Meet Chef Bhumika

I’m Chef Bhumika, head pastry chef and founder and this is my open journal of everything sweet, unique and artisanal. 

Having baked hundreds of cupcakes and brownies in college while studying Business & Marketing, I took my first steps towards following my passion professionally at At-Sunrice Global Chef Academy, Singapore eight years ago. Suddenly I was donning chef whites and separating eggs in large stainless steel bowls on large marble tables. 

I was out of place, petrified, I wasn’t any good at it but I was sure – this is where I want to be. 

My journey from Intern to Entrepreneur went from pastry school to a one year internship at Movenpick (with 365 bread butter puddings and 365 life lessons) to two years of working with  premium chocolates at Fabelle , ITC Maratha in Mumbai to starting The Pastry Journal in 2019. I am now nearly four years into this business. 

I am still petrified in entrepreneurial ways, I still feel a little out of place sometimes and I am still sure – this is how I want my brand to be. 

I took inspiration for my brand name from my childhood (and mildly terrifying) experience of maintaining a science journal. All the diagrams had to be pretty and neat on one side, the science meticulously explained on the other side and step by step procedures to follow, much like the world of patisserie which is just as much as a science as it as an art. I wanted to see each of my creations as a new entry in a journal and be able to share this journal with everyone.

My goal is simple – to meet you halfway with peak quality and my sense of individuality intact. If you love cake, I’ll make you an entremet. If you love Nutella, I’ll add a paste of whole toasted hazelnuts made from scratch. If you love chocolate, I’ll spoil you with cacao origins from across the world. If you love fruity flavours, I’ll bake you the creamiest cheesecake and top it with raspberry jam and if you love coffee, you and I will get along just fine! 🙂 

My journal entries are a combination of kitchen and entrepreneurship experiences and all I can hope is that you devour the read!