Big Chill - Still the best in town ?

There's a question on my mind : When you blog from your official business ID, does it always have to be about that business only ?

Well, breaking away from the conventional is something we do really well so here goes :

BIG CHILL - We've all heard of it and if we've been living in Delhi since childhood I'm sure we've visited it at least once. The beauty of this place is that in a place like Delhi, where restaurants die out faster than we get to know of them , this place has survived for 11 years ( started out in 2000)  and its popularity has never dimmed, just grown.
Well that's about the place. Now to get down to the real part :
Its desserts are AMAZING. I do not say this lightly. I'm a chocoholic and hate anything non-chocolate but they've amazed me with their beautiful, yummy products , though their Chocolate Truffle is still my very favorite. The most awesome part - they haven't changed their basic recipes in 11 years. They found out what worked early on and then stuck to it and even though Delhi has been awarded the Best City for Food , the funda of sticking to what is working , has given it, its unique place in the city.

So if you are looking for yummy desserts, this is the place to go .

Avani Malhotra
For www.fortheloveofcake.in

Logo Designing : :-O

It's a logo ? How tough can it be , right , righttt? I mean I know its supposed to define your company and I know its supposed to be your identity but is it really that big deal ?


Well, the answer to that question , which I found out 2 months of major designing and re-designing , YES IT IS!!


Let me give you an example or wait let me give you a word , "APPLE"
Yup , that should explain to us what a logo means. The logo is the identity of the company , whenever we see the half- eaten apple we know how beautiful the product will be.


The description we started with : " It needs to be subtle , pretty , define our work and should be pink. "


The logo we got : 

Thank You Pria for giving us the perfect identity.

The Art of Pricing : The Whys'

I get about a half a dozen calls a day , most result in orders while some do not , and 50 percent of the times this could be due to a price factor so I felt very strongly that the customers needed to understand why they are paying the price that they are. I've been trying to figure out how to convey this to you and read a status that stated precisely what I had been wanting to tell you so here goes :

"The price of cakes - particularly novelty cakes can sometimes be more than you might have had in mind initially. "Oh my gosh!", you think. "Surely it can't be that much - it's just a cake!". People often expect to pay a lot for a wedding cake, but are surprised at the quote they have been given for a novelty cake. Yet novelty cakes are often more difficult to make.

A novelty cake is never just a cake. It's a tailor-made commissioned piece of art for your friend/ loved one. A personalized gift to light up their face and make their day, and hopefully remember for some time afterwards. Much much more than simply a dessert at a party, or something to eat with their cup of tea; a novelty cake takes centre-stage on the table at any celebration."

- *Wish upon a Cupcake*

I'm not turning around and saying we don't make money. Of course we do , after all it is a business but do we feel the cake is worth the money. Definitely YES!!!

Still have questions? Call me on 919811614222:)


Avani Malhotra
For www.fortheloveofcake.in

Sharing and Caring

The field of super fancy cake decorating is still new in India and the number of people doing it are few. However we are still not as united as we should be. 
(Ref : Cake decorating community in the UK)


The basis for most cake decorators abroad is that they work on a mutual admiration rule. They "LIKE" each others' page , discuss suppliers, compliment others' work and even give tips on how they mastered some particular technique. To start this relationship I'm going to start with a list of suppliers I'm aware of in the New Delhi area. As I keep finding out more, I will add those to the list. Hope this is helpful.


In Delhi :


CCDS - www.nowletslearn.com - Most cake decorating tools (Wilton and Ateco), fondant, gumpaste. 


Butler - http://www.thebutlermart.com/ - They keep some cake decorating tools and other hospitality stuff.


Transworld Enterprises - http://www.twe.in/contact.htm - They keep the PME brand.


Pigmento - http://yellowpages.sulekha.com/delhi/arts-entertainment/art-galleries-crafts/jangpura/pigmento-india-art-craft-colours.htm - For raw material , cake bases, cake boxes, customised stuff


SugarCraft India - http://sugarcraftindia.wordpress.com/ - For Cake Tools ( I personally haven't bought any from them so can't tell you what they sell exactly but you can always check it out)


Will keep adding more. Do keep a look and if you know any do mail me at avani.floc@gmail.com or leave a comment here. 


PS  - Some of you sent me nos. but those got deleted due to some problem with my phone. Please mail me with the same information.

Our First Stall - and What a Stall!!

The Week Before :
We had a week to prepare but as you might have read previously, we are last minute souls and this was a last minute show.

Photos at :  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.293808970667249.63091.218809414833872&type=1

The Night Before:
At 10 last night the panic started setting in. Our first stall - something we had thought about all week long but thanks to all the cake orders(we are NOT complaining) we just didn't have the time to actually plan it out. A few frantic calls to our saviour best friend, Jeevika Chhabra , a trip to IN and OUT and a few cancelled plans and we were set to start work on the cupcakes. We started at 10 P.M. (luckily we had baked most the day before) and till 2 A.M. all we were doing was icing . And God, we cannot tell you how difficult it was to keep the family away from the cupcakes. Our dear brother(Ankit Malhotra), useless when we need him (just kidding!!) constantly kept hitting the table and finally decided to work in return for one cupcake (Yup, that's how it works in our family, a favour for a favour. We are not very good kids.) Finally by 5 A.M. we were semi-done - 4 people working 7 hours straight for 200 cupcakes. The lists were prepared, most of the stuff kept on our Grandmother's favourite sofa(for which we got screamed at in the morning) and a house left in a state that my mother said resembled a robbery scene.


