Festivals and celebrations are synonymous with desserts in India. And the one thing that we look forward to come any festival is the mouth-watering desserts. Now with Holi around the corner, DLF Promenade brings together some of Delhi and Gurugram’s best bakeries for its fifth edition of Dessert Bazaar. The two-day festival in association with the Little Black Book (LBB) started on 24th February amid a lot of excitement and will conclude this Sunday.
Siddharth Natu, Center Head, DLF Promenade spoke to Guardian 20 about the one of its kind fest and said, “As DLF Promenade completes nine successful years of spreading smiles and being Delhi’s favourite destination for shoppers and foodies alike, we want to celebrate the occasion with our discerning patrons who have been at the core of our journey. And there›s no better way of celebrating the anniversary than with an entire day of gorging on over 150 desserts. We are happy to associate with LBB for the fifth edition of Dessert Bazaar for two fun-filled days where some of Delhi and Gurgaon’s best bakeries will serve decadent desserts, yummy beverages, delicious food along with live music and fun activities.”
The dessert festival puts the spotlight on Delhi-NCR’s most unique and interesting home bakers, and artisanal dessert makers. The diversity in dessert makers comprises chefs from Le Cordon Bleu, home-based bakers and dessert makers from Sugarama, Bombakery, Whipped, Morellos and other popular bakeries in Delhi. This festival features over 150 types of desserts and includes freak shakes, boozy desserts, and cakes, brownies, tarts, ice-creams, chocolates in all flavours and much more.
Guardian 20 spoke to Founder of House of Dessert›s (Pitampura) Shubhi Gupta who is a part of the festival this year about the creative desserts they have brought. She said, “We, as a brand has tried to play with flavours and give a modern twist to the traditional sweets.We have infused flavours such as mint, coffee, mandarin orange into desserts and have presented a twist to the good old dessert menu.”
Another participant Shubham Singh, Marketing Manager of Sushi Junction›s (Malviya Nagar) also elaborated on what he is showcasing. “We have authentic Japanese dishes like Japanese curry bowls as well as contemporary dishes like uramaki sushi, such as the internationally popular California roll, Philadelphia roll, and others. We have unique Japanese street-food like omusaba noodles, dimsums and innovations like ‘Make Your Own Sushi’, that appeal to almost all.”
“We are a delivery only restaurant and the fest is a chance for us to connect with customers directly. We hope for them to witness and appreciate the cultural aspect associated with Japanese cuisine since we are the only Japanese owned restaurant in the home delivery space in Delhi-NCR,” he continued.
Mother and kids cooking workshop with Nestle Milkmaid; a panel discussion with some of Penguin’s incredible authors; Beer Pong with Happy By Thirsty; Whisky flavoured desserts made using cutty sark; an engaging food-photography session with Tecno Mobiles are some of the interactive sessions that have been put together by the organisers
The festival also has live bands and DJs performing throughout the event. Home-bakers will also showcase their culinary skills, which will be judged by popular Instagrammers and chefs.
The chef Bombakery›s (Gurugram) Mitali Gupta asserted the importance of desserts and said, “Desserts today play a major role in everyday meals. Consumers today are well travelled and know exactly the flavour and texture of dessert they like. It also plays a major role in any occasion today, whether office soirees or social gatherings. Desserts are consumed to celebrate achievements and milestones. No meal is complete without a sweet ending.”
Stressing on the variety Bombakery is known for Gupta added, “Even though most desserts are sweet, we work towards providing various flavours, varied textures, and simple design.”
Modern Patissiere Ratna Saluja of Baked By Ratna Saluja (Panchsheel park) shared her reason for participating in the festival and said, “I want to reach to the taste buds of young old people and bring happiness to them by my sweet desserts.”
Ishika Saraf, Founder of The Oven’s Story (Spark Mall) shared her expectation on the second day of the festival (25 February) and said, “I expect an eclectic, posh buzzing atmosphere in the festival. I am also looking forward to the festival buzzing with people and a lot of positive energy to start off my good journey in Delhi.”
According to Manik Malhotra, Chief Revenue Officer, LBB, “This year’s festival is much bigger and better than previous year edition as the festival includes a variety of desserts and rather healthy desserts along with interactive and entertaining ground activities.”