The smell of melting chocolate, vanilla essence and butter wafting in the air brings a wave of joy and a festive touch in a house. Today, a lot of women have taken to baking and chocolate making beyond a hobby and have carved a successful career out of it. In the past few decades many women apart from giving commercial bakeries a run for their money, have also decided to spread their knowledge and expertise by conducting classes on baking or chocolate making. They help women make a career in baking or just spread smile son the faces of their family members. Not only women, a staggering number of men and kids have also wholeheartedly embraced the art. Here, are some success stories.
Escapades Culinary Studio
Bored with her stressful corporate job, Arundati Rao, the owner of the culinary studio decided to make her passion for cooking and baking her career. For the last seven years, she has been successfully running her own baking classes. Weekday classes are mainly for housewives who are either eager to make a career or just trying to give their children a break from boring tiffin. The weekend classes are mostly for young adults who are trying to learn the art or just looking for a fun weekend. The course fee is Rs 1,500 for basic and Rs 3,000 for advanced training. She also has special eggless baking classes for vegans. Arundhati, is also a food blogger.
ChocoCraft
With a degree in Mass Communication from Andhra University, Radhika Manadala, first started her career as a journalist in the city and later shifted to Delhi. She says it was sheer boredom that led her to take a course in chocolate making. Gradually she began to make chocolates for friends and family and soon people started liking her work. Today, almost single-handedly, Radhika runs ChocoCraft, a designer and custom-made chocolate scene in Hyderabad. From her home in Kondapur, she makes custom chocolate arrangements for just about anything – weddings, holidays, births, corporate events, etc. Radhika says not once did she regret her decision to turn her passion into her profession .
Depending upon the occasion, she brings out different products with different packaging and accessories, like chocolates with hard centre (with a variety of nuts) and a crunchy taste, soft centre such as marzipan (cashew paste), fudge etc.,
She also takes classes on chocolate making from the comfort of her home. The course free is Rs 1,200 for three and a half hour session and advanced course fee is Rs 4,000 which goes on for two days.
ChocoFantasy
A numerologist and Astrologer by professional, RB Sudha took to baking as a hobby and got hooked to it. She learnt the art of baking from professional baking schools in Bangalore and Delhi and decided to start her own classes in Hyderabad. Presently, she offers courses in basic and advanced baking for a fee ranging from Rs 1,500-5,000 depending on the nature of the course.
Cook with Fun
Presently working with Microsoft, Poonam, founder of Cook with Fun describes cooking and baking as a stress busting therapy for escaping the highly stressful corporate culture. She started her journey with casually baking treats for her family and her colleagues . Soon orders started pouring in and she stared baking commercially. Poonam later decided to give baking classes to enthusiasts in her free time. The course fee ranges from Rs 1,500-12,000 depending upon the course for a varying duration of one to five days.