D-Day : The Morning
A late start in the morning, icing that nearly got over and a call stating that the stall should be set up earlier than we had planned , set the stage for another panic attack. However , a super organised and efficient mother and an amazing amazing father never let you down. By the time we had finished icing the cake (Yes, we had 2 deliveries also today), everything was in the car , packed and ready for the venue. ( Don't you wonder how the qualities that trouble you the most in your parents turn out to be the biggest blessings mostly?)


Another surprisingly supportive friend (Anshul Khanna, Thankkk Yoouu), the best friend , the sister , the cousin and I all packed ourselves into the car and finally left. However, as it normally is in our case , the drama didn't just end here. WE GOT LOST. For 45 mins , all we were doing was trying to find JULIA GABRIEL LEARNING CENTRE in Vasant Kunj.


The Afternoon :
Finally , finally , finally we entered and what a place!! Super cute , done up with a lot of colour and looking super pretty. The perfect place for a stall by FLOC. We set up and I must say, the stall looked adorable thanks to the various PRETTY gifts by my family (Tallena Welch- bua) and friends (SPRINKLES!!!).
The whole concept of the stall was something that we had done with our niece and nephew and entailed on the kids decorating their cupcakes themselves(Messy but oh what fun!!!)


I won't bore you with many details but give you some tiny incidents that stood out from today :


1. A tiny adorable girl who picked up the sprinkles like they were diamonds and stuck them onto the cupcake PERFECTLY.
2. A boy who had to pick up 6 cupcakes for his Mum's birthday and decorate them and did each one a different colour.
3. A girl who decided our sprinkles didn't have to decorate the cupcake but the other cups filled with sprinkles and started mixing them all.
4. The father of a child who told us that Rs 100 was too much for a cake but came back 10 minutes later and told us "These are the best cupcakes I have ever eaten." That's called a compliment !!
5. A fan who followed us on facebook (Smita Chawudhari) came and met us. What a feeling!!!
6. A tiny baby girl who came , chose her cupcake, decorated it and then paid us herself ( So embarrassing for us but such a big moment for her:):). It definitely put a smile on our faces)
7. Another father who inquired whether the paper was truly edible or " would it come out the next morning the same way it went in" ( LOL!!!)

3 hours , 2 days preparation but oh what fun!!! All in all , working with kids is nothing if not pleasurable. It was an experience and the kids were sooo adorable.


Thank You Meenakshi Chibba and Julia Gabriel Learning Centre for letting us be a part of this experience. It was amazing!!!!:)


Avani Malhotra
For https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.293808970667249.63091.218809414833872&type=1

The Toughest Question : Professionalism vs Personal Relationships

What is the balance that you MUST maintain when it comes to your work place? When do you cross the limit? Who decides the limit? Is it better to be a friend to your customer or keep a distance ?


These are some of the questions that I've many a times wondered about. If you've been following our blog , you'll know that I'm a clinical psychologist by training and thus that means being able to empathise with a person while keeping a certain amount of professional distance. Those of you who know me will know that for me to do that is quite impossible. By nature, I'm outgoing, decently social (less in the past few years) and well, friendly. For me , maintaining distance is quite impossible. So how do I balance it out?


Well , simply by believing that relationships come above everything and that the best marketing strategy is to market yourself. For me , a client is a friend. A co-worker is someone I will end up becoming best friends with and facebook is a social site, not a professional site. So for those of you who sometimes mind the personal conversations we've on the site, realise that we are showing you a side of us we only show to our friends and that for us, our fans are our friends. You are not just a client , you are someone we get to know to make sure that the cake we deliver is best suited to you and the person you are getting it for . :)


Cheers !! Hope to see you soon.


Avani Malhotra
For www.fortheloveofcake.in

Red Velvet Cupcakes - The Mystery Behind Them

"Ooohh"
"Aaahhh"
"Yummm"
"Harrods, London "
"They are as good as sex "
"Sorry to use a dirty word , but they were orgasmic"
" Scrumptious"
" I ate 5 of them at one go and I DON'T LIKE SWEET THINGS"


When these are the reactions you get to something, it definitely deserves a separate entry on your blog. What are these things called the Red Velvet Cupcakes? Let's demystify these mysterious things.

The first time I hear of Red Velvet was only a year back. Cupcakes had just started getting popular in India and these were yet to make an entrance. I had just started getting into baking and a friend in the U.S.(Polomi Batra) sent me a post on these. They didn't look all that amazing, other than the colour and being a true chocoholic, for me anything that didn't look dark brown didn't deserve attention thus they were forgotten about. However, this friend was pretty persistent that I must try these and hence started the search for the perfect Red Velvet Cupcakes.


Let me tell you a secret : When I started baking , I never knew what I was baking. I am the least observant of all people and a recipe for me was just that, a recipe to follow. I never thought about the whys and the hows but just the end result. All I knew was that I had to mix everything well , there is something known as "cut and fold" and the end should be yummmm.


To get back to the story , I finally managed to find a recipe. Yup , it was just that ,a recipe ,the good and the bad I had no idea about. So I made them and made this "poor excuse" for a cream cheese icing and called this friend who had been in the  US (figuring he must have eaten them) to come be the judge. And lol, what a judge!! HE LOVED THEM, however the man had never eaten RVC (Red Vevlet Cupcakes) and had just fooled me into giving him 6 RVCs and we were back to square one with no idea if these tasted like the original.


It's been a struggle to find the perfect recipe for these but we've managed  and by the end of this entry, I'm realizing that the reason these cupcakes are so popular is because they are so mysterious. Hence I'm going to let the mystery remain and not spoil the experience.  Just to describe them , they are red and they are like heaven. ;)


And because we made you read for so long but didn't give you what we had promised,  with an apology we will also give you a RVC for free:D ( At least for those who live in Delhi). Just message us on this with your no. or your BB pin and we promise to get back to you :)


Avani Malhotra
For www.fortheloveofcake.in