A sweet path to success

It all began when I glued myself to inspiring videos about the lives of chefs on television. While it was my mother’s passion for cooking that got me started, I wanted to beat my own track; create a story of my own.

I started my journey as a Hotel Management student, where the hot kitchen atmosphere was what caught my attention. The twist in the story was when chef Samuel turned his attention to my hitherto undiscovered potential.

His faith in me and encouragement is what made me take up the World Skills competition, which was more than enough to instill confidence in me about my skills at baking and the pastry art.

I went on to win prizes at the state and the national level and even grabbed an opportunity to participate in the International level. I had not realised even this was not enough until I became a part of the Whitecaps International School of Pastry.

Learning in any field doesn’t happen overnight. I still remember those sleepless nights, the number of meals I’ve missed, the vigorous practice sessions and the long working hours that have helped me reach where I am.

Everything comes with patience. I believe my biggest challenge was my lack of self-confidence and understanding of my own capability. I always needed a push from my mentors to move forward and take up anything new and different from what I have been doing.

Chef Samuel has played a major role in bringing me out of the shell. My basics were fine-tuned by Chef Arvind Prasad, Director of Academics at Whitecaps, who later became my guide who helped me hone my skills and deliver quality performances ever since I joined the team.

While these experts helped me perfect my baking skills, it was the vast field beyond that had to be worked on next.

I started off as a student, then became an intern and eventually an employee at the same institute, but, thankfully, have never shaken off the belief that there is always a lot more to explore and that it’s never enough.

And like every other dreamer, I too have someone I look up to, and that is Chef Amaury Guichon, who constantly inspires me with his exceptional skills. I will be honoured to meet him this September for the very first time when he comes to India.

From an aspiring 18-year-old schoolboy to a chocolate and pastry artist today, my journey so far has been a most memorable one, which I talk about every single chance I get.

I will continue to learn and deliver, and hope to become a trendsetter in the industry as I go forward.

Today’s recipe of Eggless Bundt Cake is a simple one that anyone can try at home. The ingredients are easily available in the markets.

Recipe: Eggless Bundt cake

Eggless Bundt cake

Ingredients
- Milk, 100 gm
- Breakfast sugar, 100 gm
- Cooking cream, 55 gm
- Wheat flour, 125 gm
- Milk powder, 15 gm
- Baking powder, 3 gm
- Baking soda, 3 gm
- Vanilla essence, 1 gm
- Oil, 100 gm
- Almon flakes

Method

- Mix milk, cream and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Add vanilla essence.

- Fold in all the dry ingredients and mix till nicely emulsified. Rest batter for minimum of 1 hour.

- Grease the mould with butter and stick some almond flakes to it. Pour the batter and bake at 160-180 degree Celsius in a convectional oven.

- De-mould after 10 minutes once it is out of the oven.

Chef Akshay, Executive Pastry Chef