A cake-decorating exhibition in Mumbai, organised by Dubai-based entrepreneur Khushi Malani, promises to be a veritable marketplace for all things sweet. Featuring demonstrations by international experts, the three-day expo, Cakeology, is also open to enthusiasts from the UAE.
The event will also have an exhibitors’ arena, where home bakers and professionals can display and sell their wares. A third section will host a cake-crafting competition, with a fairy-tale theme.
Malani moved to the UAE in 2003 and launched her cake business a few years later, after she made a Spider-Man cake for her son’s birthday party and was inundated by calls from admiring parents.
After taking a course at the Knightsbridge PME School of Cake Decorating in the United Kingdom, she and her husband set up Cakekraft India in Mumbai in 2012. Their workshop offers certified cake-decorating courses as well as icing accessories and tools.
“While baking a good cake definitely takes skill, the focus is now more on the art and science of cake decoration,” says Malani, who divides her time between Mumbai and Dubai.
“Simple icing and generic designs are on their way out. These days, cake craft takes the form of 3-D structures, moving-carousel cakes, illuminated cakes, highly intricate flowers and figures with perfect anatomies. The market is ripe for anyone with an imagination and a good hand.”
The live demonstrations and workshops at Cakeology will include spotlights on buttercream and fondant, sculpted figurines, chocolate glaze, watercolour cakes and decorative cookies.
The experts leading the events are Valerie and Christine from the UK-based Queen of Heart Couture Cakes, who gave a buttercream workshop in Abu Dhabi last year; sugar-paste expert Rhu Strand; and Dawn Butler from DinkyDoodle Designs.
Also appearing is sugar-flower professional Naomi Lee, founder of the UK-based Cake Botanist, who will show how to create a dahlia on a ganache cake.
Vendors include Zeba Kohli of Fantasie Fine Chocolates, an Indian artisan brand.
“The ‘cake world’ is growing very quickly via social media,” says Lee. “But events such as Cakeology allow offer a more tangible experience by being directly, rather than virtually, involved.”
Abu Dhabi resident and home baker Anu Bijlani will be at all three days of the event.
“I want to pick up edible colours and some specific animal moulds,” she says. “I also look forward to the demonstration on chocolate glazing, and want to learn a few fondant-moulding techniques. Such an event is the perfect platform for people who want to expand their knowledge.”
• For more information, or to register as a visitor or participant, visit www.cakeology.in, email info@cakekraftindia.com or call 0091 98207 44629
pmunyal@thenational.ae
