The annual tea party: Whisked away

English tea and French fondant come to Karachi for a rendezvous.

KARACHI:

Glossy fondant flowers adorned over melt-in-your-mouth tartlets, sumptuous cream cheese icing ladled over soft carrot cake, and a lemon pound cake that would make you forget your own name. These were just a few of the offerings at the first annual tea party hosted by Tools To Bake (TTB), a home-based business run by the three Athar sisters, Zahra, Ruba and Daniya.

The event, held on Wednesday, took place at a private residence and the treats were prepared by some of their students. “We organised the tea party to introduce our students to clients and other business owners, to help them kick off their own business,” said Zahra Athar. “Around 90% of the students who take our classes end up staring their own businesses.”

TTB conducts baking courses that include fondant decorating and other professional baking courses and also supplies Wilton baking tools across Pakistan

Humaira Iqbal, owner of the catering company, A Whisk Come True, also displayed her culinary prowess at the event. She took TTB’s butter cream course about a year ago and won the themed cake contest by SWOT for her carrot cake at the Karachi Eat Festival.

“I bake because I find it therapeutic and have been doing this all of my life,” said Iqbal. “Since my icing alone can cost Rs3,000, I can’t supply cakes on a large scale. I take smaller orders and mostly bake on request.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2014.