You must have seen a cake that makes you drool. Yes? How about a cake that makes you laugh and drool? Yes, that was my first reaction when I stumbled upon Love Is Cakes on Facebook. Their cakes are fun. They are not your run-of-the-mill delicacies we've all grown up loving. They are better. And one look at their cakes, and I bet your tummy starts growling. Viciously.
Love Is Cakes is run by Vinita and Nandita Mehta, a mother-daughter duo based in DLF Phase IV, Gurgaon. With their bakery located in the hub of all of Gurgaon’s hustle bustle, Love Is Cakes is popular among corporate and residents of the area for one major reason - their quirky custom-made cakes. Cakes you won't find anywhere else. And they have cakes for everyone, every occasion. You name it, they'll bake it!
Best friend getting married? Some people will gift him a honeymoon package, some will gift him a piece of furniture, while some might gift him a dodgy home decor item that he's never going to use. But you wouldn't do that, would you? You are better than them. He is a close friend and you are going to tell him your real thoughts about him getting married. Why not something like this:
Want to give your fashionista friend a great birthday gift? But she already has all the pretty dresses and shoes? And although a girl can never have enough shoes, she might really love it if you combine two of the things she loves: makeup and dessert! Make her day by gifting her something like this:
Coffee-loving boss's birthday? No problem. How about gifting him something like this cake? Perhaps this will finally get you that promotion you have been trying for...
While Nandita was growing up, her father was in the army. That meant they were posted to a variety of places. Nandita recalls growing up in places that did not even have a decent bakery. “My mother used to bake these lovely cakes for us,” says Nandita. “They were so yummy that at times my brother and I used to polish off the entire batter.”
Nandita grew up to be a journalist, but her mother's lip-smacking cakes had made an indelible impression. And that helped her find her true calling. Three and a half years ago, Nandita gave up her career in journalism to join her mother to show us how it’s done. And thank God for that.
“We started off small,” says Nandita. “It was just my mother and I initially. We came across an advert from Wishing Chair, Shahpur Jat, which invited cake artists to showcase their work. And the event was open for all. My mom and I decided to bake a few cakes and showcase them at the event. We got a great response there, and there’s been no looking back since then.”
How about letting your dad know how much he means to you with this cake? He will definitely return ten times the love...if he can take his eyes off the cake.
There are problems that they face, of course. Gurgaon's intermittent power outages are quite a deterrent for anybody, even more so for a business like theirs, where delays in delivery could put their reputation at stake. They had to, perhaps, upgrade their generator before splurging on some baking equipment.
Love Is Cakes has grown to a team of 10 now. A usual day in their lives starts at 6 in the morning, when their on-order bakery opens. Vinita comes in at 9 am and Nandita is in by 10 am. Their entire day involves taking orders, preparing them and delivering them. On most days, they wrap up by 9 pm at night.
Note to self: Stop drooling, stop drooling, STOP DROOLING!
Love Is Cakes was generous enough to bake us a cake on Republic Day. Here's what it looks like:
"We have to work long hours at times," says Nandita. "But the frosting on the cake is that we love every moment of it."
To order a cake, you can reach out to their Facebook page.
Note: You will love their packaging!
