A computer engineer-turned-baker, Siya Wadji speaks of her passion for baking that led to the creation of her ‘sweet’ venture, Sweetpeeps
As a teenager, Siya had always been interested in baking, especially fresh vanilla and chocolate flavoured cakes at home during vacations which used to be her favourite pastime. Never had she thought that she would eventually make her hobby for baking her career!
Computer software and programming always had an enormous impact on her mind, as a result of which Siya graduated as a Computer Engineer from PCCE, Verna. Thereafter, she worked at an IT company for about a year where it struck her that that’s not what she wanted to do or be. This led her to figure out her way to become the cake artist that she is today and begin her own venture, Sweetpeeps!
Speaking of how Sweetpeeps happened, Siya mentions her inescapable love for gigantic and ambrosial cake indulgence which made her take keen interest in their presentation, décor, aesthetic value, figurine making and so on that ultimately made her take the step and start Sweetpeeps, which is currently based at St. Inez in Panaji.
At Sweetpeeps, Siya believes in baking cakes from scratch and decorating them with all the love and care possible – a task that requires immense patience. They have a variety of cakes ranging from regular cakes to birthday cakes to wedding cakes to structured cakes and the chandelier cake which happens to be a Sweetpeeps specialty. Their eventual goal is to make the customers cake dream come true! Siya further says, “I have had this on my mind since I was a kid. I truly wanted to become an entrepreneur; and like it is said, one shouldn’t let go off an opportunity that comes knocking at their door. Sweetpeeps was that opportunity for me!”
Sweetpeeps believes in quality over quantity hence the mission is to deliver the best with no compromises whatsoever on the quality of the cakes. Their signature bakes include the Rasmalai cake, the Belgian Chocolate Brownies and the New York baked Cheesecake.
When it comes to customer feedback, Siya says that the response has been overwhelming where each passing day makes her realize that there is still a lot that has to be accomplished. Sweetpeeps is glad to cater to its customers who have been part of the business since day one along with new clients that keep adding to the family every day, making it bigger and better!
In addition, Siya pompously says that the target is to make happy moments special with their cakes, thus molding themselves to fit each customer’s unique wants and desires. While she wishes to reach out to as many cake lovers as possible, expanding Sweetpeeps is her plan. She says, “Letting people know that Sweetpeeps is not just about baking cakes, it is the artistic way of presenting cakes, which is the goal.”
When asked what message she would like to put out there for her customers, Siya signs off saying, “Cakes have always amused me since the time I learnt what a cake was. And now, finally, I have something of my own… Sweetpeeps! ‘Love what you do and you will soar high’, I believe. So now that I have ventured into this world of business, everyday seems to be a new lesson. Every cake is taken up as a challenge, to not merely finish it on time, but to get the best of what I put in. When you finally get it on the table and walk away, you know you did something for someone’s special day. This is very rewarding and you know it’s worth every inch of the effort that goes into its creation”
