San Jose resident Gaurangi “Gauri” Malekar’s company, Better Butter Bakes, can be found every Sunday at the Cupertino farmers’ market at De Anza College. Malekar is channeling her passion for art into making entremets: layered, mousse-filled cakes with shiny mirror glazes. A San Jose woman with a passion for art is channeling her creativity into making entremets: layered, mousse-filled cakes with shiny mirror glazes.
“The process is meticulous,” she added, “and I take pride in offering cakes that not only taste exceptional but also stand out visually.” “What impressed me most was the excellent presentation,” said Cupertino resident Hema Kundargi, who first tasted Better Butter Bakes’ offerings at the De Anza farmers’ market in August. “The taste was exquisite and the texture was just perfect. The cakes are a feast for the tastebuds and eyes, too.”“I wanted to support a local, small woman-owned business,” said Framhein. “It was a total perk to find out the pick-up location is about 5 minutes from my house.
“I’ve always had a passion for the arts and creativity,” she said. “But living in the Bay Area, specifically San Jose, it didn’t take long for me to realize that tech is the dominant industry here.” Baking remained her solace, she said. During the pandemic, Malekar decided to pursue what truly made her happy. She enrolled at the now-closed San Francisco Cooking School.
Inspired by those early experiences at her aunt’s, Malekar began experimenting with making her own desserts. She began with premade cake mixes and eventually moved on to more challenging bakes like eclairs and macarons.