Nadia Aslam is good at whatever she does – be it designing dresses, doing hand embroidery or creating a fondant cake! Till a decade ago this Ponjekar girl designed beautiful dresses, hand dyed colourful kurtas, indulged in intricate hand embroidery at her boutique ‘Xtacy’. Then she tried her hands at making chocolates and baking cakes, which she found was an easier option to fall back on, as she could be her own boss, work at her own pace and enjoy her ‘me time’ too.
“Indeed it was not a cake walk for me as I always wanted to improvise my skills to bake a perfect cake. But learning from different masters in the art, I mastered it all, and as a home entrepreneur for over 10 years, I could cater to over 4000 happy clients in Goa and outside. My passion for creation of unique cakes led me to fill the online form for this pan Asia competition and participate in it. I am happy that I not only made it to Sri Lanka’s most prestigious SL Institute of Confectionery & Culinary Arts at Colombo (SLICCA) but won their ‘Cake Artist of the Year’ title, a gold medal and a certificate, too,” smiles Nadia, a mother of three.
Nadia was one of the 19 delegates from India who participated in the exhibition and live competition hosted by SLICCA. At Colombo over 200 creative exhibits from across Sri Lanka were evaluated by a panel of international judges who selected the best among them on day one. Next day, June 15 was the annual graduation ceremony at Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel Colombo, in conjunction with the 3rd edition of Asia Cake Oscars 2025 under the leadership of Dr Fathima Rushda.
SLICCA celebrated the achievement of 42 Oscar-winning artists from across Asia, recognised in various categories of confectionery arts. Nadia won the ‘Artist of the Year’ award – a big achievement for someone who never dreamt that she would ever receive such international appreciation. Chosen as a judge she also saw herself giving away the awards to others.
“It was a proud moment for me and my husband Rehan Shaikh who was besides me in Colombo. My children, back home, were excited too,” exclaims Nadia, a home science graduate from Goa College of Home Science who majored in textiles. “As a textile designer I had a boutique in St Inez before venturing into the world of cakes. So, it’s been a shift from designing clothes to designing cakes,” she adds. Learning different skills from a young age helped her carve a niche for her in both her businesses.
Lessons of life
Nadia conducted embroidery classes and tie & dye art workshops at home in 2005. At 23, she was a faculty to teach hand embroidery in the SISI Institute Margao for their skill empowerment program for women. The same year she got married, and took a break till 2006 when her elder son was born.
“I worked as a career consultant in 2008, conducted exhibitions of hand dyed and hand embroidered kurtis too. I also joined Max New York Life Insurance agency as an agent advisor. I took a break again to give time to my second son in 2009. Then from 2010 to 2012, I helped my father in his garment shop and boutique ‘Xtacy’ in Panaji. I also was a substitute teacher at Rosary School the same year. I took a break again for the birth of my daughter in 2012 and took up some local classes in skill development. I also enrolled in a baking class to brush up my skills learnt in college,” she recalls.
Finally 2016 dawned when she accepted reluctantly her first order for a cake. Anxious of how the cake would turn out to be, to her surprise it was just perfect. And ever since then, there was no looking back for Nadia! Today, she has over 550 five-star reviews on Google.
Learning to be a baker
“Gradually after gaining confidence, I took up baking as a profession as it gave me free time to manage my home, children and work. I grabbed every opportunity to learn new skills. In 2017 I was invited for a 3-day bakers’ convention in Ramada resort, Benaulim where top chefs and cake artists from the world had arrived to guide us. I learnt chocolate modelling and air brushing from Kim Witler, Netherlands, wedding cake deco and sugar craft from Candice Chand, Canada, sugar-free bakes from Anuja Sule, Mumbai, modern cake deco from Poonam Maria Prem, Hyderabad and French desserts from Ruhee Bimani, Mumbai and many more,” shares Nadia, who kept brushing and upgrading her skills year after year.
“I learnt French entremets and chocolate bonbons from Zareen Shaukat (Mumbai) and sugar flowers from Arati Mirji (Bengaluru), gravity defying cakes from Megha Kwatra Madan (Delhi) and wedding cakes from Chef Rianne (Mumbai). I attended Cakelogy Cake Fest in Mumbai and participated in workshops like Pastillage Art cakes from Chef Yener Serdar (Australia/Turkey) who is known as The Amitabh Bacchan of the cake industry. I am glad that I got an opportunity to sit right under his nose and get trained to excel in cake art. Samie J Ramachandran (Bengaluru) taught me modelling chocolate sculpting. There are countless names who have been my Gurus including Chef Brainard Colaco...” Nadia’s list is unending.
Being independent
Taking lessons of being independent financially from her mother Hasina Bandukara, and father Aslam Punjabi, Nadia recalls how her mother ran a beauty parlour from her home while her father ran an apparel store from the CCP building in Panaji. Nadia’s sons Nouman, Mohd Ali and daughter Ridaa also help her to complete her cake orders in time, while her husband Rehan Shaikh helps in delivering the cakes.
“Rehan is line producer for events, reality shows, music videos and movies in Goa, and whenever there are no shoots, he is wholeheartedly available. One of the rooms in our house is reserved as my cake studio. A girl comes to help me. I am happy that I could generate at least one job,” says Nadia who has trained 1000 plus cake art students. Among her clients are Goans living abroad too – in Dubai, Honk Kong, Australia, America etc who place orders for their relatives in Goa. She executes the order and delivers at their doorstep!
On the sets of Master Chef India
Nadia recalls how she got an opportunity on the sets of Master Chef India, to bake for India’s famous celebrity chefs Master Chef Judge duo Ranveer Brar and Vikas Khanna. While Brar gave a shout out on his Insta story, stating that it was one of the best cakes he has had in Goa, Khanna was bowled over with the innovative motichoor truffles. Amazed with the idea of elaichi ganache he added an image of the truffles to his Instagram page!
Early days
Nadia has passed out from Rosary High School (Miramar), did her higher secondary at Dempo College, before enrolling for Home Science, which was her mother’s wish. As a child Nadia was always interested in embroidery, creative art work and was very fond of designing clothes. She had exhibitions in her own brand name of hand-dyed and hand-embroidered kurtis. For her cake business, Nadia’s mom suggested ‘Nadia’s SweeTooth’ which suited Nadia who has a sweet tooth. Nadia created a Facebook page with this name and posted all her cakes on it. It was a turning point in her life. Her work got recognised and today it’s become a brand by itself. An ordinary home maker turned a home baker!
