Not just a piece of cake: Occupational uncertainty leads father-daughter duo to find anchor in baking

The father and daughter hoped that if sweetness alleviated even a little bit the bitterness of job loss, relationship discord and social insecurity, their job was done.
Tea cakes, mustache-shaped chocolate, Khushboo and Arun Choudhary
Tea cakes, mustache-shaped chocolate, Khushboo and Arun Choudhary

Retirement looms over-engineer Arun Chaudhary with the promise of an uncertain future. His daughter, Khushboo, is about to start her career in fashion. A year ago, they were feeling untethered because the pandemic put their lives, like that of so many others, on hold. In the end, to find freedom from incertitude, they turned to a common love baking.

Mr. Moustache’s Cakes is their online baking venture, based in Gurugram. “It grounds us both,” says Chaudhary, “We mostly bake in silence which helps us connect with ourselves and each other.” It is not that the bespectacled amateur dough buff has a huge moustache or that his petite daughter has a definite opinion on muttonchops. Chaudhary thought it added a bit of gravitas to the name of their enterprise. Some people told him that retirement is a permanent vacation.

“It’s the last thing I want. I would rather be out there doing something meaningful,” he says. Khushboo, on the other hand, is nervous about her future path. Baking is their metaphor for balance. Sure there are days when a pineapple comes out of the oven upside-down because that’s how they feel. At other times, usually, the bakehouse is redolent with warm, yeasty aromas, signalling optimism in a flaky Zen sort of way. But their fervour for baking is not pinned on any whimsical notion of perfection. They want to make the ordinary work.

A welcome irony of the pandemic is that it made people conscious of well-being. Mr. Moustache’s Cakes found customers who desired healthy patisserie options. The father and daughter hoped that if sweetness alleviated even a little bit the bitterness of job loss, relationship discord and social insecurity, their job was done. They were right. “Home bakers got a fresh lease of life during Covid-19 times. It brought back their confidence,” confesses Arun.

The cachet of Mr. Moustache’s Cakes is healthy baking with low-fat alternatives and heart-healthy oils. “We want to focus on the simplicity of baking, which seems to have been lost in flamboyant experiments meant to make an impression,” says Chaudhary. “Nothing can beat the charm of a classic teacake, lemon cake, carrot cake or a pineapple upside-down cake.

Chocolate dipped strawberries
Chocolate dipped strawberries

The pandemic threw up a whole tribe of oven-obsessed amateurs who channeled their inner Pierre Hermé to become dilettante pastry chefs as a way of coping. Suddenly social media was awash with pictures of homemade banana bread, Focaccia, and cookies. Hashtags such as #stressbaking and #quarantinebaking were on a (lemon) roll. People saw baking as a part of their lives, which they could control.

The two Chaudharys are part of this tribe. Like most home bakers, they started out with orders from friends and relatives. Soon the word spread. The bakery was, however, no cakewalk. “Did we have the bandwidth to do justice to the swelling orders?” Chaudhary agonised. Khushboo had a solution. “We sat down and worked through our concerns. With my father’s experience in dealing with people, while running his electronics business, and the management skills I developed as a fashion student, we were able to navigate out doubts,” explains Khushboo.

Along the way, the father-daughter team discovered the novelty of customised service. “Home bakers like us are now investing in advanced equipment to give customers a satisfactory personalised experience,” she says. Mr. Moustache’s Cakes is going places. It was the gifting partner at one of Delhi’s popular lifestyle exhibitions, Housefull. Last winter, it participated in super chef Karen Anand’s farmers’ market.

Arguments surface every now and then—Chaudhary has learned to be more patient. Khushboo now lets go of little things. “I enjoy working at my own pace, while Khushboo is extremely fast on her feet. The friction is inevitable, but our love for each other, and baking help us get over our differences,” says Chaudhary. It is how they are baking their cake and having it too.

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