"Shows like 'Fabulous Cakes' in TLC have introduced the mass to all the possibilities a cake can be, and that has helped grow our business. Now more people in Nepal are aware of fondant cakes and the variety of flavors that are available," says Sweta Todi, who along with her sister, Ankita Todi, has been running Le Sucre, a bakery business, at Kamaladi.
The founders of the popular Urban Girls (UG) cakes, Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina, agree. "Fondant cakes help to convey your love in a whole new way. They're artistic and real treat for your eyes and heart," says Kiran.
Shift from cream to fondant
Not so long ago, one could only imagine a creamy cake, but that doesn't hold true anymore. People today choose to celebrate with cakes that represent their life and feelings, because they know that it's possible. This shift required training workers for the new trend, which, however wasn't that difficult, says Lali Tamang, a baker, at Lakuri Café, Baluwatar. "Three years ago when I joined in, we only did conventional cream cakes, now we get orders for fondant cakes too. It was a bit difficult in the beginning of course, but with time and lots of practice, we're now a lot better and confident," she says
Ankita says fondant cake was a relatively new concept in the Nepali market when they started the business, but people seemed to be very accepting about it. "Owing to the many shows in television, people didn't shy away from trying them out. So we saw opportunity in this business," she says.
Making the mark
"We have been working really hard for this. And the words of appreciation from our friends are what keep us going. We are very satisfied with the kind of response we've been receiving given that our marketing is mostly based on word-of-mouth. We also do not intend on producing in bulk, at least not anytime soon. In order to maintain our quality, we can only handle a certain number of orders. Moreover, since both of us travel a lot, we only have limited time," shares Ankita.
At UG cakes, it took them about a year for the business to run smoothly. Since it intended on facilitating delivery, the first year was invested on testing the best delivery option. Now the company has three fulltime delivery staff. "From three cakes a day, we've scaled up to around 16 cakes every day, so we're doing pretty well. However, we can't afford to be satisfied just yet. There is a long way to go," says Kiran.
What's popular these days?
At Le Sucre, Oreo Cheese cake is quite on demand these days. Other than that, chocolate and lemon tarts, chocolate mousse and cream, red velvet with nutella and cream cheese, among other flavors are high on demand. In terms of designs, the most loved themes are 'Frozen', cars, nursery, and flowers.
Blueberry and chocolate truffle are the most popular flavors at UG Cakes, while visa and football are the themes with most orders.
"Devil's Chocolate Cake is highly on-demand at our bakery. In terms of designs, most of our customers prefer floral themed cakes," says Chameli Magar, another baker at Lakuri Café.
Some challenges in the business
Kiran talks about the hurdles of running a cake business in Kathmandu. Located in New Baneshwar, the venture started out with the aim of not just producing but also delivering cakes. "Amidst the frequent bandas and surprise road construction projects, our efficiency gets seriously undermined. Cakes are vulnerable and require timely delivery, which often isn't possible in Kathmandu," he explains. Adding onto, Nikita shares the trouble involved in making the fondant cakes taste as good as they appear: "Fondant icing is basically made of sugar and water, and although much desired by children, some adults find it too sweet. It's also often difficult to cut."
Arguably, Sweta shares, "We are careful to frost our cakes with only a thin layer of fondant, so that it doesn't get too sweet. The taste of the cake is equally important for us as its looks; therefore we do all that can be done to keep the taste up to the mark."
For the founders of Le Sucre one obstacle is unavailability of raw materials in Nepal—having to import the ingredients scales up the cost. Weather is another factor that impacts the decorating. "While we were doing our baking course in Bangalore, India, we did everything in an air-conditioned room. It was only later, when we finally started our venture, that we realized that weather too needs to be taken into account. Right now we have an AC room where we do our baking," says Ankita.
Future plans
Nikita says, "We get a lot of calls from places like Pokhara and Dharan, so possibly in the future, we would like to tie up with other companies and start serving cakes outside the valley as well."
Le Sucre plans on opening up a nice patisserie in the future. "The kind that serves savory along with varieties of desserts, where people can eat and have a good time. In the future we also would like to share our knowledge with other people, maybe via a course like we did in Bangalore," says Ankita.
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