People, especially kids, come to her with a wish which she easily translates into reality. She doesn’t own a magical wand but she does create wonders with her creative art in cake making. With her own little business, Cake Creations, that she started from her home at Seraulim three years ago, today Helga Motha has a cake for every occasion.
Christmas is her busiest time. “I have already baked 300 kilos of cakes and the orders are still pouring in,” she briefs. Though she takes orders well in advance, people come rushing in at the eleventh hour too. “I don’t have a heart to disappoint them so I keep myself prepared for such last minute orders. Otherwise too, I keep my fruit mixture ready all the time as fruit cakes are wanted round the year in Goa,” she quips. Plum cakes are most sought after during Christmas and Easter but cupcakes, brownies, desserts, tarts and chocolates are in demand all the time and Helga makes all of these.
“I am open to flavours and if any customer comes with a request for a particular flavour which he/she likes, I try to prepare the concoction,” states this professional cake artist whose clients come mostly from South Goa though she entertains orders from North Goa too. Internet has helped in business networking and Helga gets online party cake orders from outside Goa. “My out-of-Goa clients come and pick up my creations whenever they are in Goa for a party or sometimes I arrange to transport the cake to their party venue,” she explains.
She offers kids’ party cakes, kids’ theme party take-away sweets, wedding cakes, anniversary cakes, baptism cakes, first Holy Communion cakes and sugar craft cake toppers, general party cakes and desserts, cupcakes, chocolates, dessert jars and much more. The flavours vary - red velvet cake, black forest cake, cheese cake, rainbow cake, chocolate crème cake, vanilla crème cake, classic sponge cake, chocolate cake, traditional fruit cake and wedding cake and and Tiramisu, a rich and smooth frozen Italian dessert. “The fruit cake is made using dry fruits soaked in alcohol with a hint of spice. These cakes are best made in advance. For weddings these cakes are then arranged in tiers and covered with marzipan and icing and decorated to your choice,” she says.
Baking has been in her family for a long time. Artful living was a way of life for Helga whose grandmother was the proprietor of Master Craft, an art and craft school in Margao along with attached cooking and baking classes. “It was from my mother and grandmother that I picked up these basic skills,” says Helga, admitting that she has come a long way since then.
Helga recalls the biggest wedding cake she baked in December 2013 which weighed 26 kilos. “It was a tall arch and the couple could stand underneath,” says this cake artist who is open to any wild idea when it comes to designing or decorating a cake. A regular, normal or standard size cake of one kilo costs Rs 800 but Helga’s prices vary depending on the specifications.
Helga also makes homemade chocolates with different fillings “ peanut butter cups filled with homemade peanut butter, chocolate choconuts filled with nuts, marzipan hearts which have cashew flavour trapped in soft sugar coated hearts, black forest truffles that have cherries and cream put together to give delightful layers and exquisite taste. She also makes liquor truffles too which come in flavours like mint, almond with drops of honey and rum, pinnacolada with pineapple, rum and cream of choconut which are a hit among her Goan clients.
Helga’s passion has turned into her profession and it’s paying her well too, both in terms of money and appreciation. The smile on the face of the clients is the biggest remuneration for the artist in her.
