An old man leaned over the black security band to click a picture of the Central Station cake. Others nearby were also clicking pictures of Chennai’s major landmarks and were happy to witness French Loaf’s 1,000 kg eggless chocolate fantasy photo cake, a part of its Joy of Giving Week celebrations. The cake celebrated Chennai through 300 sketches and photographs of the city and the proceeds will go towards two NGOs in the city.
An annual event, this year’s theme was ‘Chennai’. . “Since we are based here, we thought it would be appropriate to focus on the city,” said Narendra S Malhotra, CEO, Oriental Cuisines. “We held competitions in a couple of schools and chose the drawings that children did on the city to use on the cake. The rest are pictures of Chennai clicked by amateur photographers.”
The 100-mt. cake was made with 600 kg of chocolate, 350 kg of dark chocolate, 100 kg of white chocolate and 1,000 icing sheets and 26 chefs worked on it for 48 hours. “Though the challenge was to get it right and transport it properly, we hope this effort helps the cause we worked for,” said Boopesh Pichaimani, corporate chef, French Loaf.
The cake was sold out even before its launch at the Forum Vijaya Mall. “Each kilo cost Rs.1,500. The response was phenomenal. It was a complete sell out. We will be making more cakes for people who could not buy it at the event. We do not want to disappoint them,” said Boopesh. Labour Statue, Central Station, Tidal Park, Marina Beach, Napier Bridge, Vivekananda Illam — the list was endless. “There is always a lot of curiosity about this event and we ensure that we choose a theme that people can identify with. While a lot of the cakes are bought as bulk orders by corporates, we’ve seen a rise in individual buyers too. In fact, a parent, whose child’s drawing is on the cake, was so proud that he bought 30 kilos,” says Narendra.
