Prachi Dhabal Deb is an internationally award winning cake artist from Pune. She is a 2 World Record Holder from World Book of Records, London. She has brought justice to her art by making cakes and cookies in the most creative fashion. Her work is crisp and precise with a keen eye for detailing. She has mastered the art of creating royal-looking, luxurious bakes, which are majestic in their appeal and delicious in taste. She specializes in Royal-Icing art and is recognized as the top artist of Royal-icing in India. Royal-icing is a difficult medium to work with and is very fragile.
Though highly prestigious, having being used for decorating the cakes for the British royal family, this delicate art requires high amount of patience and skills and finds very limited commercial success worldwide. Being traditionally egg based, the popularity was not much in Indian cake industry as well. Understanding the customer base in India, she knew that to have maximum admirers of her art, she will have to make eggless cakes and royal icing, thus she came up with her own product, Vegan Royal Icing, in association with Sugaring—the same is available across popular online platforms nationally and internationally and has been a huge success. Apart from being one of the elite groups of Cake Artists across the globe, Prachi also is an Internationally acclaimed Judge for various competitions around the world
Women Fitness India gets into a heart-to-heart conversation as she graces our June Cover.
Namita Nayyar:
Prachi from being a World Record Holder, to learning cakes from the baker of the British Royal Family, walk our readers through your journey and your initial days of finding your calling in baking?
Prachi Dhabal Deb
As a child, I loved baking and I remember it used to be my favorite summertime activity as a ten-year old. Assisting my mother when she was making jams and fresh compotes from peaches and plums freshly plucked out of our garden, baking tiny cupcakes, it was an activity I really looked forward to. I also had a fascination for the arts and crafts and color but then academics took over and the main focus was on education, so I went on to completing my honors in accounts and finance and then working in a multi- national company as a financial analyst. It was a great run in the finance sector for me and everything was hunky dory but it was still not what my heart desired.
It wasn’t something that I looked forward to, going to work and all of that. When it became monotonous and due to health reasons, I took a break and my husband who is in the IT sector and got to travel and I travelled with him and that break helped me in finding all my lost loves like painting, baking and cresting new things.
When I returned home, I started baking profusely and all my friends and family were very appreciative of my cakes and my cakes were the star of most parties that I attended or was hosting. Eventually, an event manager friend coaxed me to bake birthday cakes and that kickstarted my baking venture in June 2012. I was baking copiously everyday after that and 3 or 4 years down the line I realized that I was drawn towards a medium that I really liked was Royal Icing that I discovered through a book called The Art of Royal Icing by Sir Eddie Spence MBE.
I was so mesmerized by this art form that I wanted to go to London and learn from him. He is a legendary cake artist who has also baked for the British royal family. So, I got the honor of learning from him twice and that is how my journey of royal icing began.
I came back to India and started making royal icing cakes but then I realized the traditional recipe had eggs and then my whole focus was to develop a recipe that’s eggless or from a vegan source so that it would suit the Indian market, I worked on it for a couple of years and figured a great recipe after a lot of trial and error and I got in touch with an Indian company to launch this vegan recipe as a commercial product in 2019 and it’s doing really well in India and internationally. In 2022, I completed ten years and to celebrate that milestone of my journey, I made two World Records, for the biggest vegan royal icing structure and the maximum number of vegan royal icing structures. It was a double celebration!
FULL INTERVIEW ON THE NEXT PAGE!
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President of womenfitness.org, and should not be reproduced, copied, or hosted in part or full anywhere without express permission.
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Namita Nayyar:
You are popularly known for vegan royal icing, right now veganism is a well-known and most popular diet routine and lifestyle change. Tell us about royal icing and your take on it?
Prachi Dhabal Deb
IN 2015, when I travelled to London to learn from the iconic cake artist, Sir Eddie Spence MBE, it was a dream come true and I got the opportunity to learn from him. Royal icing is one of the most traditional medium when it comes to cake decorating. It’s a fascinating medium and also the name Royal icing comes from the anecdote that when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert got married, the icing that was used in their wedding cake and because it was used for this royal wedding, it was coined as the royal icing. The traditional recipe comprises egg whites or dried albumin powder.
So, when I learnt the basics and fundamentals of royal icing, I realized to make this popular and a hit in India, it is important that I figure out a vegetarian or a vegan version of the same recipe, because then it will be popular among the masses. I really wanted this medium to thrive and that gave birth to this idea of vegan royal icing.
Namita Nayyar:
Baking is more upcoming trend in India with so many home bakers coming up, how do you plan to extend your knowledge bank to them and increase empowerment?
Prachi Dhabal Deb
Baking and cake artistry is a full-fledged industry and it’s been doing well for the past 10 or 12 years and there are numerous opportunities around and the industry has grown really well with a lot of Indian brands coming up and helping artists in a way because when I started, sourcing even a small quantity of good quality ingredients had to be imported from abroad. It was not easily available in India but now everything needed for cake artistry and baking is readily available and made in India to a point where Indian brands and industries are exporting to countries all over the world.
