Who would have thought that deciding to attend a baking workshop that was meant for her daughter will turn PREMILAH into a master 'Saree Cake Decorator' and later conduct her own classes to teach aspiring bakers the fine art of cake decoration? The accidental baker shares her story for the very first time with Journalist2Jabber!
Premilah Balakrishnan, 48, a retired secondary school teacher, today continues to teach, just not from the current school syllabus but in one to one classes to pass on her knowledge and secrets to bakers as young as 12 to make their very own saree cakes.
“I’m a teacher with 21 years of experience teaching secondary school students. Teaching is my passion and I can’t go a day without doing it. Probably in a different setting now, but my students who come to learn baking all call me teacher and that gives me so much joy!”
She shared that she started baking about 4 years ago for friends and family. Orders would mostly come from her fellow teachers who loved her homemade cakes. She added that the idea to turn her hobby into an entrepreneurial venture came after attending a baking workshop that she signed her daughter up for a few years ago.
“I enrolled my daughter, Vickneshwary for the workshop, but she had to miss it as she was down with fever and so I went for it. The class brought out my love for intrigue details on cakes and then I decided to push myself one step ahead to do fondant sarees and Indian fashion jewelry on the cakes by attending more classes locally. This cake design is something I really admire done by some bakers and I wanted to learn and perfect this skill. To put my vision on the cakes, I went on to make my own molds for these ideas to materialize and for the saree on the cake to look grand.”
Premilah shared that just as they say good things take time, her cakes take at least three to four days to put together.
“Weather plays an important role for the fondant to set. It can take anywhere around 12 hours to over a day for the jewelry pieces to take form. Because I’m a home baker, I’ll need the orders to come in a week in advance. This gives me enough time to manage household chores, family time, and prepare the cake from scratch. But, if I work non-stop, I can get the cake ready in about four days.”
Her journey, she said wouldn’t have been this sweet without the support from her main pillars of success, her mum, husband, and daughter who keep pushing her to follow her heart and chase her dreams.
“My mum, Saraswathy Bai never fails to give me a hand when she sees me looking a little tired. I don’t have to say I need help, she knows and is always there by my side when I need her the most. And my husband, Sivaperagash is my superman who helps me when I do my shopping for baking supplies. He also happily takes on the role of my cake delivery guy with a smile every time!”
Premilah conducts one to one classes where you will learn in a hands-on environment to be the next best baker in town, with the tricks she shares to get sugar lace right. Sugar lace is the technique used to create the embroidery on the saree that goes on the cake. Her eight hour one day class, also includes homemade lunch and tea time snacks prepared by her ever-supportive mother. All these and more at RM450 only! To attend her next class, contact 0123411270 today!
Premilah also credits her success of turning passion into a meaningful entrepreneurial venture to Chandrika Nair, a baker whom she looks up to; her close friend, teacher Sivagamy N.R; her cousin sister Nalesh and her baker friend Lakshmi Jothi. She is also most thankful to a popular baking Guru Mrs Sundri Ramesh from Nilai who was kind enough to share her knowledge and skills of saree cake decoration.
“I hope that this art will continue, and for that more of the younger generation should come forward to learn and also take these skills to earn extra income if not as a full-time business.”
CHECK OUT MORE of her amazing cakes below!
Visit her Facebook page: Prem Vicky's Cake Garden to learn more!
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