THE HOTMESS BY AANYA NANAYAKKARA

Hotmess SL, is the newest home bakery to be launched in Colombo during lockdown. They offer an extensive menu of mouthwatering, scrumptious desserts; cakes, cheesecakes, brownies, tiramisu’s, loukoumades, cookies, cupcakes, muffins and more. Ingredients play a key role in all their products and they ensure only the best locally and internationally sourced ingredients are used in their desserts. From what initially started as a hobby during lockdown, eighteen-year-old Aanya Nanayakkara who has been baking since the age of six, decided to launch her business in January 2021. Launching initially via Instagram, Aanya has been able to successfully promote her business within a short span of time. When we asked her to share with us a few marketing strategies she implemented at the start of her venture, Aanya stated, “word of mouth was our best strategy. Customers who tried our desserts, would enjoy it and post about it on their own social media accounts. This eventually snowballed into being our best and only marketing strategy we needed.” Aanya is at present enrolled at a prestigious Culinary School in Colombo and she aspires to be a certified Gourmet Chef one day.

Having seen friends and influencers on Instagram share pictures and videos of desserts from Hotmess, we decided to order some to try one afternoon at office. We ordered a batch of freshly baked, warm chocolate chunk cookies, a slice of the baked cheesecake with raspberry coulis, a portion of loukoumades (which we had never tried before!), a small box of brownies, a basque cheesecake topped with caramel, chocolate ganache and a strawberry coulis and a slice of raspberry dark chocolate fudge cake sandwiched with a baked cheesecake center and soaked in chocolate buttercream. Yes, yes, we love our food at office and food is never wasted. All the products were delivered neatly packaged and we were thrilled when we opened each box and found it all in one piece. Usually, when we order desserts, we tend to scoop off the topping from the roof of the box. Thankfully, all the items arrived neatly!

We dived straight in and gobbled the loukoumades. I mean, we really did gobble it all up. It was delicious. It was hot, crispy and oozing with golden syrup, melted chocolate and honey. We were in heaven; none of us had tried loukoumades before and wow, we were honestly pleasantly surprised. It was finger licking delicious. We were all on a sugar high, but quickly sipped on some green tea and dived straight into the box of cookies.

The chocolate chunk cookies had been baked mixed with pieces of chocolate, which were probably the size of Lego pieces. They were quite large in size and when we bit into it, delicious melted chocolate oozed out. I felt an outburst of chocolatey flavors in my mouth. It was an experience on its own. The cookies were obviously fresh off the oven; the melted chocolate was warm and perfect. Aanya, had mixed a generous portion of rich, velvety chocolate into her cookies. She had also sent us a complimentary crinkle cookie with our order. The crinkle cookie is simply perfect for the festive season, it is very appealing to the eye due to the attractive cracked exterior of the cookie. These cookies have quite a crispy texture on the outside but once bit into, leads to a chewy overflow of chocolate goodness.

The Hotmess menu has several other flavors of cookies available, which we unfortunately didn’t try and instantly regretted not having ordered them after eating the chocolate chunk cookies and the crinkle cookie! Other flavors in their menu include red velvet cookies, white chocolate cookies and the double trouble chocolate cookie.

The bust basque cheesecake topped with caramel chocolate ganache and strawberry coulis was a more complex dessert. It was quite delicate and flavorful. The fluffy texture of the cheesecake was to die for, and that topped off with the ganache and strawberry coulis is in quite simple terms “out of this world.” It gave my tastebuds a private party I’m waiting to indulge in again as soon as I can!

Next stop, the raspberry dark chocolate fudge cake sandwiched with baked cheesecake and soaked in chocolate buttercream. If the name itself doesn’t have you salivating right now, I don’t know what will! Apparently, ours was the first order to try this piece of heaven. Oh! My! God! My tastebuds were literally screaming in joy. I needed some time off after tasting this. Some quiet time to myself. To think about what I had just experienced. I have never tried something this good. I honestly haven’t. This cake deserves the award for the ‘Best Cake’ in Sri Lanka. I had just tasted an iconic creation. The cake had quite a delightful aroma, and once cut into had almost four layers oozing in chocolate buttercream. There was so much detail in each layer, one slice felt like a whole meal. It was fancy, luxurious, rich and undeniably heavenly! Each layer complemented the other and it was a wonderful blend of flavors.

Some warm water to cleanse my palate, and on to the next dessert; a slice of the baked cheesecake with raspberry coulis. Hotmess has mastered the art of baking the perfect cheesecake. I could quite effortlessly gobble up one entire cheesecake, it was that good! The cheesecake induced a cooling, rich and tangy feeling to my taste buds and it was quite frankly, addictive. I was in cloud nine. My mind was blown apart. Hallelujah! I had finally discovered the best cheesecake in town that was worth every calorie. It was rich and creamy, and the raspberry coulis complemented the cheesecake and the crunchy biscuit base at the bottom.

The Hotmess caters to every occasion, from birthdays, anniversary celebrations and weddings. They also undertake customized orders for cakes and other desserts. The ordering process is very convenient, a simple direct message on Instagram (@thehotmess_SL) or a message or call on WhatsApp (0762870800) is all that is needed. The only difficulty you will is deciding what you should order, as the menu is filled with several mouthwatering options.

If you are a chocoholic, sweet toothed or has a genuine interest in trying out new desserts, I highly recommend you to go place your order @thehotmess_sl right now! Aanya and the Hotmess SL is my best discovery of a home baker this lockdown year. I am officially in a food coma. Yum!