Bento is now a staple for sweet tooth

Chennai's young population embraces Pinterest aesthetic with Bento cakes, driving home-bakers like Al Huda to success.

It is undeniable that the younger population of Chennai has wrapped the Pinterest aesthetic around them in full force. From the drip of their outfits to cafe-hopping, the aesthetic consumption has seeped into their core. And this is when the cake-for-one enters the scene with bow decor, Garamond font, and pastel frosting which looks more like a painting than a dessert. Bingo, it is the same Bento cake which first took over in 2021 and which still has the crowd hooked.

Home-baker Al Huda, who runs The Glaze at Nungambakkam, receives 90-100 Bento cake orders every month, with most of them coming from college students in the nearby areas. “When it comes to cakes, I get more orders for Bento cakes,” she says. With Valentine’s Day just passed, the Bento cake storm has only continued to rise.

Ms. Al Huda says that not many stores or bakeries in the city offer Bento cakes. Hence, home-bakers have become the go-to experts, ready to personalise every detail to the customer’s wishes. “I have made tonnes of heart-shaped Bentos for Valentine’s Day, and many ribbon cakes as what we call ‘pookie-coded’, part of the Gen Z lingo,” she says. For this home-baker, it is both the aesthetic and the affordability going hand in hand that makes Chennai’s crowd fall in love with these little Bentos.

“Everything that comes from South Korea has a huge fan-base among the younger crowd of Chennai,” says Jannathul Firdous, a home-baker who runs The Gaiety Corner in Chennai. Apart from selling cakes, she is well known for her Bento cake workshops in the city where participants learn how to make a Bento cake from scratch. “I started with cupcake workshops, but when Bento cake became the trend, I couldn’t stop. I was planning to conduct other pastry workshops too, but Bento cake workshops are the most in demand,” adds Ms. Firdous.

What started out of necessity in South Korea with more nuclear families needing smaller, individual portions led to the birth of Bento cake. The name ‘Bento’ itself means convenience, and it comes from Japan. It has blown up around the world. It is not only bought for a birthday celebration but also for a snack.

Amrutha Muthuramasamy, a newbie in home-baking, says she plans to switch from her MNC job to being a full-time baker. “I started cultivating baking to relieve stress from my day job and of all the baked goods, I love making Bento cakes the most. It is my forte as I can even paint Monet-style art on them,” says Ms. Amrutha. “I have been making Bento cakes and getting orders from people I know, but I am planning to go full-time after making some solid plans.”

No two Bento cake look the same because of customisation and the baker’s style. Ms. Firdous too has her artistic process set apart. “Pastels, soothing-coloured Bento cakes are my style,” she says. “Right from picking the perfect colour palette, which is usually soothing pastel colours, to making sure that the cakes are moist and shaping them into the perfect round, every little detail counts,” she notes.