Why Mumbai's pastry makers spend hours painstakingly hand painting macaroon shells

Of all the French desserts getting a macaron right is considered the toughest job ever Now imagine not just getting them right but also drawing intricate designs on them by hand City bakers with a keen artistic knack have started handpainting macarons making them an easytopick gifting optionCustompainted macarons by Akruthi Kataria Sureka of Anaya by AkruthiCharges Rs 40 Rs 50 per macaronCall 9819391806For Annushka Jaliwala a 26yearold graphic designer and chef itrsquos the simple coming together of her two passions ldquoComing from a design background the idea of creating visually appealing food always played in my head even before I started cooking professionally And Irsquod keep ruminating about how I could merge food with art and design Eventually after a cake decoration workshop I realised the ease of painting with food colours was akin to watercolours I found the balance between creativity and baking that I had desiredrdquo she saysWhen it comes to getting the flavour right Jaliwala tries coordinating design with flavour but more in terms of colour She makes a variety of flavours such as dark chocolate sea salt salted caramel white chocolate and mint strawberry cheesecake blueberry cheesecake dark chocolate mint and vanilla bean Her popup menus are shared on her Instagram page feminomnom and she also accepts customisation orders Keeping her graphic design background in mind Jaliwala goes the extra mile by creating mood boards before actually painting on the macarons She adds ldquoIt takes me over six hours to paint a batch of 140 macarons Thatrsquos 280 shellsrdquoAishwarya SinkarThe art work says 25yearold Aishwarya Sinkar ensures that clients first ldquoeat with their eyesrdquo Sinkar who has a Diploma in Pastry Arts from the Mumbaibased Academy of Pastry Arts worked with brands such as La Folie and Fabelle Chocolate Boutique at ITC Maratha before starting her own venture Viola Patisserie which is a studio kitchen that makes madetoorder desserts She says ldquoPainting has always been my hobby Be it paper walls or articles I love making things atheistically pleasing Macarons are delicious as they are But painting on them just takes them to another levelrdquoSinkarrsquos work is customised to occasions and sometimes she also incorporates her painted macarons for the cake topper She explains ldquoSome of the flavours that we do are rose macarons with beautiful roses painted on them We do one with lavender painted on it and the flavour is lavender and chocolate We can also customise them for any occasion and they make excellent party or wedding gifts where you put any date or initials or even a thank you on the macaronsrdquoAnnushka Jaliwala of Feminomnom is a graphic designer and chef who started painting macarons when she realised that food colour works as wonderfully as water colours PicSameer MarkandeWhen it comes to desserts most of us have favourite brands So in case you want the macarons from a particular baker handpainted then Akruthi Kataria Sureka the creative head and owner of Anaya by Akruthi has you covered She says ldquoToday customising is a part of every business I started doing this for proposal requests bridesmaid hampers baby shower announcements and festivals in bulk ordersrdquo Sureka is an artist and painting is her forte She avoids adding any flavour in her painting unless itrsquos requested as the macarons and cakes already have a strong flavour so she tries and maintain that She adds ldquoIf I know the baker then I request them to send me the baked biscuits first paint them and then send them back to the baker for the cream filling and packing If that is not possible then I request the macarons to be delivered to me for painting a day before or on the same day as the client delivery Painting has to be done in a cool room and handled with nimble fingers since they have a cream fillingrdquo