HOME CHEF OF THE MONTH

PRAJWALA NAIK

A BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDENT TURNED BAKER

By Rajesh Ghadge Images by Prajwala Naik

A Childhood hobby turned passion for Prajwala Naik who belongs to a business family and she always wanted to pursue her own venture instead of working for others and after completing her masters in the Marketing from Pune she decided to return back to her motherland Goa to presser her passion of baking. She is the only Goan Home Chef got selected for Zee TV baking show as one of the top 15 bakers in India. Here is a candid interview with Prajwala the founder and owner of the Sugar Bake by Prajwala.

Please tell us about your background and how you entered into the field of culinary? Cake making I come from a business background, and while growing up it was always I wanted to get into business instead of working for the others. As child I always loved baking and cooking also, I was also into professional Mehndi in my teens. Soon after my 10th I started part time as bridal Mehandi artist I left for Pune to pursue my masters degree in Marketing. In 2016 after completing my masters in marketing I decided to return back to Goa to pursue by passion for the baking and started my cake startup called Sugar Bake. As I was always into baking and people around me use to like my cakes so I ended up in cake making as home baker. Within a few months I got a lot of demand for my cakes and people stated enquiring if I can teach baking. So, within 3 to 4 months in baking I started teaching baking for homemakers and college students. I remember when I took my first batch & my second batch was already full. I stated from my home kitchen and then built a separate studio kitchen at my home and within a year I had one more studio kitchen at Margao. Now I take baking classes all over

Goa. Have you done any formal education into the field of Culinary? Yes, After my MBA in Marketing I entered in to my baking business. I have learnt from the best in the industry and have completed my certification from Lavonne Bangalore, then I have learnt bust cake and structural cakes from international cake artists and sugar flowers from gold Medallist Arti Marji 3. What was the reason you choose to bake the cake?

Baking always gave me pleasure & it was my passion which I converted into business, I was always in art and business so combined both my interests and started my journey. When my clients started loving my bakes, there was no looking back. My family is my biggest support system. I am coming from big joint family, whenever I try a new recipe they are the 1st ones who give me feedback. 4. What are the hurdles you faced while perusing your dreams and how you overcome them? Initially I never faced any hurdle, but I my business grew the expectations of people started growing too, so I deiced to work harder to come upto the expectations of my customers. As I never had any formal training in baking initially, I decided to overcome my weaknesses by learning more, attending trainings and doing lot of research, reading & recipe experiments help me a lot in gaining knowledge. Recently I been selected for Zee TV baking show as one of the top 15 bakers in India. 5. What are the USPs of your cuisine and how you deal with the competition? I believe in quality and customer satisfaction, once your customers is satisfied no competition comes in your way. My almost 80℅ customer ’ s are repeated and the balance are mostly tourists in Goa. I don 't like to compromise on quality, giving what customer wants is my main priority. I make my products with the best quality materials which increases the taste of products. 6. Tell us more about the types of cakes that you bake and your specialty I do all types of customised cakes, from simple black Forest cream cake to human face bust cake. I also specialise in Wedding cakes in whipped cream, fondant designer cake , realistic cakes such asRemote control moving car cake & Moving trolley bag. I also do macaron, brownies & cheese cakes. 7. What the weirdest food she has ever tried? In baking, once on customer demand I made a cake in the shape of a toilet which was very weird if you think about it. 8. If not a Chef, what else would been doing ? May be something related to Mehndi Or Chain of Salon or Clothing line as my family business is in that but baking would have always been my 1st preference as it always fascinates me since I was a child, baking has given me name and fame. I don 't think I could have become anything better than being a cake artist. 9. Tell us about your top 5 favourite dishes 1. Macaron, 2. Brownies, 3. Chocolate mud cake, 4. Bonbon chocolates, 5. Entremets 10. Tell us 5 kitchen tools she cannot live without. My Kitenead, Pallate knife, Whipped cream soft smother, Oven and of course Cake tins. 11. Any msg that you want to give ? Believe in yourself, success will eventually come if you follow your passion. When I stated this as a business my first thought was less investment and more return which really helped me in my initial days. To do a business you don 't require a big place or investment you can start right from your home but the only thing you should have is the passion to start. In business, customer satisfaction is a must since they are the ones who will help you grow and in all this your family support makes your journey easier.