- Eaunna Sivanather on her baking business and all things cake
Eaunna Sivanather, founder and baker at Cake ‘n Bake by Pixie Dustt, tells us she has always been very passionate about baking and dreamt of having a brand name of her own. Eventually, after much trial and error, she established Cake ‘n bake by Pixie Dustt in 2016.
Several years later, her husband Malindu joined hands with her as managing partner and brand developer. On their own, they have been able to expand the business and give a new face to the brand, Sivanather told us.
Taking a stroll down memory lane to when her interest in baking first piqued, Sivanather shared that she remembers watching her mom and aunts bake and decorate cakes every year for birthdays.
“Not only did I watch them, I was always excited to help them. I loved watching the colours and patterns that went into a cake,” she told us. As she grew older, she began making her own birthday cakes with the help of her mom.
Eventually, she studied the art of baking and the norms of business management and put her knowledge to the test with her own baking business. “I would say the love for baking is what has brought me to where I am today,” Sivanather added.
At the moment, Cake ‘n Bake mainly focuses on customised cakes and cupcakes for any occasion. “Let it be a birthday, wedding, bridal shower, or baby shower, you name it and we deliver,” she stated, adding that apart from cakes, they also make cookies, doughnuts, cakesicles, and many more sweet and savoury items.
When asked what their current bestseller is, Sivanather named it to be their signature chocolate drip cake loaded with a variety of chocolates. “Customers just love it when they receive their chocolate drip cakes that are always beyond their expectations,” she expressed, although she revealed that her personal favourite is the classic vanilla cake with white buttercream and a drizzle of white chocolate ganache.
Starting her own business did not come without its challenges; Sivanather told us she has faced many throughout. “Starting with the basics of financial support – in order to start and develop the business I didn’t have a good financial foundation; however, I worked day and night to earn the money that I wanted to invest in purchasing and promoting the business,” she told us proudly. There were even times she worked for 72 hours without a wink of sleep, but added that it has all paid off today. The next biggest challenge was the hate and negativity of some who wanted to really discourage them. “That never stopped me either. I never quit and I’m happy I never did,” Sivanather added.
Speaking of challenges, we asked her how she was faring with the recent price hikes and shortages. She responded that it has affected her business very much, saying: “We had to even pause our operations for a while as we were running out of gas for baking and fuel for delivery.”
However, they have started accepting a very limited number of orders at the moment in order to combat this issue. She also added that the price hike of the ingredients have affected the prices of cakes drastically and noted that it’s a huge issue to everyone in the industry.
Sivanather told us that they launched their website (www.cakenbakepixie.com) during the Covid-19 lockdown. It is designed and managed by her husband completely. The brand is also available on Instagram and Facebook.
“The website has helped customers reach us faster and conveniently; that was the first step in growing our business,” she stated.
When asked what we can expect from Cake ‘n Bake in the next few months, Sivanather stated that they are now working on opening a cake boutique for customers who would like to purchase cakes off the shelves while they continue to maintain the home baking concept of their business.
