CHENNAI : The Instagram page of Blue Bow Bakery is a collection of intricately designed and hunger-inducing pictures of cakes and cookies. Owned by 16-year-old Kashvi Bisani and her aunt, Dipthi Bisani, the Chennai-based online bakery runs out of their home in Anna Nagar. The class 11 student’s family sat in their spacious living room during the interview, smiling proudly as Kashvi shared her baking journey.
“I never thought I’d get into baking as seriously as I did. I like baking because there are many different techniques and styles you can try. My family has always encouraged me to follow my passion,” said Kashvi, who studies in Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Anna Nagar. Her foray into baking was in May 2015 when her friend suggested that they take part in the Super Chef Chennai competition held at The Park. They made a seven-layer rainbow cake. Kashvi made cakes for her inner circle, until she launched Blue Bow in May 2016.
“I was a bit hesitant when I started, because I was scared. But, we had around 75 orders by December, just seven months after I started Blue Bow. Nothing changed majorly, because I was still cooking from home, except that I was charging people and operating under a brand,” said Kashvi, who thanks Mahatria Ra, editor of the magazine Infinitheism and a close family friend, for helping her make the decision to start the bakery.
Her cakes are eggless and can be customised as per customer’s request. She has made completely edible creations based on their requests, such as a cake for an arangetram designed like the dancer’s costume, a set of cupcakes designed to look like dogs for a puppy’s birthday and a cricket cake for a sports fan’s birthday.
Kashvi returns from school and begins working on the orders she receives. According to Dipthi, the nights before the big orders are always filled with excitement. Their entire family comes together to help with the order — from her 65-year-old mother-in-law, who helps in cooking to her 10-year-old son, who helps in packing the cakes properly.
The name ‘Blue Bow’ was chosen because the colour blue represents abundance, as Kashvi believes that life should be filled with an abundance of joy and success. Coming from a family with a background in textile, she wants to pursue fashion styling in the future, but will continue baking and trying to fill people with the sugary bites of happiness she makes with her family.
Vanilla Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup milk powder
● 1 cup white flour ● 1 cup wheat flour ● 1 cup sugar ● 1 cup ghee
● 1 cup milk ● ½ tablespoon of soda ● 1 tablespoon of baking powder
● 1 capful of vanilla essence
Procedure: Mix all the ingredients properly. ● Add the juice of half a lemon after mixing. ● Bake for 30-35 minutes in 1800
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients: 2 bars of dark chocolate ● 2 bars of white chocolate
● 2 cups of Amul cream
Procedure: Put all the ingredients into a bowl and microwave it for 30-second installments until it is properly combined. ● Store in the freezer for 30 minutes to thicken and harden before use.