CHENNAI: They say at the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold. But on Saurday evening, at the Ramakrishna Mission, we doubt that anybody wanted to get to the end of this one.
Believe it or not, this VIBGYOR experience was made of 800 cupcakes. Far from the sky, these were within easy reach for any kid tall enough to reach a table. Organised by 40 homebakers from Chennai, the initiative titled ‘Reach for the Rainbow’ brought just as many smiles as it did its sugar proportions.
Some of the fab dessert makers involved that you might recognise from their baking outfits include Linu Paul of Linu’s Kitchen, Karthika Shravanthi of Bakeman Begins and Aarti Rajkumar of Mind Over Batter.
“We’ve been wanting to do something with our skills for goodwill for a while now,” Maaria Kulsum, a home baker who is now popular for her store on Spurtank Road, Adoniya, tells us. She adds, “This was a way to bring the entire homebaking fraternity in the city together, so it was a lot fun, and...a crazy level of planning!”
Co-ordinating with bakers from as spread out as Nungambakkam, Mogappair and ECR, it was quite a task to centralise and then transport the cuppies to their final destination in Mylapore. “Especially at 3 pm when the heat is at its peak and you don’t want the icing to melt,” Maaria recalls with a nervous laugh. However all’s well that ends well.
With five cars and several steady-handed bakers, the rainbow at the end of a chaotic afternoon was just as spendid as anticipated. Amid compliments like, “Supera irrukku akka,” several homebakers were surprised to see that the selfie trend seemed to have caught on with these kids as well. While none had a smartphone to take one with, that certainly didn’t stop them from posing like pros.
Here’s what we took away from this afternoon. Cupcakes bring joy. But if can’t afford an oven, that’s okay. Take a bite and smile anyway. The most delicious things in life sometimes cost the least.