KOCHI: When Sarah Zia Adeel started baking cupcakes at the age of 16, vanilla and chocolate were her prime flavours. As her interest in these treats grew, she began experimenting with flavours. With her ‘Marbled KitKat’ cupcakes to the most recent ‘Mocha Caramel’, Sarah has been enhancing the taste buds of Kochiites for the past eight years with 53 different flavour cupcakes, under her homegrown brand, ‘Fluff in a Cup’.
“Though Fluff in a Cup has cakes, assorted brownies, cakesickles, my venture mostly revolves around cupcakes. For the last eight years, I was busy creating flavours but never realised that I had baked 53 varieties. I did a live session recently with a baker. In that, she said she hasn’t seen any baker concentrating on cupcakes as I do. This made me count the number of flavours I made up,” says Sarah.
From the time Sarah tried her hands on cupcakes, she was adamant about not continuing the same old sponge-like varieties. “The cupcakes I make are dense, buttery, and has a crumbly texture. When eaten, it should be soft in your mouth,” says Sarah.
It’s easy to guess the many flavours that go in her cupcakes, as she uses her creativity to infuse these flavours to decorate them. By adorning the often pastel-shaded buttercream frosted cupcakes with caramel and chocolate drizzles; topping a chocolate-based cupcake with a choco bar; artfully placing honeycomb on some, they are all a treat for the eyes.
Fluff in a Cup has grown with her creations. From kunafa cupcakes, ‘sorry not sorry red velvet cupcakes’ that are filled with cream cheese frosting, middle-eastern fruitcakes, to unicorn pinata’s and whoopie pie cupcakes with a pie on top, her collections are ever-expanding.
The desi treats
This 26-year-old self-taught baker had recently swept most of the sweet tooths off their feet with her Diwali special Indian Mithai cupcakes. “If Rasmalai cakes can be made, why not cupcakes,” adds Sarah. Her Indian twist resulted in a plethora of flavours like rabadi filled jalebi baby, rasmalai cupcakes with rasmalai mousse fillings, barfi magic and kaju katli, etc - all widely popular among her loyal customers.
Sprinkling the flavours
Sarah’s creations are also taught through workshops and online classes. “During the lockdown, I started taking classes online. It’s always a pleasure to see people recreating the recipes and Fluff in a Cup spreading its wings to different parts of the world,” says Sarah.
Instagram: @fluffinacup