There's something about cooking that brings couples closer together. Two local women have latched onto this notion by opening Indulgence - a studio offering regular cake-baking classes designed to both whet the appetite and woo the object of your desire.
'Cooking is a good way for people to bond,' says 28-year-old Olivia Kwong Wing-lam, who co-founded Indulgence with Karen Chen Ka-woon, 27. 'It's doing something new and fun together. Young professionals and newlyweds often don't have enough time to spend together.
Kwong and Chen opened their studio on February 1. While they've so far relied on word of mouth to spread the message, classes have been fully booked in the run-up to Valentine's Day on Saturday.
'Our clients tend to be women, but for the Valentine's classes, we also have quite a few men coming in to make cakes and the popular Japanese ['white lovers'] cookies to give to their girlfriends,' says Chen.
'By coming here, men might even realise they enjoy doing something like baking, and this might lead to them taking more interest in helping out at home,' says Kwong.
Anything that can get a man to wear an apron must have something special about it. Besides their Valentine's campaign, Indulgence offers regular three-hour classes (some are longer, depending on the complexity of the recipe) at $350 a class ($320 for members). Every session has a cosy maximum of eight people ('We want to keep the sizes relatively small so that people can have personal attention,' says Kwong) and the pair also offers tailor-made classes for students who want to choose the cake they bake. Students can make a variety of desserts - from a chocolate and cherry Swiss roll to a melting chocolate cake and marble brownies.
Kwong and Chen, who bonded at university over their love of baking, have done their research and adapted popular recipes to local tastes.
