When it comes to bespoke cakes or even custom-made desserts, it is the keen attention to the details that can make it a bake to remember. And that’s exactly what we learnt after we spoke to Viranica Manchu, founder of one of the most popular designer dessert houses in the city, The Cake Room. She also happens to be a mother of four and popular Tollywood actor’s Vishnu Manchu’s wife. The Cake Room has become a hit and is quite popular with the corporates and crème de la crème of Hyderabad. If you take a look at her Instagram, the founder can be spotted whisking away the batter and making cakes for her kids.
For Viranica, the passion for baking also partially stems from the fact that they bake as a whole family. “I started baking when I had my twins eight years ago. I started experimenting at home and that has become something that we do as a family - Vishnu, the kids, and I. We bake not just cakes but all kinds of goodies at home - cookies, cakes and we experiment with desserts. We try to do it as often as possible, even every weekend as well if we can,” says the entrepreneur. She further shares, “You know, when I was looking to customise the cakes for my kids, I realised that there weren’t too many options in Hyderabad. Hence, I thought I could start something like that myself.”
One must also mention that the Instagram page of Cake Room was born. It has several pictures of bespoke cakes that often look like art, and you might want to think twice before cutting yourself a piece! Take for instance the couture cake by them with a pink swan motif baked for badminton ace PV Sindhu. Or a birthday cake with a Hermes bag motif or Chanel makeup brushes! When we asked Viranica about the process she employs for bespoke birthday cakes, she says it involves hours of discussion with her team of bakers. The entrepreneur says, “I must acknowledge it so hard to find patisserie chefs who share the same vision as I do. A lot of the aesthetics are of course derived by me, I give them pointers as to what I would like to see.” However, she adds that it is not just the team, each designer cake takes a while because they discuss at length with the client. They take a look at themes and fonts, and what colour the base should be. Various flavours are then discussed before beginning.
The Cake Room is also one of the most sought after dessert outlets for baked goodies from the corporates. “A while ago we have baked more than 4,000 kilograms of brownies for just one company,” says Viranica, adding that, The Cake Room also creates made-to-order brownies, macaroons, dessert jars, cookies as well as tea cakes. Although, it might look like the aesthetics are supreme at The Cake Room, the founder points out that the highlights are certainly flavour profiles and the recipes that are created with a lot of thought. They also do everything from scratch - from the bases of the brownie to their white chocolate variation - blondies, everything is curated and crafted in-house. “We once came up with a chocolate caramel flavour, which we have named The Spiritual Adventure. Taking a bite seemed like going on a beautiful adventure with the unique goodness of sea salt, caramel and chocolate flavour, which is absolutely to die for,” reminisces Viranica, before she signs off.
Price on request.