Get Your Fill Of Luxurious, Handcrafted Confectionaries From Cocoatease In Mumbai

In today’s celebrity obsessed world, watching our favourite actors or singers on screen simply isn’t enough. We need the inside scoop into their lives; where do they buy their clothes? What’s their favourite hair-care brand? What’s their favourite food?

For us foodies, the last question is of vital importance. We assume celebrities would settle for nothing but the best, so we seek out their favourite restaurants and patisseries to get a literal taste of the luxe life.
In Mumbai, one local brand which celebrities, including Sonam Kapoor, Aishwariya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma and Maria Goretti gravitate towards is Cocoatease.

The Cocoatease Story

Cocoatease makes it its mission to serve hand-crafted premium products made with high quality ingredients and specialises in corporate gifting, dessert tables for unique occasions and also offers exclusive and elegant tailored confectionary for personalised gifting.

In 2007, Manju Hemrajani began Cocoatease and was joined by Mohit Khilnani, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, in 2014. Since then, Cocoatease has created a name for itself in the luxury confectionary market. Signatures at Cocooatease include English Toffees, Date Truffles a as well as brownies and blondies.

We recently caught up with Mohit to learn more about Cocoatease. Here’s what he had to say:

Why did you and your partner decide on the name ‘Cocoatease’? What do you hope to convey to your customers?

“We decided on the name Cocoatease, as we love chocolate. All our products have unique flavours combined with chocolate. Whether it is our cakes or chocolates, the cocoa based flavours are sure to tease your palate.”

What have been some of the most rewarding experiences in the venture?

“I feel the biggest reward for us is the fact that loads of people come hunting for us. Most of our clients have come through referrals and have become loyalists. There are times when we have set up large cakes at weddings and events, and we have a herd of people suddenly surrounding us. That is such a brilliant feeling.”

How have you adapted the skills you learnt at Le Cordon Bleu to suit the Indian palate?

“ I believe that Manju (my business partner) and I both understand the needs and requirements of the Indian palate in terms of flavors. Le Cordon Bleu helped me build a strong foundation of techniques and skills like tempering chocolate, understanding flavours and textures and making sure that ‘less is more’. When it comes to understanding flavor there are a few things that I definitely have incorporated in my work.”

When it comes to desserts, what does the Indian palate crave?

“One thing is for sure, no matter how healthy or full of calories your product is, the Indian audience needs it to taste rich and flavorsome. A touch of salt to balance out the sweetness always helps. Personally, I feel extra sweetness kills the flavor of any dessert, so we try and keep a check on that.”

Describe some of the most unique custom cakes you have made.

“In the recent past, one of the most unique cakes was our ‘Mehendi Cake’. It was made for a wedding ceremony and had sugar crafted hands on the cake adorned with finely detailed chocolate –henna art. Also, another one was the vegan cake that we recently gifted Sonam Kapoor on her birthday. We created an entirely edible, dress-up Sonam setting, wherein we had her dressed in an outfit from her Cannes appearance and had all her favourite brands of bags and shoes set in a sugar closet, adjoining a wall with photo frames.”

What was the most challenging customized cake you had to make?

“Every celebration cake that we do is equally challenging since they are all custom made. However, if I had to pick one, it was a 75kg cake we made for a film shoot, where the characters in the film were going to be using the cake as a set: walking, sitting and sliding around the drapes of the cake (using VFX effects of course). Since it was being filmed in parts, I was present at the shoot, helping them out. There were parts of the fondant that were melting under the harsh heat of the lights and had to be fixed on the spot. Also, since we knew that the shoot conditions were going to be less than ideal, we had to prepare 2 identical cakes so we had a backup and the shoot did not have to suffer.”

Consumers, especially from the elite class are becoming more and more health conscious. How do you cater to these tastes?

“Purity of ingredients is the best way of ensuring high quality taste. Most healthy products that we create are ones that have pure ingredients that are not just healthy but also wholesome. There are great healthy options and substitutes that are power packed but tasty. Clients who are well travelled understand that healthy does not have to be boring or bland. Our Pure Almond Cake/Blondies are the best example where we use just one core ingredient to create such a healthy and delicious cake.”

What are some of your personal favorite products?

“I have a complete sweet tooth and so does Manju. However, we are both extremely critical about our own work. If I had to pick a few that are always a part of my post meal binge, they would have to be our English toffees, our Fig Rochers, our fruit and nut cookies and the coconut & semolina cake.”

Describe a typical day at Cocoatease.

“A typical day at Cocoatease starts early in the morning, when we come in and get to sanitizing the place down. Then begins the major portion of our baking; be it cakes, cookies or other confections along with our kitchen staff. The doors then open to our clients to pickup their orders or come in for consultations. Our packaging staff then comes in and begins all the wrapping and ribboning so our orders are ready in time. This is also the time when our creative juices flow and Manju and I personally ice and decorate all major cakes for the day. We then move on to the chocolates. Through the day, we have multiple sessions of cleaning (probably because we are both massive neat freaks). I then get onto the social media queries, posts and other interactive activities before heading home late in the evening. With a concept like ours, there is always a sense of urgency and discipline that is required. It gets crazy sometimes, but at the end of the day it is super satisfying.”