“When you deliver an immense order, the feeling of accomplishment is amazing!”
I love innovation…ok let’s just say that saying I love innovation would be an understatement.
My venture Letsstalkfood was started with the intent to showcase creative food entrepreneurs who bring a difference to the amazing variety of food we eat and excite people even more! I am always on the lookout for that oomph factor and two weeks back, I was thrilled to catch up with a home baker whose fantastic range of innovative cupcakes turned on the Letsstalkfood innovation radar in a jiffy!
Presenting SARAH ZIA ADEEL of FLUFF IN A CUP! I have always noticed a difference in the way Sarah approaches baking. There was always something about her posts that made me wonder what’s next in store. Come her new project #FLUFFILICIOUSFRIDAYS I was completely bowled over! But then we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s begin at the beginning!
Fluff in a cup took root 4 years ago. “My mother has been my biggest inspiration. She is a very talented baker. She loved baking cakes but she wasn’t as much into baking cupcakes. When she handed down her recipes to me, I decided to use them to go the cupcake route.”Sarah initially started experimenting with vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. Following a large number of orders from family and friends, she was inspired to start her own FB page with the name “Fluff in a cup” suggested by her little brother.“My very first order was for a wedding. I had to make 75 cupcakes. It felt great!” Sarah is a baker who belongs to a time when home baking and cupcake artistry was a rarity. And thus with orders pouring in, her name began to spread through word of mouth.
“My most innovative flavour when I started out was chocolate chip cupcake. It was quite a popular flavour. I was always interested in trying out new and different flavour profiles for my cupcakes. I was never inclined towards fondant cakes; I always preferred buttercream and ganache.”
Her biggest and best order to date was a corporate order of 200 plus cupcakes. It was a challenge none the less but Sarah loved every minute of it. She thanks her husband for being a lucky charm as she claims she always gets big orders when he’s around! “My husband has been a constant source of encouragement. He was the one who urged me to take up the order and give it my best. My mother helped me and it was such a moment of pride bringing it across to the company.”
Fluff in a cup is famous for its Ferrero rocher cake; not to mention an umpteen variety of cupcakes such as the marbled kit kat, cookies and cream, snickers and salted caramel. Her unicorn cupcakes were featured in Comedy Central on instagram. Apart from brownies, Sarah also specialized in decadent brownies, the red velvet and cream cheese and the nutella brownies being the most sought after.
Keeping in mind constant innovation, FLUFFILICIOUS FRIDAYS was conceptualised where a new variety of cupcake flavour would be introduced every Friday resulting in a total of 5 new flavours every alternate month. The flavours and combinations are unique and delicious! This month saw: Dulce De Leches, Rose and Pistachio, Chocolate Cheesecake, Neapolitan and the show stopper, Éclair cupcake! Thrilled by the sense of culinary adventure, I approached Sarah to make something extral special for Letsstalkfood, a cupcake that centred around richness and decadence.
After a week or so of planning, deliver she did, the SORRY, NOT SORRY cupcake (which I had the utmost privilege of naming). A moist chocolate cupcake with a rich cream cheese centre, frosted high with luscious chocolate buttercream, studded with nutty, fudgey brownie bites and drizzled with milk and dark chocolate. If that doesn’t scream decadence, I don’t know what does! It was such a fabulous collaboration! Sarah was also a patient teacher as I tried my clumsy hand at frosting the cupcake! It was so much fun and strangely therapeutic!
The most challenging aspect of being a home baker is the immense competition. There are so many home bakers around, a constantly innovating product range and consistent deliciously goods are the only factors that will help you stay above the back. “Home baking is a wonderful business. You are your own boss” says Sarah. “So many things can be done with one tiny cupcake, it’s amazing! To all home bakers out there wanting to go large scale, I would say do it!”