‘Don’t forget to have fun when you’re baking!’: Pooja Dhingra

Pooja Dhingra is chief executive officer at Le 15 Patisserie.

Raise your hand if you tried baking banana bread or whipped up a cup of frothy Dalgona coffee in the past two years. Chances are, you did both!

As millions turned to cooking, especially baking, for solace during the pandemic, pastry chef Pooja Dhingra found herself in a quandary.

Founder and CEO of Le15 Patisserie, Dhingra had to close down her Le15 Café in Colaba. She found herself asking some difficult questions, like does she even like baking anymore.

Baking in her home kitchen when everyone had gone to bed each night, she got her the answer, and new recipes to put in her book, Coming Home.

Excerpts from a conversation with Dhingra:

The pandemic was a stressful time, and a lot of us found joy in baking during the lockdown. At one point, it became difficult to find butter or cocoa powder in stores! Did you do a lot of baking at home at this time?

Baking in my home kitchen in the first few months of the pandemic made me feel like I was 23 again. I was rediscovering what it meant to take simple ingredients and transform them into something delicious. I would start baking at midnight each night and really try to make sense of my mom’s pantry. It was truly a humbling and grounding experience.

Was baking a de-stressor for you, given that it is your day job too?

Baking is therapeutic because you not only create something with your hands, you actually feel like you have control over the process. I personally find the process meditative and I think it has the same effect on many people.

Your book 'Coming Home' contains anecdotes around how each dish was created...

I really wanted people to get to know me better and understand how my mind works when it comes to creating recipes. The book has recipes that have impacted my journey as a person and a chef, and I wanted to share that with people.

Can you take us through some of the recipes in the book and tell us what inspired them and what they can best be paired with?

Makhana Granola: This recipe really came about because I was looking at the Indian pantry a bit differently. Makhana as a snack has gained a lot of popularity and it’s always used in savoury dishes. I wanted to take the Makhana and re-imagine it. It is a super easy recipe and highly addictive. I would usually pair this with peppermint tea, because I love chocolate and peppermint together.

Makhana Granola

Lemon Chilli Cookies: I’m usually not the biggest fan of acid and spice in my dessert, but these were so good that I had to include them in the recipe list. It’s a great base recipe and even if you want to make it without the lemon and chilli, it works very well. I’d just have them by themselves to truly savour the flavours.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake: This recipe was me questioning myself and everything I knew about the science of baking. I wanted to test a recipe that made no sense to me. I added all the ingredients into a blender, and it surprisingly worked. I tested it multiple times and it only gets better with time. This is a great cake to have with a cup of black coffee.

Chutney Cheese Pull-Apart Bread: I love cheese pull-apart bread, and while discussing this recipe with my friend Chef Karishma Dalal, she suggested I make it with chutney and that was a game-changer. This is great to have with a cup of chai.

Chutney Cheese Pull-Apart Bread

Chai Hazelnut Macarons: This is a very special recipe because I made it for a cooking competition in Boston many years ago. It’s a take on my favourite masala chai and changing it up with hazelnut just elevates the recipe. I’d eat it by itself.

Chocolate Coffee Tart: I love the combination of coffee and chocolate. This tart is very easy to put together and is very delicious. You can make it a chocolate or coffee tart if you don’t want to layer it.

Can you share some easy baking tips for home chefs?

My advice would be to get a good weighing scale and ensure to weigh your ingredients correctly.

This sounds very basic, but read through a recipe completely before you start.

And most importantly - don’t forget to have fun!

Blue Velvet Cake

Recipe from 'Coming Home': Blue Velvet Cake (Eggless)

Makes one 6-inch cake

Preheat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius and line a 6-inch ring mould with parchment paper.

In a clean bowl, mix the butter, vanilla essence and sugar together.

Add condensed milk and gently fold it in.

Add milk and whisk to make a smooth batter.

Fold in the flour gradually in parts.

In a separate bowl, mix baking soda and apple cider vinegar, add the food colour and mix. Add the yoghurt.

Pour this mixture over the batter and combine.

Transfer the batter in the lined mould.

Bake at 165 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

To make the frosting

Soften the cream cheese and add in soft butter. Whisk well to form a homogeneous mixture.

Add sieved icing sugar and whisk until smooth.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

To finish

Frost the cake, and garnish with blueberries.