Baking these days in terms of knowledge, material and classes, everything is so advanced now, you have wonderful academic institutions and individual artists who are specializing in a certain art form and are imparting their knowledge to those interested and my specialty being royal icing, I also take a lot of online classes and physical classes and I attend a lot of cake shows where I take workshops. Because of social media, one can stay connected in a way that people can see your work and all your work that you post and can talk to you directly so the reachability has definitely increased.
I am also associated with a lot of institutions and NGOs working for women empowerment and the underprivileged because not just royal icing but also baking is something that itself is an employment generator and those who want to start out can and I’m very fortunate to contribute to these causes in my own little way by imparting my knowledge to them and it makes my heart full that I’m able to contribute even this tiny bit towards empowering these women. So yes, it’s important because even the younger generation, teenagers and even children as young as 8 or 9 years old are interested in learning baking or become a chef and that has happened because of the immense exposure and awareness around them and it’s shows great promise for the baking industry.
Namita Nayyar:
Women Fitness India talks about diet and fitness routines; do you follow any special diet? How do you manage your sugar and calorie intake being a baker yourself?
Prachi Dhabal Deb:
I have always had a sweet tooth and even as a child, I enjoyed my desserts the most , Indian sweets and all thing sweet but as I grew older , I realised the importance od eating in moderation and more importantly eating right and having balance in your diet. I was quite athletic and was inclined towards sports in my school and college days so I paid extra attention to the portion size of what I was eating and what I was consuming in proteins, carbs and sugar intake. So, I used to eat each and every thing that I would bake and make and all the lovely Indian sweets that are available but I kept a watch on my portion size and controlled that to a large extent.
Namita Nayyar:
You opened about suffering through autoimmune disorders, share your journey with it? Initial struggles and how do you manage it every day?
Prachi Dhabal Deb:
In 2018, all of a sudden I was diagnosed with an auto immune disorder. Whatever I wad eating I was having a lot of discomfort and my body was displaying allergic reactions. It was difficult eating the normal stuff that I would otherwise enjoy so later on when it got worse, I was diagnosed as intolerant to gluten, dairy, nuts and a lot of other stuff that we consume on a daily basis.
While it was shocking and difficult to understand what to do when things you’ve eaten all your life were giving you such a tough time. So, it was a tough year, but I maintained my focus and started making whatever lifestyle changes that I could. With the support of my family and friends, I was able to finally make a routine where I was sticking to a strict diet and till date, I’m on a restricted diet and I’m still taking medication.
My work is something I really look forward to and it really keeps me positive and it gives me a lot of happiness and my heart is full all the time that I’m working. So, I think having a positive mind and people around you who love you, it helps you to come out of any situation you’re in and motivates one to follow a healthy lifestyle of eating, exercising and sleeping. Having a routine really helps, it’s a lifetime thing for me but I’m really happy that I’m able to manage it.
Namita Nayyar:
Being a women entrepreneur, you have definitely achieved a threshold, what advice would you like to share for upcoming young entrepreneurs?
Prachi Dhabal Deb:
It’s been 11 years since I started my journey as a cake artist and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. I have experimented with working on all sorts of cakes before settling and specialising in royal icing and it’s been a beautiful journey. This journey has taught me so much on a daily basis and I’m really grateful for all the love and support I’ve received from this industry.
For all the new bakers and cake artists and those who are planning a career in this stream and to the young entrepreneurs, it is important to focus on the hard work and on having a strong foundation and on having a routine. You should know your medium inside out and understand it really well. Eventually when you understand your medium really well, you can discover your niche and what you can offer to the market that is different from what’s already there.
Being talented is important but hard work is most important. Consistent hard work will give you results that talent may not be able to, so, it’s a combination of everything above that will take you places in this sector.
Namita Nayyar:
Where do you see yourself in the future? What are your upcoming plans and goals for 2023?
Prachi Dhabal Deb:
As an artist, we always have to listen to our creative soul and what our heart is prompting us to do. I treat my cakes as a canvas and whenever I’m working on any new design or any new creation, it gives me a lot of positivity and I’m completely engrossed in that whole process.
Also, I take each day as it comes, I give value to each and everything that’s coming my way and I give full importance and full value because I believe in the fact that we have to listen to our heart and there has to be a balance between your heart, soul and mind. There has to be a connection, so you listen to it and use your creativity. Take each day as it comes has been my mantra. My future plans are to continue working on royal icing and to keep on exploring this medium because for the past so many years I’ve been working with it and its versatility still surprises me each time. So, I’m still exploring and still learning and working each day and that’s the best part of being an artist.
Namita Nayyar:
Lastly, you have been on Femina Cover, tell us about your experience and how did it feel?
Prachi Dhabal Deb
It’s been a great experience being on the Femina cover and one that I’ll cherish for life. I’m really fortunate and honored that this has happened. As an artist, it’s really great when your art is appreciated outside of your own industry and family and friends. To be on the cover of a women centric magazine like Femina is a dream come true and I’m extremely and eternally grateful.
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This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President of Women Fitness