Japanese cheesecakes with live music: The Great Madras Bake Sale is back in Chennai

Experience a carnival-like atmosphere at The Great Madras Bake Sale, featuring 25 unique home bakers and live music.

Nothing short of a carnival: this is what entrepreneurs Maaria Tanveer, Cindana Manickavel and Priya Anup envision for The Great Madras Bake Sale’s much-awaited second edition. After the whopping success of its maiden effort in 2019, this bake sale, which spotlights promising home bakers in the city, has managed to rack up considerable social media visibility ever since the announcement of its second outing slated for the month-end. 

In this age of weekend pop ups and makeshift markets, this bake sale attempts to be different. “We feel that home bakers don’t get opportunities to do any sampling, because they bake only on orders. And most often, there is rarely any budget for marketing. Which is why we chose this format,” says Maaria of Adoniyaa who started off as a home baker herself. “It would also help the public choose from many options this way.” 

This edition will feature 25 bakers. “It was a highly curated list of home bakers. We wanted every stall to offer something different. You won’t find the same flavour of cake in two stalls.” Maaria adds that there are exclusive stalls for puff pastries, strawberry bakes, DIY brownies, and so on. “We in fact have a baker bringing pet-friendly bakes. The event is also pet-friendly,” says Maaria. The curation features a mix of home bakers, a few that reached out through an open call.  Ruqaiyah Bakes, Edible Sins, Fresh Cakes by Bakerzoh and Hew and Frost are some of the popular names on the list. Pet treats from Mommy baby kitchen, Japanese cheesecake from Favedaintylicious, baklavas from Dianzz Paradise, a reinvented iconic McRennett pista cake from Bakeman and a donut and berliner stall by Chokolat Culture are some desserts to look out for.

A pet adoption drive by iadopt.in is another one of the highlights this edition.

The last edition had around 2,500 walk-in customers, and all the bakers sold out quickly. “To avoid that, this time, we have stalls by  a few commercial vendors as well — Batter, Mexe, Butterheads, Boba Baba to name a few.” 

Even after a four-year hiatus, the overwhelming response for the edition has taken the organisers by surprise. “The bakers from the last edition who are still in business, immediately signed up.”

The sale intends to challenge the bakers, says Maaria. “It’s a good thing for seasoned bakers to experiment with their work. They should be encouraged to play with flavours, textures and have fun with what they bake. Packing and presentation also matters.”  As a fitting backdrop to an evening of taste tests, the event will also have live music by independent artistes from the city, Nitika Raj, Tarini and Manoj Krishna.