Having her cake and eating it too

At the age of seven, Ankita Gupta was sent to a calligraphy class. She hated it. She found it boring. Today, 17 years later, those classes are proving helpful in the most unlikely way. It has helped Gupta keep a steady hand when piping and creating artwork on her cakes. "I really thank my mother for sending me to those classes," she says.
Gupta, 24, is the founder of Patooti, a cake store she runs out of her home in Breach Candy. On the menu are 3D cakes, cake pops and push pops, dessert jars, tarts, pies and tea cakes in addition to breads and savouries like quiches. Her products aren't the dime-a-dozen you will find at most pastry shops; what set these treats apart are the creativity and the attention to detail that go into their making.

Patooti is popular for its customisation. "I tell all my customers; if you imagine something, tell me what it is and I will deliver it to you," Gupta says proudly. Her customers want something 'different'. There are mini flower gardens with flower-shaped cookies, ferris wheels with cupcakes or cookies and bird cages with bird-shaped cake pops. Breadsticks covered with icing and shaped like paintbrushes with paint; cake pops shaped like a snitch for Harry Potter fans; elaborate gingerbread houses and cookies made to look like Christmas decorations; cupcakes with mehendi designs for a mehendi ceremony; Ganesha gifts made of chocolate; push pops and a flower arrangement for birth announcements are just a few of her creations. Gupta has long conversations with her customers who help finalise a design. She is part of every step of the process from creating the design, sourcing the accessories and selecting flavours for the piping. She doesn't mind the labour though. "I never thought I would be so happy," she says, despite the fact that her work often leaves her with no time to have a social life.

Gupta's story started with cake and the fact that she has a sweet tooth. "My family loves eating cake. We have about ten cake shops nearby, so every occasion is celebrated with cake," she says. When Gupta started baking, she began with cakes. After her graduation in commerce, Gupta, like most of her friends, was at a loss about her life's goals. Being a creative person, she did a stint in advertising. "I hated it," she says, "There was too much dependence on computers and I didn't like that." Then she took up a catering course at Sophia Polytechnic. A short internship at the Oberoi Hotel was an added learning experience. Then, on every holiday spent abroad, she would take up short-term, specialised baking courses learning the intricacies of crafting macarons, fondant, cake paste, icing and more. In 2012, when she felt ready, she decided to start out on her own. A short and simple name was chosen, visiting cards and boxes were made, a facebook page was created and Patooti was ready for business.

Gupta has barely done any marketing or advertising for Patooti. She has made token appearances at a few places including the Farmer's Market at Phoenix Mills, in addition to sending out pamphlets in her neighbourhood. Her biggest strength has been word-of-mouth publicity. People see her Instagram feed and place an order; a cake sent to a school for a child's birthday results in phone calls from moms of other kids because their children loved the cake so much. "There have been instances when at a party, three people would walk in carrying Patooti boxes as gifts," she says. Customers often upload pictures of her products across social media.

It's been two years but the orders never cease at Patooti. In the future, Gupta wants to open her own place. This year, she has decided to create a new product every month and start working on flower arrangements. If there's time, she would love to travel the world and take up a long baking course abroad. For now, her wish is simple, "I want every celebration to have a Patooti cake," she smiles.