HAPPINESS WITH ICING
By Prakriti Bhat
Baking is very different from cooking, not just in concept but also because of the techniques. In cooking, you can add spices as per your convenience. You can deviate from the recipe and even if something goes wrong with the spices, you can always redo or fix it. But once a cake is baked, that’s it. No more changes. How do I know this? Because while ‘trying’ to make a coffee mug cake, one of the ingredients read “All Purpose Flour”, I mistook it for Wheat flour and the product was a big mug of mess. In my defence, I was only 16 and knew nothing about cookery or baking!
Since that day I am in awe of all bakers. Baking requires extreme skill, patience and precision. Anika Banga, a home baker possesses all these qualities and that is what makes her brand, Happiness with Icing, a successful venture. In August 2015, Anika decided to become a home baker and got her first bulk order during the Rakhi season. Since then, there has been no looking back. She is based in Faridabad and does mostly wedding and birthday orders, the ones that are placed in bulk. Her baked goods range from cheesecakes and mousse jars to chocolate pops and muffins.
Recently I got a chance to sample a few products from ‘Happiness With Icing’. The Choco Walnut Cake was one of my favourites. Not too sweet and perfectly soft and spongy. 350 gms cost Rs. 350 and 750 gms cost Rs. 500. This one vanished within a minute since it was too hard to resist! The Chocolate Muffin met a similar fate and was lapped up in a jiffy. After the ones from Defence Bakery, it was definitely the best chocolate muffin I’ve had till date. However, the Banana Muffin was not much to my liking. It was a bit hard and had a peculiar taste.
The chocolate pops were pretty little spheres of goodness. With tiny stars stuck on the pops, they were too pretty to bite into. Both, the white chocolate and the regular ones were equally good. Though they need to be refrigerated but before you dig in, make sure you wait for 2 minutes after they have been taken out or else they will be too hard. Each pop costs 70 bucks. The Belgium Chocolate Mousse Jar missed the mark. The characteristic airy texture of a mousse was not attained. One Mousse Jar costs Rs.250.
I tried 4 flavours of the no-bake Cheesecake Jars. The Nutella Cheesecake was my favourite. Open the jar and you’re welcomed by 3 small choco cigars used to embellish the Cheesecake. Only setback is that the wafers lose their crispiness because of being dipped in the cheesecake. Else than that, it is perfect in taste and texture. Grabbing the second spot was the Blueberry Cheesecake Jar. The silky smooth texture makes you fall in love with it. It will be a sin to not clear up every inch of the jar! The Strawberry Cheesecake Jar had a very fruity flavor, akin to fruit jam. The Mango Cheesecake jar actually had bits of mango mixed in the cream mixture. For all the mango lovers, this is a must try! Each of these cheesecakes had a base of cookie crumble. They are priced at Rs. 300 per jar. If ordered in bulk, each jar costs Rs. 250.
None of Anika’s products contain any preservatives and have a shelf life of 7-10 products. I must appreciate the beautiful packaging. The boxes are extremely sturdy and the cute ribbons and nets make it hard to desecrate the packing. For your dose of sugar, Happiness with Icing deserves a chance.
Contact No.- 9910076516
