Turn the 'beat' around

Baking diaries

Everyone has their own superpower and Hima Bindu’s superpower is to bake delicious cakes. Being a homebaker for a long time, Hima decided to pursue her skills and put them to use in their family-run restaurant.

She says, “I used to supply desserts to the restaurant for a long time and then eventually started to take orders for birthdays. It’s been about three years since I’ve been doing this and I love every bit of it.”

Growing up, she always had an interest in cooking, but her heart grows fonder when someone talks about whisks and spatulas. When Hima was in college, she went for a few baking courses. She later went to study in Australia, where she also attended a few baking courses. “It was great attending these classes as it helped me improve my skills. It was nice to meet like-minded people and learn from them,” she says.

Her love for cakes started because she loves to eat cake. She laughs and says, “I’ve put on weight only because I eat cakes so much. But that’s okay because I have no regrets. It’s the love for having good cakes and food that even got me interested in cooking. That’s why I began baking and love experimenting with new ideas.”

When asked about what inspires her, she says, “I try my best not to look at cakes done by others. I feel that it somehow influences my work and my thought-process when I bake. But I’m someone who gets inspired by colour combinations. I love going through home decor magazines, fabrics and geometrical patterns which are unique and that’s how I get busy with cakes.”

Though Hima works with fondant cakes, she believes that buttercream cakes show the true art of baking. She explains, “It’s true that you can do unbelievable things with fondant and there’s probably no other substitute for that. But buttercreams, the classic way of decorating a cake, shows the true art of a baker. It used to be the traditional way of working on cakes and it’s slowly coming back. The flavours that the cake holds is also much better than the fondant ones. But due to transportation, weather conditions and other easier methods, many prefer to work with fondants.”

During her free time, she loves baking for her two children. When they feel enthusiastic, Hima says that they help her in the kitchen. Their favourites are cupcakes with buttercream swirlls and rainbow cakes.

She is an expert in baking birthday cakes and when asked her what the current trend is, she says, “The ‘Frozen’ movie-themed cakes are still in trend. I don’t think they will end soon as the second part of the movie is coming out. However, the classic Disney cakes like Mickey and Mini are also quite popular with the birthday babies.”

Everyone has a special reason to what makes them like baking. To Hima, it’s the entire process of decorating and presenting the final output of the cake that excites her. She says, “Though flavours are one of the important factors, I think decorating the cake is the most fun part. We usually have a sketch planned out but as I’m working on the cake, somewhere the plan slightly changes and the final outcome is different from the initial plan. But that’s alright because you end up baking something that looks way better than what you expected it to be, and that’s what shows my passion.” Hima can be contacted on Facebook page ‘Cakes n Crumbs’.