From childhood memories of Manohar Bakery to five years of experimenting, Nikita Rathod Bedre brings a beloved family recipe back with The Mawa Cake Co.

For Nikita Rathod Bedre, Mawa Cakes are not just cakes… They are a part of her childhood. Even the smell ignites a nostalgia for her. She grew up eating them, long before she imagined that she would one day become part of the story behind their revival. “I grew up eating the mawa cakes made by grandmother and marketed by my grandfather,” Nikita reminisces, adding that over the years, she kept meeting people who would tell her how much they missed the cakes made by Manohar Bakery. Those conversations stayed with her.

“I have had people tell me that they remembered my grandfather coming on a cycle with a box full of mawa cakes, coconut biscuits, khari biscuits… before he opened the Manohar Bakery — a small shop on Cadell Road, Shivaji Park,” Nikita tells. “I was very sad when the bakery shut down thanks to family disputes. And that day I promised myself, after seeing sad faces of the family, that one day I will revive it!”

Nikita began her career in advertising, where her first boss, Preeti Nair, played an important role in shaping her understanding of the industry. “She taught me the tricks of the trade,” Nikita says. After gaining experience, she eventually decided to step out on her own and start an advertising consultancy, working with a diverse range of clients.

Baking was nowhere on the immediate career horizon. But life, as it often does, had other plans.