SWEETIE FERNANDES

Finding The Perfect Balance Between Personal And Professional Life

Sweetie is a psychology graduate but is not sure of what she wanted to do, she joined an architectural firm as an office executive and started baking cakes in her free time. At that point, she had no idea that one day this passion of hers will turn into a successful career. Starting with small orders she now caters to a quite substantial market size.

Please tell us about your background and how you entered the field of culinary cake making

Well, I am a graduate of Psychology, and after completing my graduation I was a little confused about pursuing my career in that field, so I started working for an architecture firm as an Office Executive. During my spare time, I started baking. At that time. I could not imagine that this would become my profession one day

Have you undertaken any formal education in the field of culinary arts?

I started taking up small orders for friends and family, but I wanted to get a professional certificate, hence, I joined the Craftmanship course in Food Production & Patisserie at IHM Goa and afterward, I completed an internship at Grand Hyatt, Goa. I started working as a pastry chef at a fine dining restaurant and Purpleivy Bakes is my passion project.

What was the reason you chose to bake?

My mom is an amazing cook, and I had been watching her all my childhood, though I would not step into the kitchen & do anything back then. If you ask my friends if they ever thought that I would become a chef someday, they would be like “definitely not!!”, but I am my mother’s daughter, so I started baking eventually. There is no reason as such because passion comes from within.

What are the hurdles you faced while pursuing your dreams and how did you overcome them?

For me, monetary issues were the biggest hurdle and that is another reason I took a break so that I could afford to pay for my own education. Other than that, everything went smoothly.

What are the USPs of your cuisine and how do you deal with the competition?

From bread to plated desserts to wholesome cakes, I do not follow a particular cuisine as such I am more into fusion desserts but when it comes to certain sweet dishes, nothing can beat our classics. Competition is always going to be there. I am open to trying new recipes without compromising my forte. I do not really do fondant décor much I like a more flavourful, rustic approach towards my cakes My designs are simple but my flavours are what keeps me in the game.

Tell us more about the types of cakes that you bake and your speciality

I bake classics like red velvet, black forest, vanilla cream and so on I also work with citruses, vegetables, nuts, chocolate, rum & raisin and herbs as well. But at the end of the day, a simple chocolate cake with a decadent chocolate ganache and berries wins everyone ’ s heart

What are the weirdest foods you have ever tried?

I also do research & development (R&D), so sometimes I come up with some wacky stuff! Technically, food is an art, and the plate is our canvas Every person is different, and what I find strange, someone else might really love If not a home chef, what else would you be doing?

I would have probably continued with my Master's in Psychology and worked as a therapist for special children I also have a knack for writing so I would have been working for a magazine or a newspaper. But regardless I plan on publishing a collection of my poems in the near future.

Tell us about your top 5 favourite dishes

I love a good tiramisu, also a coffee cake with buttercream frosting, which literally screams my love for coffee, so yeah it would make the Top 5. I also make a chocolate cake with rumsoaked raisins and chocolate ganache. I like a little tang so lemon cake with lemon curd & white chocolate frosting also makes the list. There is a tie between the classics a red velvet and a chocolate cake because they both are just so good.

Tell us 5 kitchen tools you cannot live without.

My electric hand whisk, measuring cups & spoons, pallet knife, tins and of course the oven are some things I cannot work without Any message that you want to give to people in the same field?

A culinary field is a place where you need to find a perfect balance between your personal and professional life because as you know every public holiday is our busiest working day