Even as a youngster, Rosemary Jeega Varghese enjoyed tinkering about in the kitchen. As no one in her family baked, she decided to learn the ABC of baking.
The mother of a seven-year-old with a sweet tooth, Rosemary says her son’s fondness for all things sweet was an added impetus for her to learn how to bake. Her quest took her to Bangalore where she picked up the basics and to Singapore where she honed her skills.
A homeopathic doctor, Rosemary has changed her profession and is currently running School of Cake and Bake Art at Vellayambalam.
'The idea to start a school dedicated to the art of baking came to me as I could not find such a bake school in the city. I also wanted to share my knowledge and my love for cooking with others,' says Rosemary.
The two-year-old institute conducts various courses. There are courses for beginners and advanced learners. And it is not just cakes that she teaches. She teaches how to make breakfast pastries such as croissants, cinnamon rolls, and chocolate doughnuts, and basic breads like rolls, multigrain bread and green bread (a variety of bread that has green leaves as an ingredient). Junior Chef teaches children how to make brownies, cookies, cupcakes, vanilla butter cake, chocolate moulding and doughnuts.
'A lot of youngsters are inspired by the television programme Junior Master Chef and have enrolled for classes. In fact, one of my young students, Siddharth, a class 10 student of Christ Nagar School, now bakes cakes for his friends and family. Homemakers form a chunk of my clientele. Non-resident Indians who come down for holidays also learn how to bake. Some of them learn with the specific purpose of starting their own small bake unit in their country of residence. I have many of students from the Middle East who have developed their knowledge of baking into a profitable business,' says Rosemary.
The courses, says Rosemary last from a couple of days to a week depending on what the clients want to learn. She also takes orders for cakes.
The duration of a basic course in baking is three days. The timings are from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Contact: 0471 23106057/ 9446221527