’t support, so starts learning from YouTube videos. After thousands of failures, I finally mastered the skill of baking & started working on the decorating part. YouTube supported me throughout my journey as my “Mentor”. In my school days, I got professional training on painting & my knowledge of being a biotechnologist (food technology) helped me to master the art & science behind it easily. Later, I started my session on Wedding Cakes & Birthday Cake. And, also run few Facebook & WhatsApp groups which provide platforms to many novices as well as professional bakers to showcase their work & also to get orders.
When you paint on whipped cream, do you use normal whipped cream or do you prepare any other whipping cream?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- Painting on whipped cream can be done by spray painting technique (using a spray gun) Or free-hand. One can directly use commercial whipped cream or can stabilise the cream & use it. But, I prefer to stabilise my cream before painting.
How different is it to make a faultline cake with edible flowers as compared to Drip cake or fondant cake?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- “Faultline cake” & “drip cake” are the name of two different techniques which can be done by using any media(Fondant/buttercream/whipped cream) as canvas & can also be combined with any other technique/design & embellished with edible or non-edible flowers. The difficulty level depends on the media used. Ya, fondant is the most difficult media to work with.
What would be your main piece of advice to a young apprentice interested in achieving excellence in this profession?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- Practice is the only key to achieve excellence in cake decorating.
If you get a chance to bake a cake for the Prime Minister of India what would you bake and why?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- Keeping his aura in mind, I will bake an egg-free Mawa-ghee Cake frosted with kesar-rose frosting & embellish with gold plated rasgullas. Mawa, ghee, kesar, rose to give it a desi twist & rasgullas to give a touch of bengali, as from West Bengali.
How different is it to make a wedding cake compared to any other cake? Do you assemble the cake at the venue or finish the entire cake at your bakery?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- Wedding cake is different. For your client, it’s a memory of lifetime & you can’t spoil it. Yes, I prefer to finish the entire cake at my studio.
How different is it to prepare a wedding cake for a guest or on order as compared to making a wedding cake at the workshop?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- Preparing a cake for Workshop & orders are very much different. Most of the wedding cake workshops are done on dummy cakes & one can spend days behind working on it. But while working on real cake you get only 3 days to finish.
Do you think the Bakery Industry needs more recognition, if yes. Why?
Purbaja Bhattacharya:- Yes, definitely. Compared to any other small scale industry, investment in baking is much lesser. One can run a small business from his/her home, by investing a small amount . Especially for women, who are unable to go out for a job can take this as a profession & can support her family.
View this post on Instagram "After marriage, I left my job as Research Assistant (Biotechnology) A new city, no friends but plenty of time. Feel to invest the time learning something new and different and found Baking as a profession”Says Purbaja Bhattacharya . . . #hospibuzbakers #hospibuz #instagram #macarons #breads #loafs #bakers #healthybake #teacher #learner #workdhops #empoweringwomen #bakingtheworldbeautiful #bakery #justwow #justbakes #cakedecorating #Cakeshot #cakeworld A post shared by HospiBuz_Bakers (@hospibuz_bakers_) on Mar 9, 2020 at 5:03am PDT
"After marriage, I left my job as Research Assistant (Biotechnology) A new city, no friends but plenty of time. Feel to invest the time learning something new and different and found Baking as a profession”Says Purbaja Bhattacharya . . . #hospibuzbakers #hospibuz #instagram #macarons #breads #loafs #bakers #healthybake #teacher #learner #workdhops #empoweringwomen #bakingtheworldbeautiful #bakery #justwow #justbakes #cakedecorating #Cakeshot #cakeworld
A post shared by HospiBuz_Bakers (@hospibuz_bakers_) on Mar 9, 2020 at 5:03am PDT