I know we all cut cakes decorated with candles to celebrate our birthdays. Children gather around and blow out these candles, singing out of tune and cacophonically, a rendition of a song first published in America in 1893.
Both are so foreign to our Indian upbringing. Until now, this practice in India has been limited to the English-speaking, middle and upper-middle classes, but has slowly become part of popular culture, even among non-English-speaking, traditional populations.
Even those who don’t speak English as their first language will still be familiar with this eternal birthday song, tune and lyrics. Perhaps through movies or television and just by looking at the behavior of people around them, who are richer or more Westernized than themselves. After all, everyone has ambitions, and what better, simple and economical way to emulate a perceived better life than by simply buying a cake and cutting it.
In the past, candy like drawer box or barfis were more commonly used to celebrate special occasions, today it’s the cake. A beautiful large cake, in chocolate or fruit flavours, or both, with layers of biscuit, icing, cream and mousse, in a panorama of shades and colours, shapes and sizes, once considered a luxury, exotic and unattainable to most Indians, is now available on every street corner.
Yes, suddenly there is an epidemic of confectioners all over India, in major cities like Mumbai as well as other smaller cities. In Mumbai, confectioners are popping up like mushrooms, especially in the middle class and even in the slums.
Between the tin sheds and the blue tarpaulin, you’ll find yourself eye-to-eye with upscale, LED-lit, modern, glass and chrome emblem shops, displaying the most psychedelic shimmering cakes. Tall, stocky, round, square, all full of jam, jelly and jazz. This is the equality and democratization of the westernized layered cake with icing. Cakes have become increasingly accessible and affordable to people from all walks of life and are now truly a common and affordable luxury.
It’s a trend started decades ago by Irani Bakeries and then popularized by a pastry chef named Monginis. Even today, cakes and pastries at Irani-owned Worli are reasonably priced. Albeit brightly colored and decorated with a variety of toppings, such as fruit, chocolate and cream, in shades of bright fuchsia, emerald green and violent purple.
Monginis started in the 1960s as a mid-range store selling sandwiches, pasties, pastries and sponge cakes. They also pioneered a special cake called the ‘Celebration Cake’ which was designed to celebrate special occasions. The Celebration Cake was decorated with colorful icing and had a special message wishing the recipient a happy birthday or other special occasion.
Monigins also had stores all over Central and South Mumbai. Then came Bangalore Iyenger’s Bakery. Originally from Bangalore, they offered special cakes for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and other celebrations, and in flavors most Indians had just heard of. Now these extrinsic flavors were easily accessible. Chocolate, vanilla, pineapple, black forest and butterscotch.
As a matter of fact, the bakery also offered a range of eggless pies for customers who preferred vegetarian options. Now you can see a branch of BIB at every intersection and thoroughfare of Mumbai.
Then came Camy Wafers and their sister company Celejor. Celebor started by offering a range of customization options; they enabled customers to create cakes tailored to their specific needs and preferences. Cakes that went beyond round, square and rectangular. Cakes in the shape of cartoon characters, animals, cars and anything the child or adult can imagine.
They also introduced affordable versions of exotic cakes such as baked blueberry cheesecake, marble cake, carrot cake, red velvet cake, Dutch truffle, chocolate ganache to name a few. In recent years, yet another pastry brand has grown around the suburbs and in middle and lower middle class areas of the city. It’s called Souffle Foodworks. You can’t miss the shiny Prussian blue signage with a gold italic logo. They offer a range of cakes for all occasions such as birthday, wedding, anniversary, baby shower, Christmas, New Year including photo cakes, signature cakes, cartoon cakes and also cupcakes, pastries and donuts. With names like Kiwi Strawberry, Death by Chocolate, Zebra Torte. Everything at very competitive prices.
As the cost of living continues to rise, I’m sure people are looking for more affordable ways to make themselves happy. And what makes you happier than being able to celebrate happy occasions several times a day, week, month or year with affordable cakes, pastries and sweets?
Kunal Vijayakar is a food writer from Mumbai. He tweets @kunalvijayakar and can be followed on Instagram @kunalvijayakar. His YouTube channel is called Khaane Mein Kya Hai. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views of this publication.
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