Bhatia - Bake with Shivesh

Ingredients were difficult to source, ovens were complicated and the most difficult part was finding recipes that work with our climate. Baking has become a lot easier and much more accessible over time, and people like Shivesh have played a big role in being a part of this change. I met Shivesh years ago. His enthusiasm to become a baker was infectious. Over the years, Ive seen him grow into this role. He is sincere, thoughtful, encouraging and tremendously talented.

He took to baking easily and makes it look so effortless in his blog and on Instagram. In 2017, Shivesh worked as an intern at Le15, my cafe and patisserie. During that time, he discovered the sheer hard work involved in running a professional kitchen. In addition to working a shift every day, he also helped me bake and then plate a sit-down dinner for fifty people! He was exceptionally open to doing any task, and receptive to feedback. He hasnt yet been to culinary school but his instincts and abilities have proved that if one is truly self-motivated and disciplined, it is possible to find success. I really admire the way he uses social media to create a baking community.

Ive seen him respond to thousands of messages from his followers online, and he is always generous with sharing his knowledge and experiences. Navigating the web and the world of social media may come easy to us millennials, but it isnt the case for most people. This book delves a little deeper into the questions posed online and gives him an opportunity to break down what he has learnt over the years. It will be a valuable addition to the library of anyone working in the food, marketing or photography spaces. His recipes are precise, the styling is always on point and everything on his blog always makes me so hungry! I love how his writing is relatable;.he makes you want to try baking. You dont need to be a professional chef to make beautiful, simple desserts at home, and who better than Shivesh to get you started? I have always taken my hobbies seriously.

As a kid, I was enrolled in all kinds of hobby classes everything from drawing to abacus. For a brief period, I also took lessons on the Casio. I learnt swimming and dance for the longest time and loved them both. For many years, an art teacher used to come home to teach me painting. In high school, I discovered my love for writing. I won a national level article-writing competition, wrote for a few newspapers, started a blog where I shared my articles and stories and thought I had found my true calling.

However, I never sat down to write again after my Class 12 boards, probably because I had found something else I enjoyed more baking! I started baking when I was sixteen. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about baking is my Nani. Every time we went to visit her, besides her warm hug, we were welcomed by the aroma of two freshly baked cakes that were sitting on the counter, waiting to be devoured. She used to always bake a vanilla and a chocolate cake for us. That is my first memory of desserts and also the most special one. In 2013, my Nani suffered a paralytic attack and couldnt enter the kitchen again.

On one of our visits to meet her, all the cousins decided to enter the kitchen and bake that chocolate cake that we missed terribly. We rushed to the supermarket and grabbed Betty Crocker pre-mixes and readymade frosting. We decided to make cupcakes and ended up burning an entire batch. Im almost embarrassed to talk about how those cupcakes looked. Lets not go into how they tasted. But what stayed with me was the fun I had in the kitchen.

I used to always sit on the counter while Mum used to bake but I had never thought Id enjoy doing it myself. I started baking every other day, whipping up one disaster after another. For the longest time I was making cakes that were best not eaten. But there was something about baking that didnt let me give up on it. I started reading up on baking the science behind it, the tips and tricks, and kept practising in the kitchen. It took me a lot of time to get better, but I did.

My baking journey would be incomplete without talking about Instagram. When I got onto Instagram, I used to post absolutely anything and everything. It took me a while to discover the social aspect of social media. And when I did, I realized that my baking pictures used to get the best response. I started putting in more time and effort into styling my desserts and photographing them. By this time I had a good number of Instagram followers and thought I was getting better at taking pictures.

As an eighteen year old who was taking pictures of his desserts on the terrace and in all other random places, I was thrilled when Instagram picked up one of my pictures and featured it on their feed. I remember my Instagram crashed that evening and I woke up the next day to things that were different and better. Besides a massive bump in the number of followers, I also had media and brands getting in touch. This really encouraged me to keep creating more content and style and photograph my desserts better. The blog happened much later when my Instagram was flooded with requests for recipes. This was all while I was in Hindu College, doing my undergrad in political science.

When I graduated, in June 2017, I decided to pursue blogging full time. While it was an easy decision to take initially, I did question it multiple times over the next six months. All my friends were either applying for post-grad or studying for civil exams. I wasnt sure if I was making the right decision but what I knew was this was what my heart wanted. I started Bake with Shivesh with the idea of sharing my simple recipes with as many with people as I could. I wanted my readers to recreate these recipes in their own kitchens and not be intimidated by complicated methods and fancy baking terms.

I strongly believe that if I can bake, anyone can! I started out by burning a batch of pre-mix cupcakes and Im writing a baking book today. It did not call for any professional training, no professional experience and no fancy machines. All I did was to not let failure stop me from entering the kitchen with the excitement to bake something new. All I did was to keep learning and practising. Ive divided the book into four parts the basics, some wonderful recipes, a styling section followed by a section on photography. Ive tried to pack each section with all the knowledge that Ive learnt along the way, and hope it helps you bake, style and photograph that perfect dessert.