“Art without engineering is dreaming, Engineering without art is calculating.”
If you believe that Pikaboos is a stereotypical cake shop, then you are in for a lovely surprise. It offers far more promise than cakes, cookies, muffins and goodies alone. It is imagination and creativity personified.
HOW DID IT START
Believe it or not, the owners Bhavana and Rahul were engineers by profession before they were inspired to take up to baking lock, stock and barrel. Creativity and engineering? Never heard of this combination. Not surprising then that the idea of rotation and topsy turvy cakes came easily to this brilliant couple.
Bhavana started off as a home baker. She first started her baking journey in January 2012 using a microwave oven but when her passion grew too large for a micro to handle, her husband Rahul happily gifted her an OTG oven. With that Bhavana was determined to put Rahul’s gift to good use, not passing up an opportunity to bake. Hits and misses didn’t deter the lady as her passion for baking was larger than her qualms. With drive and tenacity, the business couldn’t help but pick up momentum. When it got too much for even their OTG to handle they expanded and set up a commercial kitchen a year ago. This is their first outlet and going by the looks of it, their plans for expansion aren’t far.
1. CUSTOMISATION OF CAKES
The best part of Pikaboos is their aspiration to beat their own standards in cake baking. Where customisation is the keyword. In fact, it is practically their unique selling point. Their cakes are customised in such a style that their customers’ individual choice is catered to, no matter how quirky. They believe in giving expression to the customer’s concept in terms of theme, size, colour and even flavour. Ask and thou shalt receive is their mantra.
2. LIFE SIZE CAKES
Have you ever dreamed of life-size cakes? Even if you have, I bet you wouldn’t have found a cake shop to cater to that dream. Well, Pikaboos does. Boy, do they dream BIG.
Chandelier wedding cake
Talking about BIG, one of their specialised cake inventions came in the form of a four-and-a-half feet tall chandelier wedding cake. The cake was nearly as tall as an average sized person. Such a cake gives imagination wings. Imagine how much cake, chocolate, rich cream, fruits, cherries, buttercream, crushed cookies, and so on would go into a life-size cake? Enough to satiate an army perhaps! Besides, the cake was beautifully crafted. Its chandelier effect was projected from spectacular crystal work interspersed with multi-tiered creamy cake layers. A big time hit!
10 kilo Mickey mouse cake
So specialised are their cake manipulations that the likes of the Bombay Gymkhana couldn’t resist using their expertise in the area. They baked a sensational theme cake for the Gym, a 10-kilo life-size Mickey Mouse of a cake. Considering the magnitude and the distance to the location, it was but natural to use a fondant cake because creamy cakes don’t sit pretty in transit. These life-size cakes are priced at close to Rs 2K per kilo. How much would a 10-kilo cake cost is but simple math. Could fondant have been derived from the word fond, I wonder? 🙂
3. ROTATION CAKES
As if this creation wasn’t enough to create hype, their latest sensation emerged in the form of a rotation cake. Yes, you guessed right. The cake rotates. It revolves around a motorised structure that is driven into the centre of the cake. Quite a signature idea, combining baking creativity with engineering genius. Rotation cakes are the latest addition to Pikaboos‘ array of cakes, catering to a niche clientele. A vision of ecstasy.
Quite often the creators, Bhavana & Rahul, hobnob late into the nights approaching novel ideas for specialised and rotation cakes. They use their engineering expertise to discuss at length, doodling their ideas on paper. If their ideas are conceivable they simply go ahead and employ skilled help to execute the design. Bingo!
Some fresh examples of their nocturnal discussions are those of dangling penguin cakes, topsy-turvy clown cakes and so on. How could cakes dangle you may ask. They use inverse technology to suspend the cake from a stand. Technology and baking, who’d ever think of such a combination even a few years ago! Imagine a chunk of cream falling flat on your face from atop? Well, such a thing never occurred with Pikaboos whose 100% execution rate makes its specialised and designer cakes a “HUGE” success (literally and figuratively speaking).
Dangling penguin cakes
4. THEME CAKES
Be it baby showers, birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, Pikaboo “rises to all occasions“.
Anniversary cake
Funky, island cake
Mr. & Mrs. Anniversary cake
Their focus area is on children’s theme cakes. Who wouldn’t want to go berserk with ideas to make children happy? Certainly not Pikaboos. I was floored by the cake varieties to suit each and every childish mood.
