Sweet obsession Pritika Sen, 23, Pastry Chef and Restaraunteer

Her story may sound like its straight out of Junior MasterChef. While it isn’t uncommon for children to try their hand at baking, how many youngsters do you know who can train an entire hotel staff in baking at the age of 17? Pritika Sen, started baking when she was just a seven-year-old. Baking cakes and catering to private orders soon became a successful hobby. “I began baking with my grandmother. I used to take up stalls at the school fete, stay up all night and bake. My stuff used to sell out in a day,” she says. Her cakes and cookies soon became a rage in the city. One of her regular buyers was the owner of Mayfair Group of Hotels. “I was asked to go and train the staff in pastry making while I was still in school,” she says. In 2010, when most of her classmates were studying in college, Sen decide to go to work at the hotel to learn the ropes of the trade and teach baking. Sen figured she needed work experience before going to study at the Le Cordon Blue, Paris. A year later, she went to Paris and signed up for a diploma in pattiserie and bakery. After coming back from Paris, she took just six months to open her 42-seater bakery Caramelle in Beckbagan in 2013. “I was literally here from dawn to midnight,” she says. Less than a year old, her joint has already been adjudged as one of the eateries serving the best continental food by various food guides, and her desserts are literally selling like hot cakes!