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Many people indulge in different pursuits, when they are stressed or unhappy, as a means to calm themselves down. While quite a few of them find solace in writing, music and doodling, Vaishali Kalal chooses baking as her way out.
She says it is more like meditation for her as it relaxes her mind and boosts her creativity. She started her tryst with this culinary art about 16 years back but it was done on a small scale as she used to bake only for her friends.
It was only in 2014 that she took baking more seriously and started making cakes and other desserts for a larger group.
Vaishali says, “As a child, I was always into arts and crafts, but after I started working I never got the time to continue what I liked. I also enjoy having different kinds of desserts and baking is a platform where I can showcase my crafting skills as well as my love for desserts.”
Now an IT professional, Vaishali says she always wanted to pursue certain things in life and baking was something she felt deeply about. It was purely her interest and enthusiasm for baking that made her learn the ropes of the trade without any formal training.
She learnt about fondant cakes and other goodies by watching online videos. But though she is a self-taught expert in this art, she sometimes takes baking classes for kids and adults, especially during Christmas when people gear up to make cookies and other treats for their friends and family. “Also, though I mostly prepare birthday cakes, a few wedding cake orders come my way too. And apart from cakes, I also make cup cakes, cake pops, cookies and homemade chocolates,” she adds. More and more people are looking for customised options for cakes to celebrate their favourite characters and include them in their special occasions and the cake artist is helping them live their dream.
Some of the popular themes for her birthday cakes are the ‘Disney princess’, ‘Mickey Mouse Club House’ and ‘Frozen’ and kids and adults alike adore her work. The smell of a fresh cake hot out of the oven is something that Vaishali falls in love with every day and this is what keeps her going, inspiring her to experiment with different aspects of baking.
But it hasn’t been easy for her. “Being the mother of a 2-year-old baby, I get time to invest in baking mostly at night. It is my passion that drives me towards it,” says Vaishali.
Most of her orders are through word-of-mouth publicity or her Facebook page — ‘Vanilla Spice’.
Explaining the name, she says the idea is not only to bake cakes but to also cater to other savouries like snacks. “Vanilla is a common flavour that goes into all cakes and desserts and ‘spice’ refers to my snack boxes, pizzas, etc.”
So what is the force that pushes her to create some of the most amazing cakes? “Baking is something that I am passionate about, but the energy that I get is from the different people who have actually made it big in their respective fields. These are all those people who started their career from scratch but have now reached the highest point. Everyone has their own success story to tell,” explains Vaishali.