Are you a budding home baker or professional looking for a place from where you can source all the essential products to bake up a storm? Well, relax because we have you sorted. Though there are several websites you can visit online, and supermarkets in the city where you can drop in to pick up a few baking staples, you might not find everything you wish for at affordable prices.
The place you must check out if you haven’t already, is Baker’s Supermarket. The humble-looking shop, which has been around for a few years now, has everything you might need, from cake tops to trays. Name it and they have it. And the good news for those living on the other end of the city, is that the shop has opened a new branch in Viman Nagar too.
On our recent visit to the newly-launched store we caught with up Duraiya Merchant, owner of Baker’s Supermarket.
Baker’s Paradise
Merchant recalls that her brother initially opened up a supplies store in Mumbai and got a lot of traction. So, with the idea of expanding the business, he approached Merchant who happily agreed to manage the Pune store. Four years ago, Merchant along with her family members set up Baker’s Supermarket at Bootee Street in Camp.
She shares that she noticed a considerable rise in demand for the baking supplies from Viman Nagar areas recently because there are a lot of homebakers and commercial bakers there. This encouraged them to open a branch of Baker’s Supermarket at Skymax mall.
The store stocks everything that one can imagine when it comes to baking. Be it a variety of cake tins to designer silicone moulds, or cookie cutters in all shapes and sizes this place is like paradise for bakers. Step into this shop and you will find yourself adding a lot of useful things to your cart. Even though Merchant does not bake, she meets and interacts with so many bakers on any given day that she has a lot of suggestions and inputs to give you when you are at the store. You can probably find her husband, kids or nephews helping customers choose the right products according to their needs.
But here’s what we suggest — walk around the store so you get a good look at what all it has to offer. You might even find products you didn’t know of, but will make your life so much easier. The store has a number of scrappers and spatulas in all sizes and colours. There is a special section that has pipping nozzles in a variety of designs, and the elegant cake stands are an absolute grab. The sieves and measuring scoops also come in various styles. And the best part is that all of these essentials are sold at wholesale prices.
Baker’s Supermarket is not only limited to baking utensils but they also have a vast range of fresh whipping cream, compounds in various flavours, meringue buttercream, dry and wet yeast. If you like a lot of colour in your confectionery, don’t miss out on the colourful toppings, filling and quirky cupcake liners in several patterns. They also have a range of cake-toppers and those who want it to be customised can get it done for a reasonable price.
Build little by little
New to baking or setting up your own little business and don’t know where to start? Fret not. Baker’s Supermarket will help you with everything you require. For beginners, Merchant says that the essential things that they should be picking up are tins in various shapes and sizes. The next important purchase is measuring cups. “Initially stick to the recipe in terms of the quantity of the ingredients. Having a good spatula is equally important to whisk, smoothen or flatten the cake. Having a variety of piping nozzles to create different patterns using icing is something every baker must have in their beginner’s kit too,” she says.
Merchant also points out that buying tins and nozzles of various shapes and sizes shouldn’t be viewed as over-indulgence by the baker. “Everything that is bought is an investment because they can be used and re-purposed for a number of things. You can bake cakes or even use all this to bake breads,” says she.
Camp has a lot of age old bakeries that are still famous of their confectionery — biscuits, cupcakes, creamcakes and bread. Merchant says, “Since they are commercial bakers, the utensils and other tools that they use are massive, so they are sourced from other vendors. But the Camp store is where the bakeries run to if they have run out of stock and need to pick up raw materials for last minute orders.”
Not a piece of cake
Cakes are not limited to just birthday parties, any happy occasion out there and people celebrate it with cake. But the trend now is to order from home bakers instead of regular bakeries as these individuals are coming rustling up new and innovative flavours. “The basic flavours like chocolate and blackforest cakes are not as popular nowadays. People prefer more of cream and fresh fruit, or fondant with fancy figurines on their cakes. It’s all about customisation now. Nobody wants a regular cake,” says Merchant. She believes that eating cake now has become more of an experience, people want to click and share pictures of innovative cakes on social media.
“Theme cakes have taken people by storm, which is the reason why more and more home bakers are now investing in baking tools. From cookie cutters in the shapes of super-heroes, cars, or even tiaras, to cake tins in all the shapes you can possibly imagine, all this is in great demand as home bakers are up for experimenting with their skills and challenging themselves to be imaginative,” she ends.
