Moulds of joy

skilled Pooja Dhingra with a participant.

It was a happy affair at a two-hour workshop that was conducted recently in Foodhall, 1 MG Mall.To a crowd of more than 40 avid, aspiring bakers, macaron queen and pastry chef, Pooja Dhingra, whipped up sweet and varied treats which included red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting and vanilla cupcakes with rose butter cream frosting.

The owner of ‘Le15 Patisserie’, which has three outlets in Mumbai, Pooja conducted an interactive and enjoyable session where she invited the members of the audience to help her bake and shared certain tips of the trade that were interspersed with interesting anecdotes.

The two-hour workshop was a two-way hit as the audience eagerly participated with equal fervour and enthusiasm by helping her frost and pipe, whisk the mix, beat the batter and so on.

Assisted by another chef, Pooja started with the vanilla cupcakes where she gave away numerous tips as to how to check whether the cake has risen, shared the pressure points while piping and the number of substitute powders that could be used in place of eggs and during the class for chocolate cupcakes Pooja spent some time about certain properties of brown sugar, one of its core ingredients.

The biggest hit, however, were the red velvet cupcakes where she gave out interesting tid-bits such as the flavour that apple cider vinegar adds to the cake and the amount of red colour that should be used.

As each recipe was a tailor-made one, she patiently took the audience while explaining each method in detail. Pooja also shared general techniques of baking about required amounts while using cake toppers, getting the flavours right, storing ingredients, tips related while stirring chocolate and the importance of measuring the ingredients before beginning to bake.

The crowd comprised mothers and young college girls who were eagerly waiting to try all these recipes at home.

Aishvarya, an avid home-baker and a member of the audience, said, “I mainly attended the workshop to understand the nitty-gritties of frosting. I am waiting to get back home and try these recipes myself.” The audience was amazed at the intricacies and the eye-for detail and perfection that Pooja displayed when she showed them how to prepare the frosting and ganache.  

The icing on the cake, however, was the end of the event, where the audience could pop these mini-moulds of happiness into their mouth. As each one tugged through the crowd to grab a bite, the look on their faces said that they had enjoyed the two-hour workshop thoroughly.