J’AIME JULY/AUGUST 2022

Indian sweets, traditionally called ‘mithai’. I went
to the drawing board and thought about traditional
flavours such as rose water, cardamom, saffron,
things that I grew up tasting in all types of food and
drink.
“Tea is a huge part of our culture, whenever you
go to someone’s house there will be a lovely cup of
masala chai and a sweet treat waiting and I thought I
have to put tea in at least one of the cakes. I gauged
what flavours would work and then I developed the
recipes, I went through countless batches and when I
got the right one I decided to give them to my work
colleagues to test and try, from there, the new range
was born and it worked out really well.”
Simi’s three final flavours were Gulab Jaman (dough
balls in syrup) and Masala Chai, Gajar Ka Halwa
(sweet carrot pudding) and Cardamom, and the third
was a Jalebi (crispy, fried rounds in a sugar syrup)
with Coconut and Saffron.
“It was never my intention to make money from
cakes, it started off as my release point, then posting
pictures online, making cakes for family and friends
and developing into people getting in touch with me
to bake for their occasions,” Simi adds.
“After the pandemic, I decided to take my baking
more seriously; there was a lot of demand and
I thought I could make something of this. I love
baking, it is a part of me, it’s my happy place.”
For more on Simi Bakes, visit her Instagram page
@simi_bakes
Recipe
Here, Simi shares one of her
favourite recipes for lemon
drizzle cake:
Ingredients
225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
1 lemon, zested
For the drizzle topping
1½ lemons, juiced
85g caster sugar
Line a loaf tin with greaseproof
paper and preheat the oven to gas
mark 4/180C.
Beat together your butter and
caster sugar until pale and creamy.
Add your eggs, one at a time,
slowly mixing through.
Sift in the self-raising flour, then
add the lemon zest and mix until
well combined.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and
level the top with a spoon.
Bake for 45-50 mins until a thin
skewer inserted into the centre of
the cake comes out clean.
While the cake is cooling in its tin,
mix together the lemon juice and
caster sugar to make the drizzle.
Prick the warm cake all over with a
skewer or fork, then pour over the
drizzle – the juice will sink in and
the sugar will form a lovely, crisp
topping.
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