LATEST CAKE TRENDS HIT THE TOWN
The industrial bakery trends are ever evolving and changing and Botswana is also catching and keeping up with these trends. One of these top trends that Batswana can look forward to happens to be Rice paper sails. This is a trend where a baker can play around and create beautiful cakes, using sugar and wafer paper flowers, edible beads, and wafer paper butterflies.
Giving her insights about these trends, Madhubashini Yatagama, the Director of Cakes N Creations, explains that past trends include translucent isomalt design, pressed edible flowers and fruits which was not so big in Botswana. Other trends include Exquisite 3d Floral Painting with foil details. And then there were brush strokes, where Geode cakes became quiet old but still in demand.
But for Yatagama, who is a renowned Cake designer, when it comes to trends, she prefers to take the trending work a notch high and turn these trends into signature cakes. She has done very well in that department.
She explains in an interview that the popularity of cakes differ, as this depends on personal choices. But there are three cakes that she says are sweeping the world over, and they include Chocolate cake, velvet and the last up happens to be carrot. This is based on a google search about which cake is most searched, she notes. But again, it all comes down to personal preferences, and that any flavour is best for cakes. As an artist, she prefers to use something a bit solid as compared to a soft texture batter for a designer cake due to some logistics and handling problems.
“If you are doing a tired cake, better use chocolate, vanilla carrot cakes rather than using red velvet or black forest. And if the client really wants a cake with a soft dough, you have to use the way of presenting to be creative as much as you can and give the best to the customer. Use your own taste buds to create mouthwatering flavours that people have cravings for,” she says.
“I have introduced two signature flavours unique to Cakes N Creations. One is C& C Cocos and C& C Marula. Both have had zero complains from the customers,” she adds.
In the world of wedding cakes, she highlights that tall layers are the in- thing. Normally, each layer is double height ( 10m) which is the usual size, but this year, the world is shifting to triple height of each layer or one single tall cake. “Using textures on tall layers is the noticeable trend for weddings,” she explains.
One of the hot topics for any cake lover is which icing to go with. Some prefer fondant, and others prefer buttercream. But the two, according to Yatagama are very different. To start with, a fondant icing is what she terms a sculptable paste made from sugar and water. Corn syrup, which can be rolled out and draped over the cake for a smooth finish.
“It can also be molded into intricate decorations. On the other hand, buttercream is a whipped, fluffy frosting made from sugar and butter that can be spread onto cakes or piped in different patterns. The two are mediums of covering cakes,” she explains.
She further notes that at the end of the day, it all boils down to personal choice between the two. “Again, it is a matter of skill level of the artist and the customer’s choice,” she explains. She also points out that Butter cream is obviously yummier than the fondant. One has to be wise enough to choose a good quality ready made fondant or make their own.
Locally, she explains that she has seen instances where some cake makers only do butter cream cake which does not require any skill. In the world of cakes, she explains that Craftsmanship is important on both fondant and buttercream to produce a good quality cake. Interestingly, she often sees people use vegetable shortening to make “butter cream” which in her opinion is just a frosting not butter cream frosting.
“As a designer cake artist, I work with both mediums, considering certain facts like the season of the year, the venue; indoor event or out- door. You should be able to convince the customer to choose whether to choose butter cream or fondant, even though there are some limitations on making really buttercream designs, expert cake designer can make beautiful buttercream cakes,” she notes.
In other news, she shares that she is working on a few projects this year. One of these projects happens to be introducing her daily delights, while maintaining the quality and the uniqueness of her cakes and confectioneries. “I think this will be the best news to my customers who have been looking for something like this,” she notes.
Very passionate about spreading her wings in the international scene, she will also continue to participate in international competitions, as she wants to secure a spot amongst some of the cake designers in the world. “I also want to upgrade my shop at the Craft Market, and offer more shopping pleasures for the other cake makers which will happen very soon,” says Yatagama.
Last year, she hosted her first ever cake collaboration named ‘ African pride’ which was very successful. It was her ‘ sweet’ tribute to Botswana and Africa. This year she is thinking about a new theme as she readies to host the second collaboration.
” I am looking at global warming to feminism or nature, history through the medium of edible art, mainly by cakes and confectioneries,” notes.