The Delhi bakery has mastered the art of baking vegan goodies.

 ◊ By Preksha Agarwal

Visit ORGANIC SHOP by Pure & Eco India

If the fear of giving up on soft gooey cakes, creamy rich pastries and delectable cookies is keeping you from going vegan, then Bakeart will inspire your faith in eggless and dairyless baking. Established in 2014 and promoted by Arti and Vaibhav Jain, a vegan couple hailing from the hospitality industry, Bakeart has, within a short span of time, evolved into a thriving order-from- home bakery enterprise catering for Delhi-NCRites.

With Arti as head chef, Bakeart is unique in that it has managed to amass a robust clientbase and build repute without a physical manifestation, in terms of an outlet. But what it lacks in brick and mortar it makes up for in quality, taste and range. A click leading to its portal, bakeart.in, will propel you into a world of cheesecakes, cakes, bundts, chocolates, cookies, breads, brownies, muffins, doughnuts and icecream cakes. Overreaching, it extends its spectrum of offerings to mithai, butters and cheeses as well—all vegan, most organic. These treats are listed on Bakeart’s website and can be purchased (made-to-order) through the e-commerce site. “We have deliberately kept the format made-to-order to ensure the freshest ingredients for our clients and they can also stipulate their choice of flour, sugar, oil, etc,” says Arti.

Having graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management and the Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland, Arti spent more than a decade in the hospitality industry before founding Bakeart. “Bakeart started out as an endeavour to provide my kids with preservative free bread. One thing led to another—I went from breads to cakes, cookies and so on. Finally, in 2014, we took the plunge and officially launched Bakeart,” she recapitulates.

Recognised foremost as a vegan bakery, Bakeart did not, in fact, start out as a vegan outfit. A visit to the ‘Holy Cow Festival’, a veganism-awareness festival in the national capital compelled the Jains to go vegan, and “Bakeart, too, converted” along with the promoters in March 2016. Bakeart’s staple organic ingredients are procured from Phalada Pure and Sure and 24 Mantra, and for its fresh fruit supply, the bakery relies on Farmer Uncle, an aggregator of chemical free fruits. Similarly, vegetables are procured from an organic produce aggregator in the vicinity.

I kickstarted my decadent culinary adventure with Bakeart’s rich and fudgy Vegan Chocolate Brownies. These deliciously dark treats are prepared from scratch with organic wheat, organic cane sugar, cold pressed oil and organic cacao powder. This quintessential brownie does not disappoint. The dark chocolate quotient hits the mark and the texture of the brownie is cushiony, soft and chewy. You wouldn’t be able to guess there are no eggs or dairy involved.

Next, I sampled the Gluten Free Blueberry & Lemon Cookies. These petitely sized cookies have dried blueberries bursting from every bite, with a hint of lemon. As is evident from the name, blueberry is the prevalent flavour in these cookies. The freshness of the blueberries will strike you within the first few bites. My verdict: divine.

Here, I digressed towards the savoury, with Bakeart’s Mushroom & Pimento Tartlets. The tartlets are delightful. Adorned with farm fresh, succulent mushrooms accompanied by pimento sauce atop a baked puff pastry, again the freshness of the ingredients hits you in the face as you bite into this treat. The marrying together of the flaky, crunchy pastry with the juicy mushrooms results in a tasty yin-yang of complementary textures and flavours.

Next, I tasted whole wheat organic crackers with Pizza Sauce (prepared with organic tomatoes, basil and seasoning), Pimento and Cashew Sauce and Hummus. The cashew sauce was a revelation—dense, nutty and of creamy consistency. Similarly, the hummus was thick, luscious and flavourful. The crackers, as well as, the dips are all handcrafted and devoid of additives.

I rounded off the feast with the Chocolate and Caramel Cheesecake, which is oil and dairy free. While the base is a regular biscuit base like any other, the ‘cheese’ component comprises cashews, chocolate, coconut milk, vanilla essence, agar and cornflour, with a thick layer of caramel on top.

The cheesecake is stellar. The chocolate and caramel pair together perfectly with the cheesy cashew filling. Despite cashews and coconut milk being known for their high fat content, I found this cheesecake to be lighter than ones containing dairy.