Happy Treats: A story of baking love

Never has this town needed more sweetness and smiles than today. And that is exactly what Jenny has been serving, with a pinch of art and her very own special dose of love, for the last five years, through her cakes and baking at Happy Treats. Her journey into baking began on July 19’2015, with her two-tier vanilla cake adorned with the stars and the moon to celebrate the birthday of one-year old baby Drashti. From then to now, Happy Treats has grown from a random cake a week to multiple bakery items being delivered all around town each day through the seasons.

Any journey of growth is a journey of challenges and Happy Treats is no different. Jenny is an interior designer by education. Married soon after finishing her degree, she realized that pursuing her dream of having her own interior design firm might not be practical while being a full-time home-maker. Cooking and learning new culinary art had been her passion ever since childhood. With the popularization of channels like TLC and MasterChef as well as designer cake making videos and baking on Youtube, she discovered a new passion for baking designer cakes and confectionery. She took a couple of training courses on the basics of baking a variety of breads and cakes.

Here she learnt the art of shaping fondant and cream to make  the cakes not only taste great but look exquisite.

Soon after, as all local businesses start, hers started with friends and family spreading the word of a new home baker in town. But her work, in design, texture and taste differentiated her cakes and soon gained unimagined popularity. She began working with clients to innovate the designs and flavors. Over the years she mastered few recipes. Her signature cakes include, the healthy, tasty and no frills and fancies, dates & walnut cake, the soft and spongy east meets west, Rasmalai cake, first in town, two flavors in chess like boxes encrusted in a crunchy crusted Battenburg cake, bringing back to life the old forgotten and very rich Iranian bakery’s Parsi Mawa cake and the town’s current trending pina-colada sponge cakes. Happy treats started putting up stalls in local exhibitions to attract a larger audience. Some landmark events where delicacies of happy treats have been appreciated are the TEDx Lakhota 2018 and Comedy Jam’s show with Atul Khatri.

Happy treats recently introduced the very compact, easy to transport and store, cake jars with red-velvet, Nutella and Oreo flavors. Simple sponge layers drenched in sugar syrup and coated with fresh whipped soft and delicious cream. Jenny’s cupcakes bring a smile to the faces of the young and old alike. With designs from the worlds of Disney’s frozen and lion king to minions to customized life choices of her clients.

There have been several gaps in her career in the last five years. The local society is still learning to adapt to working home-makers and sometimes the pressures of family events supersede the desire to cater to baking orders during those times. Pregnancy and the ensuing child-care as well as recurring health issues have also led to elongated gaps in Jenny’s baking career. And there have been times when clients who loved happy treats had to move elsewhere for their celebrations. But as every entity that is born, has a growth curve, happy treats and Jenny have had their own and since early this year, they are committed to serve smiles more than ever.

And though, happy treats has one baker, it has few pillars that lend it strength and support. Jenny’s parents Mr. & Mrs. Gorecha, from whom she inherits her artistic nature and discipline towards work. Jenny’s husband, Mr. Prashant Ambasana who, along with the emotional support and encouragement, lends his business acumen to the venture and Jenny’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Bharti Ambasana, who lends a generous helping hand in over-all house hold work and taking care of little mischievous Diya, giving Jenny the mental space to patiently craft each cake and bread.

The story of happy treats is the story of women leading from within their homes, of being creative and caring, of being excellent jugglers between family and passions. It is an example of how ambition is not a deterrent to being a parent but a supplement. It is the story of a young woman who spreads sweetness and joy to celebrations, weddings, birthdays, inaugrations and events with just a few ingredients, an oven and her mittens.