Cookie Making Workshop

A cookie making workshop was conducted for girls at DSBA on 25 April’18 in Room 104 from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. For better understanding, interaction and for the workshop to be effective girls were divided into two batches. The trainers were Ms Suganya and Ms Veena. Ms Shivani Goel, a beauty entrepreneur and a colleague of the trainers accompanied and assisted them during the cookie making process. Prof Nikitha Sreekantha-HOD introduced the trainers to the audience and they were presented a bouquet by Dr Veena K N -Dean, DSBA, Prof Meera Krishnan and Prof Nikitha herself.

Ms Suganya Gowdhaman is co-founder of Suvee, a cake and cookie home shop and founder of SugasKitchen, an online recipe portal. A natural when it comes to cooking and baking, Suganya is known as much for her creative output as for her quality and efficiency in standard products. Suganya is keen on passing her learned, acquired and creative knowledge to willing learners so as to continue the legacy of home baked delicacies. As she learns more from the global market, she would pass this knowledge along as and when she gains expertise.

Ms Veena Padmanabha also co-owner of Suvee, has a degree in B. Sc electronics and is a certified medical transcriptionist. She has worked in L&T and ACE creative learning as a student councillor and is a volunteer at community events. She is passionate about singing, baking and cooking.

The trainers are an inspiration as they have left their secure jobs, a stable life and tread a path with risks and uncertainty-all to follow their passion and today they are successful entrepreneurs!

Ms Veena started the workshop by giving an introduction to Suvee Delights, their venture which has an amalgamation of both Ms Suganya and Ms Veena’s names! It was founded in December 2016 and it started off with cookies, cupcakes, chocolates and ice cream. By early 2018 they diversified into a wide range of options-Garlic Bread, Pizza, Doughnuts, Bread and Masala Buns, Cakes, Brownies, Cake Pops, Flaxseed Laddus to name a few.

They had planned to show how to bake good homemade cookies in the workshop because, of all of the desserts one can bake, cookies can be the easiest and the most fun. Despite the fact that they are easy to make, there are still some basic tips and tricks one can learn for preparing, storing, and baking cookies. This was imparted by the trainers. Students were given an insight into the world of cookies- Choco Chip, Ragi, Museli, Jeera, Masala, 14 grains, Karachi, Coconut, Nutella, Peanut butter etc.

Ms Suganya enumerated the advantages of home-made cookies -they can be made of wheat flour (in place of Refined flour), they are hygienic, made from fresh ingredients which are easily available at home, one can control amounts of sugar and jaggery in them and there are multiple ways to make them – with microwave, stove top or an oven.

The cookies taught that day were: Karachi cookies, Choco-chip cookies and Muesli cookies. Most cookies are made from the same basic ingredients. The dry ingredients consist of all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The sweetness comes from granulated and/or brown sugar. The fat is either softened butter, margarine, shortening, or occasionally oil. Eggs and vanilla extract are also used. For different flavoured cookies, one can add any or all of these: chocolate, cocoa, nuts, raisins, oatmeal, spices or extracts.

The students were taught to make cookies right from the scratch. The tips, dos and don’ts were stated at all stages of the baking process. The trainers had pre planned the entire sequence systematically and it was a hands-on workshop. The recipe of the cookies was shown on the slide while the demonstration was on. To begin with, a basic cookie demonstration was given and then the students were invited in turns to make the three cookies -Karachi cookies, Choco-chip cookies and Muesli cookies. The students enthusiastically sifted the dry ingredients, creamed butter, whipped the dough using the whisk, gave shapes to the cookies, placed them in the oven and waited with bated breath for the cookies! The freshly baked cookies smelt divine and the excited students couldn’t resist the temptation of eating the melt in the mouth cookies! Very soon a delicious whiff of homemade cookies coming out of the oven spread in all the corridors of the institution.

Each one at DSBA tasted all the varieties of cookies baked by Ms Suganya, Ms Veena, Ms Shivani and the students that day. The students were a contended lot and shared their happiness and favourable experiences of the day’s session at the end of the workshop.

Prof Meera Krishnan proposed the vote of thanks and a token of appreciation was handed over to Ms Suganya, Ms Veena and Ms Shivani by Dr Veena and Prof Nikitha.

The workshop was a resounding success!