Cartoons have from time immemorial been synonymous with children so it makes sense to bake cakes based on cartoon characters for children’s occasions. Nothing like having an icing doll, a fondant island, an aquatic theme or a magical fairy to make a child’s special occasion remarkable.
5. 3D CAKES
Above all, what needs special mention is their 3D cakes which are incredibly creative and imitate every conceivable object of your choice, be it a football or a gingerbread man or a robot or an island or even a wine barrel. Never thought that kids and wine barrels went together but well children’s horizons have evolved from the days of yore.
Recently, Bhavana & Rahul’s very own daughter celebrated her first birthday. For the birthday cake to not be spectacular would have been unusual. Wish our curiosity could have been set at bay with the video of the little girl cutting her birthday cake which was at least twice her height. So much so that she had to look up to it! (pun intended).
When going through their portal, I felt that it only kept getting better. Upon seeing their range of baby shower cakes I wish my baby never grew up. Truly a pictorial illusion.
Happy Birthday Grandfather
Happy 50th Anniversary Cake
Here are a few visual examples of what would make for perfect anniversary cakes. You think the finish is great? Well, try and sink your teeth into a slice of this heaven and you would know the real meaning of the word finish. Like clean finish. Swiped clean!
6. FUSION CAKES
Baking of fusion cakes is on the cards, coupled with an Indian theme and flavour. At present, it is their thandai cake that has been a rage, especially at Holi festival time. How could you combine the goodness of cake with an Indian edge? Easily said, and easily done in the form of ras malai and gajar ka halwa cakes which are to be introduced soon.
7. PRETTY LITTLE CUPCAKES
Cup cakes
Not to be outdone by their cake cousins, even cupcakes are customised to look like pugs and poodles. Decorated with icing and frosting, they are small enough to fit into a child’s palm and taste toothsome at the same time.
As mentioned earlier, customization is their USP. This isn’t, however, restricted to cakes alone but covers the whole bakery story.
8. HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLES
Cookie story
So are cookies, some of which are based on cartoon characters and decorated toppings more splendid than a sergeant’s medals.
With as wide a variety of cookies on an array, it is but natural to be confused about which one to choose. If you are, no sweat. Just try their assortment of cookies in one hamper or box so that you are happy to get a taste them all. You could team the cookies with your Christmas goodies nicely packed in a cookie tin, gift-wrapped et al, to add a new dimension to Christmas. Come December, I for sure am going to try pairing their cookies with my fudges and date rolls.
Not far behind in their confectionery story are their gooey chocolates too. After all, there’s no thumb rule in a sweet world. The more, the merrier.
Cookies, Coffee and Book
If concerned about its shelf life, you may rest assured that its cookies last a good three weeks. It’s not, of course, one of their fast selling items owing to cakes taking up so much space that the cookies are cornered. They are hence made to order only.
9. HAPPINESS DELIVERED
You ask and they “deliver the goods”. Want to know their turnaround time for delivery? For regular cakes, it is just about 30-35 minutes for the baked product. Add yet another 10 minutes for delivery. Incredible yet true, a mere 10 minutes. Having tied up with Swiggy within a radius of 3km from the shop, delivery is a sail.
However, home deliveries are limited to Thane in most cases. The Western suburbs do not fall within their purview unless there are calls for customised and large orders.
Want to test their mettle? Try ordering for 800 pastries to be baked overnight.
10. BAKE YOU HAPPY ON YOUR ‘BIRTH’ DAYS
The origin of the word “birthday” emerges from the word “birth.” Hence it is natural for Pikaboos to be tied up with local hospitals which call for a cake on every birth of a baby. So pleased are these hospitals with their baby cakes that they sell like hot cakes at some of their Employee Satisfaction programs as well. Sweet.
WHAT ARE THEIR CUSTOMERS SAYING
Celebration time
If you want further proof, look at what their customers are saying. Once they place an order with Pikaboos, it creates a super hit with the buyers making customer loyalty almost certain. Apart from melting in the mouth, their goodies melt the heart too.
I bet you’re curious to try them out too. Now, what would you like to try first? Their life-size cakes which are larger than life? Or their rotation cakes which could set your head spinning? Or their assorted cookies which even more decorated than a Christmas tree? Here’s one place where you could have it all, that is have your cake and eat it too!
Here now, take a “peek” at the pictures on display on the links below. Peek–a-boo!
Website link: https://pikaboos.com/
Page link: https://www.facebook.com/Pikaboos.Yummiez/
Address: Shop No 1, Pachamrut CHS,,Thane 400 607
2 Comments
Well written and makes your mouth water.
Thank you Ami.