Sliced strawberries in various shades of pink sit symmetrically at the base of the Strawberry Slofen, a Dutch cake-like cookie with almond paste and topped with buttercream, fresh strawberries and vanilla glaze. Boterkoek, a butter cake, is another Dutch dessert made by Sarah Lisa, who, with her husband Vibin Varghese, runs a Dutch bakery, Zera Noya, outside their home in Kadavanthra.
Since the first lockdown was lifted in Kerala last year, the couple have been baking these and other typically Dutch goodies. A lockdown business, Sara admitted that she was not confident when she started. “I looked around and there are many home bakers in Kochi. My baking is very different, which made me wonder if I would be the ones to take what it had to offer. I decided to experiment and see what works. I thought I’d start by baking a couple days a week and take it from there. Slowly the word spread and orders started pouring in, now we are cooking five days a week. Feedback from her early customers helped her streamline what works and what doesn’t.
However, she had decided not to make the custom cake with fondant because so many other people in town were doing it. She preferred to stick to natural, rustic sweets. The result is a menu of varieties of baked cheesecakes that include chocolate truffles, apple pie and cupcakes in addition to toppings such as fresh fruit, blueberries, strawberries. Of these, Cheesecake, Boterkoek and Strawberry Sloughen are bestsellers.
The couple works out of their home in Kadavantara. They toyed with the idea of a commercial location but have shelved plans for now as they are expecting their first child early next year. “Customers decide what’s available,” she says of how she plans her menu. She custom orders and puts on sale what’s left, which she announces on her Instagram handle. On weekends she bakes extras that sell out within minutes of her announcement.
“I’m not a home baker, I was a professional baker who’s been baking since I was 16,” she says. She has a degree in baking, “where, as part of my training, I used to bake five days a week. We never got an apple pie but a 100 pie. As part of the curriculum, a bakery had to work under a senior baker who taught you everything. Dan Belder’s Sarah, in the Netherlands, was volunteering on a ship where she met Wibbin. He also helped two of his American friends set up two cafes in China, where he consulted not only on setting up these but also trained staff.
The very first thing she baked for friends and family was the bundt cake for Christmas 2019 which was loved by all. Married in 2018, they moved to the city from Bengaluru the following year. Vibin, a marine engineer, was working with a company in Kakkanad in 2020. He quit his job when the lockdown was announced. He announced his bakery when the lockdown was lifted and orders started pouring in. It was a new beginning for her so Sarah called her business Zira Noya (a combination of two Hebrew words, meaning ‘a beautiful beginning’), Dutch Home Bakery.
Her Instagram feed shows that she has her hands full. She does all the baking herself, Vibin, who has no background, chips in how he could. “I’ve taught her a few things – cream cheese and a few other things. Initially we were a bit stressed, but now we’ve come up with a system of working together. In those days we were taking orders every day, but now we’re less I’m done and able to take a few days off. I’m fine with baking. It’s communication and packing that I find tough.”
Her cupcakes with bright orange carrots are popular. “It’s made with the very same Dutch marzipan that I find popular here as well. It’s made with almond flour, sugar and rose essence. It’s also sold as it is back home in the Netherlands. My clients tell me It is said that it tastes like cashew. Cashew slice …”
Did she ever think that when she set out to be a baker she would be baking everywhere in India? “Not India but I dreamed of going to China and I lived there for three years too!” She says with a laugh.
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