There’s something deliciously debauched about chocolate. I still remember the first time I was enticed by it. When Augustus Gloop delved headfirst into a molten chocolate lake in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, I jumped with him. It’s been the lone sin in my sparkling childhood, and as cake, there’s no telling what I’ll do after I’ve had a slice.
Chocolate cake in Chennai has undergone quite the makeover. And there’s so much more beyond what the patisseries offer. Enter the homebakers with their creations. Here are the five best slices, along with the confectioners who’ve designed them.
Messy Nutella Cake
“It’s really simple.” That’s how Cindana Manickavel describes her Messy Nutella Cake. And it sounds simple enough. Yet, there’s a twist that has everyone speculating: “there’s alcohol in the base,” they guess. She gives away the secret with a smile: “Instead of sugar syrup, I use a grape crush to steep the bottom layer. It gives it that wine-soaked flavour.” It’s not a studied technique, but it’s innovations like these that prompted her to start Sugar Monkeys over three years ago. A chance tasting of her red velvet cake jars at a Zumba class got her the first order, and that Deepavali, she sold 250 jars. “When I started, no one was doing jar cakes. And once I developed nutrition labels, I could venture into other products: cheesecakes, sugar-free baked goods,” she says.
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Belgian Flourless Chocolate Almond Fudge Cake
It’s a mouthful to say, but a cake like this one warrants as much, I’m told. With an almond meal base, its gluten-free stamp doesn’t deter customers, but the process to make it, Shwetha Balakumar says, was “painstaking”. The cake was a hit at her husband KP Balakumar’s birthday party last year, and soon, it is all people could think about.
Inspired by her veteran-baker mother-in-law, Shwetha began Sin a Little in 2016 to rave reviews. “I’m very into flavour pairings, combining chocolate with fruit or alcohol flavours to create something unique,” she says. Her rum-infused Belgian Dark Chocolate and French Feuilletine is a personal favourite, but rumour has it she makes a mean Tipsy Whiskey Layer cake.
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Moist Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling
There are cakes, and then there are cakes. And when a delivery arrives at your office and causes everyone to rush over with their phones for that Instagram picture, well, that’s the mark of a cake. The logic is simple, says Risla Meeran of The Cupcake Sisters. Make a standard base, pair it with fruit, use the best of ingredients, and top it off with a hard-to-beat white-chocolate buttercream.
The picturesque creations are just some of what Risla and sister Mubeena have become known for over the three years that The Cupcake Sisters has been in business. Their ‘date cake’, exclusive to the holiday season, is another crowd-pleaser. “Our mother is Sri Lankan, so many of our dishes are influenced by those tastes, those flavours,” says Risla. And it’s not just the sweets: their Seeni Sambol, a caramelised onion bun, and fish-based Maalu bun are equally popular. 7358371871
Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake
“A good salted caramel isn’t shy.” The Barefoot Contessa never lies, and Sirisha Jonnada knows it. A rather tangy salted caramel is the perfect accompaniment to her soft Belgian chocolate cake, and the draping technique she uses to meld the flavours has become her signature.
“I do a honey-almond-fig cake and a coconut coffee cream-cheese cake that are quite popular as well,” she says. Using candied fruits to elevate her flavours, this Besant Nagar-based baker started Sprinkles almost two years ago and there’s been no turning back. She can’t wait to experiment with homemade breads and pizzas, but for now, we’ll be licking the caramel off the spoon like there’s no tomorrow.
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Chocolate Decadence Cake
A Ferrero-Rocher sits atop what seems to be a mound of chocolate. It’s Saritha Subramaniam’s bestseller, getting her a spot in the coveted Home Bakers Guild and putting The Baker’s Nook on the map.
She’s no stranger to the entrepreneurial field, and inspired by Poonam Maria Prem of Hyderabad’s Zoey’s Bakehouse, her innovations on the cake board have customers a-calling.
The delicacies don’t stop there, though. Our advice? Try her Mexican 5-la
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