Just cake it

Having grown up as a normal kid, she thought she knew exactly what she would be. But it was after completing her engineering course and working in an IT company that she realised that it was not her true calling. She wasn’t meant to hide behind a computer but needed to embrace the baker in her.

Nithya Rajasekaran began  chasing her dream by blogging. She posted recipes and thanks to her interest in photography, each picture had a story to tell. “I started my blog about three years ago and that’s when I realised that I enjoyed baking a lot. I left home (Chennai) and did a pastry course in Bengaluru. I even worked as a pastry chef in Hyderabad for a little while,” she says.

She started her blog ‘4th Sense Cooking’ because her mother wanted to preserve some of her recipes. She built a website to incorporate both hers and her mother’s recipes. She has also starred on a weekly cookery show in Chennai and published her first cooking book called ‘4th Sense Cooking’.

Nithya, who now resides in Bengaluru, hopes to show her culinary skills to the people here. One of her specialties is  theme-based cakes. “The very first cake with a theme that I made was for my niece’s birthday. But I guess the milestone in my baking career was when I designed a cake for the success party of the blockbuster film ‘Bahubali’. I was thrilled when those people approached me to do something great and I’m thankful to have pulled that off,” she adds.

Her other striking cakes are those based on the themes of Minion, Barbie, watermelon, a necklace etc. Recently, she made a cake similar to a sweet box with ‘jalebi’, ‘laddoo’ and ‘peda’ in it. What made it outstanding was the cake box – made of chocolate too!

She draws inspiration from fellow bakers and by watching baking shows on TV. She says, “One of the reasons why I’ve decided to settle in Bengaluru is because baking is a lot more appreciated here. The bakers here are also very happy to help when you need them. I’ve been inspired to try many cakes thanks to their hospitality. And with a lot of cooking channels on the television, everyone who wishes to bake have plenty of opportunities to explore.” “I have a lot to learn. But I’m also excited to see what Bengaluru has in store for me,” she says.