Kriti Mehrotra
With the aim of the game being deception and cash on the line, Netflix’s ‘Is It Cake?’ pits a group of skilled bakers against one another to create cakes that look exactly like everyday items. In other words, it is a baking contest wherein the participants are required to make hyper-realistic cakes from scratch in an attempt to fool a rotating roster of celebrity judges. Amongst these cake artists was none other than Hemu Basu, who managed to make a mark among the audiences. If you’re curious to learn more about her background, career, and current standing, don’t worry; we’ve got all the essential details for you!
Who is Hemu Basu?
Having always had an eye for detail, a love for color, and her own distinct style, Hemu Basu started baking at quite an early age as just a hobby to pass her time. However, once she prepared a fire truck cake for her son’s birthday at his request in 2012, everyone close to her recognized the raw talent Hemu possessed and coaxed her into developing the craft as much as possible. That’s how the self-taught Texas-based Indian baker not only rediscovered her passion but also managed to convert it into a successful profession, complete with an independent small business.
From there, Hemu grew to specialize in sculpted hyper-realistic cakes and climbed the industry ladder by winning several competitions/accolades, leading her to end up on Netflix’s radar as well. However, despite her ambitions, her goal on ‘Is It Cake?’ was not to attain name or fame but to showcase her skills for her kids and dedicate her performance to her eldest sister, who sadly passed away from Covid-19 in early 2021. Unfortunately, even though Hemu proved her mettle, the judges correctly guessed her statue cake to eliminate her in the finale, meaning that she only walked away with $10,000 in hand.
Where is Hemu Basu Now?
Hemu Basu is still based in Katy, Texas, where she continues to serve as the owner of Hemu’s Sweet Sensation at 4519 Red Yucca Drive and create customized cakes that truly break all bounds of creativity. We should mention that apart from the Netflix original, she has also been a contestant on Food Network’s ‘Wedding Cake Championship’ season 2 back in 2019 and ‘Halloween Wars’ season 10 in 2020 (where her team actually won). From what we can tell, Hemu is a family woman who is entirely dedicated to expanding her business right now — she has no intentions of letting anything or anyone come in the way.
For Hemu, baking is much more than just an art form; it’s a way for her to empower others, it’s an outlet through which she heals, and it is her sense of being. “Creating edible artwork gives me the same calm and joy as you get when you visit any spiritual place or temple,” she once explained. “Baking makes me happy and the goodies delight everyone.”
The cake designer, who first started competing in 2016, also has the best advice for amateurs, “Don’t be afraid to try something new, failure is an option and a learning experience! You have to learn from failure. What could you do differently in a similar situation? Is there a way to recover in the moment? Icing does wonders for broken cakes. What’s your icing in this situation? I pretty much approach my whole life like that… Follow instructions but stray when you need to. I have a structure, but I bend when I need to.”
Read More: Where is Sam Cade Now?
