A Dubai bakery has made a cake worth almost Dh150,000 — with edible gold coating — as a tribute to the 70th anniversary of India’s Independence falling on August 15 based on the theme of one of the most successful Bollywood movies, called ‘Dangal’.
Cake artists at Broadway Bakery crafted the structure featuring Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan who plays the role of Mahavir Singh Phogat, a wrestler, in the movie, who is determined to empower his daughters to become Olympic medal-winning wrestlers.
The cake has a sugar fondant figure of Aamir Khan looking on as his two daughters, Geeta and Babita, also sugar fondant figures, learn how to wrestle, in a makeshift mud pit - made entirely of edible ingredients - atop the cake.
Made at the request of a woman client in Dubai, the cake also features two gold medals (which were won by Geeta), the bakery said in a press release posted online.
“The client wanted gold to be generously incorporated into the cake and we fulfilled the request by coating each medal with 75 grams of edible gold. The gold medals are beautiful replicas of the medal Geeta Phogat won in the 2010 Commonwealth Games wrestling finals,” the press release said.
“It took Broadway Bakery’s teams 3.5 weeks and 1,200 man-hours to create this $40,000 [Dh146,800] work of art. Even though the sugar fondant sculpture [of Aamir, and his daughters] took a long time to complete, the cake sponge itself is to be made fresh the night before the actual event [of unveiling the cake],” said the statement, issued after uploading a video of the making of the cake on Facebook.
The bakery said it first created a full-size imitation before it received confirmation by the client that it met her expectations.
The full model of the cake is 4 feet tall from the base to the tip of Aamir Khan’s head. The fresh sponge weighs 30kg while the overall weight comes to 54kg. At the current weight, the cake can comfortably serve 240 guests.
The Signature Chocolate Cake is 100 per cent edible and made using sugar fondant, signature chocolate sponge, ganache, Belgian chocolate, demerara sugar and edible gold.
Before undertaking the cake, the bakery made special arrangements for the staff, not all of whom speak Hindi, to watch the movie with English subtitles to allow them to immerse themselves in the Dangal experience. “Watching the movie allowed our artists to relate to the theme of the project and gave them the inspiration to create the most breathtaking sculpture.
“Broadway Bakery’s fondant artists, head chef, and high-tech product design teams studied Aamir Khan’s personality for over a week to perfect the model’s immaculate expression and larger than life presence,” the press statement said.
”[On the occasion of India’s Independence Day], the client wanted something that reflected the common man’s struggle and India’s progress into the modern era," it said.
“She was proposed a few concepts based on some of India’s most nationalistic movies including Rang De Basanti, Chak de! India, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Lagaan. The client, a believer in women’s rights, loved the pro-feminist theme of Dangal.”
The product team then designed the Dangal cake to depict the vital role that Indian women played in helping the country break stereotypes. The press release stated that Indian women have raised the country’s standing despite social, cultural and economic barriers, and have overcome everyday challenges to collectively lead the country to becoming a global powerhouse
Speaking to Gulf News on Thursday evening, head chef Dominic Joseph Samuel said the replica displayed at the bakery does not have actual cake sponge in it.
“It was only created as an exact prototype of what the final cake would look like. The sponge for the original cake will only be prepared the night before the event and delivered via our refrigerated vans for maximum freshness.”
