Date : 13-08-2016
It was almost 12.00 at mid-night, I had a hearty-dinner just an hour before but my temptations pulled me towards the fridge door. I opened the little box of stunningly carved ‘Lady Grey Tea Macroon’, took a bite of the divine delicacy, the crackly ringlet, the orange hue, the nutty outer, the inner meringue texture, the fragrance of tea the bite made me transform into another ecosphere. I am the world’s biggest foodie, but Elma D’Souza’s culinary prowess just gushed me away that night!
This is a story about a dentist and her journey to the sweet tooth. Elma D’Souza, a Mangalorean girl with her roots in Kerala, did her dentist course in Devanagari, practiced three years in Mangaluru and Gujarat, but little did she know that her creative hands are blessed to make desserts in an avant-garde style. Within a year, Elma turned a fabulous play of elegance and delight that encompassed all things sugary and delicious.
Elma is a budding entrepreneur and staying with her husband in Dubai. She is married to Joystan. However, soon after her marriage she started an affair with the oven! Yes, you heard me right! The Oven Affairs – is a venture of Elma through which she has been creating heavenly and artistic cakes and desserts. The detail work on every cake that she designs is extremely imaginative. Her inventiveness with edible colour and canvas cakes left me spell-bounded.
Elma’s creative extravaganza started over four years ago in a dental clinic. Not so keen on craving tooth Elma began to read on craving cakes. Surfing on the internet she came across a blog named Cake Canvas by Anna, the tingle in her mind made Elma read and surf more about such innovations on Cakes of course! The more vigorously she read about it, her interest to the subject became emergent. The girl who never even baked cakes until 2013, mastered the art of Cake making and is flooded with orders today!
Over an unending conversation on mouthwatering topics and viewing pictures on her FB page: https://www.facebook.com/theovenaffairs my heart kept sinking deeper and deeper in rich melted chocolate and various other mawkish substance that made me hungry.
A rich cake with a sort of ganache, jam or buttercream is enough for Elma to create an art masterpiece. Not just this Elma says, “I believe is crash recipes everything needs to be made fresh without preservatives or replacements. I never compromise on the quality of the product” making each art form not only pleasing to the eyes but also luscious, awaking all your sense.
With the dream to win the Cake Oscar Awards hosted by the Cake Master Magazine at Birmingham, Elma is still talking her baby steps, but with confidence and a lot of support from her husband, as she mentions. Elma’s creativity is not limited to Cakes but she also is involved in various other art forms. This one of a kind artist had a story behind every Cake she designed. Be it Global Health and Safety Day at the Hyder Consulting in Dubai where she made 400 cupcakes in four assorted flavours in an oven capacity of 24 cupcakes at a time that she just completed it in three days and two nights or the silver anniversary of a couple with her most memorable creation ‘The Tree of Life’.
She states that the paintings on every Cake that she creates is her signature move. The Oven Affairs houses some ultimate delightful flavours such as the German Chocolate cake that is filled with custard, Red Velvet with Cream cheese in White Chocolate Ganache, Ultimate Chocolate cake with Malt frosting, Vanilla Milk Cake with Seasoned fig filling and Chocolate Date with Cardamom Pistachio Ganache. A Spiced Chai cake with Ginger buttercream is another attempt of keeping the Cakes flavor rich from India.
For a sumptuous Plain Brown Cake weighing 1.5kg Elma charges around AED 300 and for a piece of art it may cost from AED 800 to anywhere as much as the project demands. Elma also does innovative deserts like a Customized Cake pops, Hand painted cookies, Designer cupcakes, Chocolate eggs and more.
To speak to Elma D’Souza you may call – 0555567014
or follow her on: https://www.instagram.com/theovenaffairs/
