HYDERABAD: Good things come in small packages. This definitely seems to be true in the case of bento cakes, which is all the rage among bakers these days. Trending for over a month now, these ‘lunch box cakes’ usually weigh between 300 gm and 350 gm and come packed in small takeaway boxes.
“They are basically ‘no share’ cakes since they are meant for one person,” says Sakshi Agarwal, a home baker. In the past one-and-a-half months since she launched bento cakes with her mother and sister, she’s already sold 100 of them. No bigger than the size of your palm, these cakes aren’t meant to be cut.
Instead, you dig straight into them with a spoon. “Bento boxes are a Korean concept since they have many takeaway options meant for just one person. And since K-dramas are popular these days, these cakes become that much more of a hit with people who connect with Korean pop culture,” says Agarwal, whose cakes sell for `700. It’s no surprise then that it’s mostly teenagers and young adults who are enjoying the biggest share of this cake’s popularity.
Jonna Guna Shruthi, who runs a baking kits company called Bake 11, decided to collaborate with home baker Aishwarya Cee to sell these bento cakes. Since the third week of May, they’ve dished out 200-250 of these cakes, where 400 gm retails for Rs 400 onwards.
“Our first customer was a 15-year-old and then our next 20 orders were all from her friends,” says Shruthi. According to Nashrah Elaf, these cakes are completely Instagram-friendly, which also adds to its popularity. “They aren’t just cute-sized but there’s also a heavy focus on aesthetics.
They are usually colourful and have designs of clouds, strawberries or ombre shades,” says the home baker behind @sugaredbyelaff, whose bento cakes are priced at Rs 170 onwards. The pandemic has also played a role in making these cakes popular, especially since patients in isolation aren’t supposed to share food. This makes these bento boxes an apt gifting option. “We get many orders where the customers want to include short motivational words or get well soon messages on the cake,” says Shruthi.