Whisking a buck

Young talent

With many young masterchefs whipping up delectable delights on the small screen, several youngsters across the world have taken to cooking and in a big way. Besides turning to the kitchen to satiate their  creative urge, many young ones in the city are indulging in baking and cooking to augment their pocket money.

Prerana Chaudhry, a 17-year-old and first-year student of Mount Carmel College, became interested in cooking when her grandmother taught her how to make waffles, pancakes and doughnuts. “I was delighted to see how these beautiful items could be prepared at home. I would also help my mother while cooking and have prepared Indian sweets like ‘gaajar ka halwa’ with her,” she says.

Baking always interested Prerana and it was the appreciation from her friends that led her to bake birthday cakes and cupcakes. “I’ve baked goodies like ‘vanilla cupcakes’ and ‘chocolate frosting cake with KitKat’. I also make waffles which are quite popular among my friends,” says Prerana. The money she earns through this has helped her become more responsible. “I always wanted to start my own work and since I have to wait till I am old enough for that, I just thought of getting the experience earlier,” she says.

It is pies and tarts that fascinate Prarthana Prasad, a student of Christ University. “I love making desserts with seasonal fruits. I have experimented with different fruits and created interesting desserts like ‘Mango jam cheesecake’. I have been cooking since I was 10 and started selling these goodies when I was 14,” says Prarthana.

She likes including local ingredients in her creations. “Pies and tarts have a lot of potential. Besides benefitting me financially, venturing into cooking has made me more confident. It’s been a great hobby to lean back on and is a creative platform. You get to make your creations look, taste and smell good and be rewarded for that as well,” she says.

Making pocket money by selling homemade chocolates was incidental for Mahima Bijlani, a 19-year-old BA final-year student of St Joseph’s College (Autonomous). “I wanted to gift a friend something special for his birthday and didn’t know what to make. This is when I thought of making homemade chocolates as they always have that personal touch,” she says.

She made her friends taste the extra chocolates that were left and they encouraged her to start selling them on a small scale. From Oreo to almond- flavoured chocolates, hazelnut to mixed dry fruit pieces, Mahima has garnered much interest on Instagram and WhatsApp for her varied creations. “I never knew that it would take off so well. Though my parents send me enough pocket money, my earnings have turned into my savings,” she says.

And it’s not just teenagers who are taking baking to another level. Eight-year-old Amani Jahan loves making cupcakes and setting up lemonade stalls with her elder sister at their apartment complex during events.

“I want to be like my mother and make delicious goodies and amaze people around. I love making chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. I have also tried making jam under my mother’s supervision,” she says.
Amani gets excited everytime she has successfully sold some goodies as this means she gets to have money for her next trip to the Hamleys toy shop. “I also save some money to buy gifts for my parents’ birthdays,” she adds.