CHENNAI : Sharing is love. What started out as a fun group activity during college days has turned out to be a full-time profession for Uthra Venkatesan. Baking was a passion common to all her friends. “I am a self-taught baker. Baking as a passion and profession has taught me patience in life. The recipe book is my bible and I make sure that every step is followed as instructed. A pinch of love along with the other ingredients makes it special,” says the Chennai-based corporate secretaryship graduate. Her social media page Awww Pie is delectable.
Taking her love for baking to the next level, Uthra introduced pet-friendly cakes, two months back. “I’ve made 15 pet-friendly cakes so far. These have ingredients without artificial colouring agents, essence and allergens, and have been approved by the vet.
The banana peanut cake for my friend’s dogs Romeo and Juliet is close to my heart. Butterscotch and gulab jamun cakes are my specialties,” shares the 23-year-old. An entrepreneur by the day, Uthra also runs her own cloud kitchen called LunchPI in Perungudi. Along with her cousin Shivshankar she started this venture three years back, where they provide custom-made meals for kids and IT professionals and other corporate. LunchPI offers pocket-friendly North Indian, Italian, Chinese and Tandoori food till 3 am.
Uthra has been cooking since class 11. From helping her mother in the kitchen as a kid by rolling out chapathis to cooking a complete meal for the family during social gatherings, Uthra has always been passionate about cooking. Her own favourite is poori and vatha kuzhambu. “My mother loves cooking south Indian food. She often inspires me with her innovative ideas.
Once she experimented with paneer in pani puri. I’ve in fact incorporated it into my recipes and its called the masala cake,” says Uthra who loves Italian and north Indian food. Pasta was her one of her first experiments. She has also tried woodfire pizzas, breads, and buns. “But there’s nothing as good as grandma’s arachuvita sambar. Who said cooking is a woman’s world? My father also makes savories like murukku and ribbon pakoda during festivals. It takes time but cooking is not as difficult as how people make it seem to be,” she shares.
Besides beginning baking classes in June, Uthra plans to introduce a concept called ‘Bake for your loved ones’. “Why just choose a design for your loved ones? This concept will help you put in all your efforts by baking your own cake. I will be there to assist you throughout the process,” says Uthra. She also plans to open a centralised kitchen exclusively for baking, and a shop to sell baked goodies — breads, buns, croissants and puffs. “A common mistake people make while baking is they skip the steps in recipes. Never go by your instinct, always use a weighing scale. It will take time to master the consistency. I’ve messed up my batter quantity quite a few times,” says Uthra who draws inspiration from the show Nigella’s Kitchen, and the social media page of Home Bakers Guild where bakers across the country share their experiences.
Ingredients
( 8 cupcakes)
Dry ingredients
Flour: 200 g
Icing sugar: 80 g
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Coco powder: 3 tbsp
Wet ingredients
Butter: 100 g
Condensed milk: ½ cup
Chocolate essence: 1 tsp
Milk: ½ cup
For the Frosting
Oreo cookies: 12 nos
Cream cheese/ buttercream: 250 g
Recipe
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients and sieve twice. Leave them aside
Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk to the mixture.
Step 3: Add the chocolate essence and give a nice stir.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in three parts. Do not over mix.
Step 5: Finally add milk. Place them in a preheated oven at 180°c and bake for 30-40 minutes.
