Earlier an intimate bakery in Green Park and a cloud kitchen at present, Baked Love By Vatsala has taken regular baked goods and turned them into bespoke items. The bakery has impressed Delhi residents and food critics alike. Even Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor’s wife Mira Kapoor has been known to order from them. Run by Vatsala Jain and her sister Sonal Jain, Baked Love By Vatsala is primarily women-led and takes pride in it.
While Sonal has a degree in English Literature and Marketing, Vatsala studied Home Economics at Delhi University, which allowed her to take a deep dive into food science and nutrition (perhaps that’s why she knows her gluten-free and vegan cakes so well). Vatsala started her business from a studio kitchen in her last year of college, and has been working for herself ever since. A few years into the business, she was even offered a leading role by a prominent Delhi-based bakery, but turned it down because she really wanted to create something of her own. We ask the brain behind the enterprise more about it and what it’s like being a female baker.
Would you refer to yourself as a pastry chef? Or do you prefer another term?
Conventionally people in my position would be called a ‘pastry chef’ but to be honest these terms don’t matter to me that much. I love what I do and I am most happy doing it all day, every day. Ask those who know me: I will be found in a kitchen over anywhere else. So if that makes me a "pastry chef", I guess I am!
For how long has Baked Love By Vastala been around?
I took my first ever order in November of 2012, during my college years. I christened my venture with this name in June of 2013!
What made you want to start Baked Love?
I’ve had a consistent love for food and food science. I was 12 when I realised I wanted to do this for a living. Everything I did since then was centred around accomplishing this goal.
What's it like running a business with your sister?
It’s how running a business with a family member would be. Each brings their own strengths and from that perspective, it makes for a great pair. It’s not all smooth but I hear that smooth sailing can get quite boring.
Do you think people mostly associate baking with women?
More than associating it with just women, it’s considered a passing of free time, especially if done by women. And that is used as ammunition against them if they’re unhappy with the service/product. Fortunately I haven’t encountered this kind of thing but I see people berating home-bakers left right and centre on social media.
I feel that even if someone IS passing their time by indulging in their favourite hobby, you’ve chosen to place an order with them. You’ve done your due diligence before spending your hard-earned money. It’s not like ten years ago when there were only a few quality bakeries you could go to. So saying that, “it’s not a great product because he/ she is not serious about it” is hitting below the belt. There are bad days in everyone’s lives and we need to exercise some compassion!
Have you found it difficult to break stereotypes when it comes to baking?
When it comes to business, there aren’t enough stereotypes one could break! It’ll take time and then some to make it to what we call “equality”. In the beginning, I used to get a lot of “beta let me speak to dad”, but we as women had to work extra hard to gain trust, especially of vendor companies with male dominant employees. This is one example of many but I’ll always remember the day when some of my biggest suppliers came to Baked Love on their field trips to show us their latest products. This was after five continuous years of buying from them and today we share a great business relationship!
Who are your primary customers?
Anyone who’s looking for a quality product. Most of our feedback consists of people saying, “we didn’t have any leftovers” and “it was not too sweet so we could go back for more”!
What do you have to say about other female bakers in the city?
I am fortunate to have many women chefs as friends. From ingredient/equipment emergencies to advice to ranting, we’ve come through for each during times of need. There’s only and only benefit in being supportive of our own and none in doing otherwise.
What has been the most challenging part of running Baked Love?
So as to not make this only about GST, I will answer this as a chef, hahaha! I have studied nutrition and food science as part of my university studies and it is my second love. I noticed that misinformation about ingredients used in baking (and food in general) is widespread. For example, vegan and gluten free diets are confused with each other and that could be fatal to a person with an actual allergy.
Baked Love is a brand that operates with transparency and in the best interest of the customer. We don’t have hidden ingredients and we state what we use in all our products very clearly. So we spend a good amount of time educating the customer about what they’re ordering and what to expect. While this may seem obvious to the nature of any business, it’s a little different with baking. Taste is subjective, not only to personal preferences but ambient and internal temperature, moods, alcohol consumption, appetite etc. We do our best to assess these details wherever possible and offer a tailor-made solution.
Can I also take this opportunity to state that there is no such thing as a diabetes-friendly cake? Sure, we can substitute whole grains with refined, stevia with sugar, butter with whatever you think is okay to eat. To know whether it will impact blood sugar or not, please check with your doctor!
What's your vision for the future of Baked Love?
We want to be THE place for dessert in Delhi. We want to show that owner-driven, women-led food businesses have a space in India and it’s not just a niche. We are very nimble, considering that we were able to evolve to a cloud format from an established retail presence—so we have no doubt that with the faith of our clients, we will only grow.