Here’s A Painting You Can Eat: This Home Baker Makes Art-Inspired Hand-painted Cakes!

Delhi-based home baker, Abha Kohli, is a cake wizard. Her baby, Maya Handmade Chocolates, might be 11-years-old but she hasn’t stopped whipping magic when it comes to customised cakes. Not only does she make everything by hand, she’s even open to re-creating your favourite artist’s painting on a cake. See this Van Gogh cake celebrating Starry Night or this cake inspired by Monet’s Water Lillies and you’ll know what kind of beauty will come out of her oven.

Cake is the sweetest comfort food and what if we told you that Abha takes pride is making everything from scratch and everything preservative free. You’d be shocked and chuffed simultaneously, right? Well, we were too.

Ask her for a red velvet for your tiny tot and she might even refuse because she tells us it usually takes a considerable amount of food colouring and even if she’s using the best in class, she wouldn’t recommend it for a simple reason that it might not be really good for you. So, she isn’t just an artist but an artist with a conscience. This uncompromising attitude on the ingredients is exactly why she doesn’t do typical cream cakes or fondants either. And, you can absolutely forget about any stencils or moulds – even the smallest of cake toppers are crafted by hand and out of chocolate!

By now you should know that Abha is a true perfectionist. She doesn’t stop until every swirl in the painting or every peculiar shade is mapped on to the cake in its exactness… So she’s patient till she gets it all right.

Ask her how long she takes to make a customised piece and she says “give me as much of an advance notice as you can. I block the date and then begin prepping with enough notice to keep buffer because you know, sometimes things also fall through and last-minute accidents happen”. Usually though, a week or 10 days is good for her. So, yes, she’ll process all your requests for a particular topping, filling or design provided you don’t breath down her neck. She’ll even burn the midnight oil to get that cherry compote you so want or making an ethereal dreamcatcher you saw on Pinterest sometime.

She’s an expert in buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache and needless to say, her cakes {in a myriad edible colours} are a sight to behold and often too pretty to eat.

Her one kg hand-painted cakes start at INR 4,500 and she’s insistent that you collect it from her place in Vasant Kunj {she hasn’t been able to zero down on a delivery service that will fulfill all her transportation requirements}. If, however, it’s a tiered wedding cake, she’ll come in person to assemble the beauty at the venue.

Check her out and place your orders on her Facebook page.