A journey from homemaker to creative baker

Avneet Kaur

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Jalandhar, June 11

A 36-year-old homemaker from the city has turned entrepreneur by starting a specialised baking workshop for would-be-brides, cooking lovers, women and young girls from across the district.

Manpreet Saini started her small business – Wake n Bake – 11 years ago after she got married to a Colonel.

With light batter, her focus is to create healthy options for those who have a sweet tooth.

Dark chocolate flaxseed brownies, beetroot cake, lemon and poppy seed loafs, gluten-free cakes, wheat cakes, granola bars, protein filled chocolate cake, ragi cocoa mud brownie, dates and carrot sugar-free cakes and more are some bestsellers at her healthy kitchen based at Jalandhar Heights II.

“My key ingredients include low fat, low cholesterol oil and butter. I do not use any refined sugar, instead I use mishri, honey or sometimes jaggery,” Manpreet says, adding that it was when she got married to a foodie husband that she realised that people with a sweet tooth rarely found something healthy to munch on.

It soon turned into an inspiration for her that she decided to bake healthy sweets and cakes to satisfy the cravings of her family members, she said.

“I now not only love to bake healthy sweets, but also want to pass on my cooking skills to others. In 2011, when my husband was posted at Sikandrabad, I started giving shape to my healthy baking passion. Since then, I have been organising baking workshops and selling homemade sweet treats made with local and natural ingredients that one could relish without thinking twice and feeling guilty,” added Manpreet, a mother of 12-year-old.

Sharing about her journey as baker, Manpreet says, “Since my childhood, I was interested in art and craft. However, it was by chance that I developed interest in baking. I joined a few courses at Hyderabad to learn baking, but was not able to continue as my husband got transferred. Later, after practising baking for so long and then mixing my craft skills, I witnessed a new chef in me. I am now able to customise cakes, breads, cup-cakes and puddings as per customer’s wish,” she added.

Talking about how she managed to attract customers, Manpreet says her marketing depends on social media and word of mouth.

“I sent the message of my workshop in my social media groups and post it on my Facebook page. People who are interested and had a passion for baking join me. I organise around three-four workshops a month and over 50 women participate in these to learn about different varieties of healthy cookies, ice-cream and cakes.”

She said she had every variety of cake and special cookies to cater diabetic, cancer and BP patients. The price of her healthy delicacies ranges from Rs 550 to 2,000 and even more as per customer’s demand, she added.

Sharing her tip of success with those who are willing to be entrepreneurs in the baking industry, Manpreet said baking demanded creativity. All those bakers who remain in sync with the latest trends and are professional can carve a niche for themselves anyhow, she added.