TALENT

Crazy About Cakes

Being Neighbourly x Ankrish Gidwani, Baking Maniac

Author/ Being Neighbourly
12 March 2025

Even on the toughest days at Baking Maniac, I think to myself that there is nothing else I would rather be doing, and this gets me through,” says Ankrish Gidwani, Founder of Baking Maniac.

One of Hong Kong’s youngest success stories, Gidwani had an early start, beginning to bake when he was just 12. ⁠“I love desserts, and school used to end at 1.10pm on Fridays, so every Friday I would go home and want to try bake something that I wanted to eat!” he shares. He credits his mother’s frequent baking and subsequent holding of baking classes, with giving him the confidence to bake on his own.

“In Hong Kong there are so many good dessert options… Hong Kong is definitely ‘Dessert Disneyland’,” he says, dispelling the notion that a perceived shortage of options led to the founding of the company. “It just organically happened. I would blog my cakes, and, at same point, someone came across my blog and wanted to order. I had yet to think about selling but took the opportunity.” After that first order, word spread and more orders started coming in, which is when they thought of a name for themselves.

“I am so lucky I get to work with mom! How many people get to say that? She is my best friend, and we run it together. We both are the boss, and any big decision is made through us chatting about it first – we are so lucky we have each other!” he says.

Gidwani says that the most interesting part of the job is when they receive an order or inquiry about something they never could have imagined and when they try out new recipes. He cites the recent craze for Dubai chocolate that has been taking over the world. “It was so fun experimenting with it, and creating different products to make our Dubai Chocolate Collection!”

Other highlights, he says, are when customers take time out of their busy schedules to write to us, letting us know that they loved our cakes! As for milestones, “There have been so many big milestones along the way – First corporate order; First wedding cake; Tallest cake; Biggest cake – it’s hard to choose just one or two!” he says, adding that he was only 16 when they received a huge corporate opportunity to make an 8-tier cake for the launch of the Discovery Kids Channel in Hong Kong.

“What makes a good baker is someone who is not afraid to make mistakes; it’s all about trial and error. If you have an idea, try it out, experiment with it. You probably won’t get it right the first time, but if you know what you want, keep at it and it will come,” he says, admitting that he has no received formal baking training. “I learned everything from books and YouTube,” he says, adding that looking back at his trajectory, his embrace of a ‘trial and error’ methodology, and not being afraid to think outside the box have been essential ingredients in the company’s success.

But running a company is not without challenge. “The company started with just mom and me, but now it has grown and we have a lot of staff working for us, which is awesome, and we are so proud of the team we have currently. However, finding, training and managing people along the way who fit the values of your company is always challenging, especially in F&B where the hours can be long during peak seasons”.

⁠”We have 43 cake flavours, all which I love. However, if I had to choose our best sellers, these would include our chocolate ganache, carrot, confetti and red velvet cake flavours, as well as our cake pops, brownies and confetti cookies. As for personal favourites, Gidwani calls it an impossible task to choose, and admits that it’s a real struggle to control what he eats when surrounded by so much sugar.

To keep their product line up to date and fresh, he says they say yes to everything that comes their way. “Our customers know what they want – they travel everywhere, they see everything, and they want what they have seen somewhere else that might not be here yet! So, we are so lucky that our customers trust us to create these new products; and we’re always wanting to keep up with trends. We want to come up with new things for different holidays, so we start experimenting early and there is a lot of taste testing involved, which is the best part of the process, before we decide what will stay, get tossed, or be modified!”

And he cites Hong Kong itself as being a huge influence. They have a Bubble Tea cupcake and try to launch new products for the many different holidays including: Chinese New Year, Easter, Dragon Boat Festival, Lantern Festival, Halloween, Christmas, and so forth. “We have products for all these holidays that we continue to develop every year! Nothing is ever off the menu. We have a blog, a website and a social media presence. Often, customers will find a cake we did years ago and if the customer wants it, we do it!”

In addition to their online shop cakes, Baking Maniac specialises in custom theme cakes, and hosts Birthday party baking workshops in their 1,800 sq ft venue in Wong Chuk Hang; in addition to the weekly baking workshops they give to students of ESF South Island and West Island schools and HKIS.

Baking Maniac will be having a retail popup at Taikoo Place from April till end of June 2025.

What’s the best work advice you have received?

“First, ‘Never say no’. Even if you think you can’t do it, say yes, and then figure it out. It might mean you are working round the clock to figure it out, but work hard and you will get there!” says Ankrish Gidwani, Founder, Baking Maniac. “The customer always comes first, and it is all about making sure they have a good experience, from deciding on what to order to eating the product – the whole experience needs to be one they enjoy!”

“Second, ‘Your staff are your biggest asset’. Take care of your staff and they will take care of you. We are so lucky to have an amazing team right now who really breathe Baking Maniac values.”

Baking Maniac
5C, 40 Wong Chuk Hang Rd., Kwai Bo Industrial Bldg., Wong Chuk Hang.