Des’ree Desserts – slices of paradise

Des’ree Desserts – slices of paradise

Faizul Khan Tanim basks in chocolaty happiness and cookie dough goodness as a slice of the dessert melts in his mouth

Rich, chocolaty, mocha, charmingly sweet, sinfully scrumptious and all that jazz - these slices are what one’s heart desire, mind craves and appetite flames for.

Be it Des’ree’s berry, chocolate-chip cookie dough or the rocky-road brownies, cinnamon rolls, tangy lemon cheesecake, pineapple cake, the familiar chocolate pound cake or the unusual choco-swirled marble pound cake, mocha pound cake with chocolate glaze up to any of the savoury baked items like meat pies and calzones and more – you will get high on these blissful desserts and will experience the inevitable choco-hangover and it is the best feeling ever.

The name behind such marvels is Anahita Ahmed, a woman-of-substance lecturer during the days but the ultimate ‘dessert queen’ during the after hours. She claims it was love at first bite during her childhood when dear mom treated her self-baked pieces of paradise…and that was the inspiration. Ever since that moment, Ahmed wanted not just to make them but bake them better.

And the best part about Des’ree Desserts is that you can order online or just pick up your phone to call the magic digits. The order is placed in no time and you will get the delivery faster than you think. She giggled while talking about this online venture, mentioning that she does not have the capital to start an outlet, plus, when the venture is online, it is always low overheads and maintenance. It’s convenient for both the consumers and her.

She said “It was ammu, and then my extended family and my best female friends - especially the ladies, were the biggest inspiration for me. Abbu was sceptical at first but, he is now on board. The feeling I got was that they think I was establishing my self-identity - breaking from the norm for women”.

The emotional Ahmed gets very nostalgic walking down memory lane and narrates the reason for naming Des’ree. “Des'ree means something you deeply desire - we want to serve desserts you crave daily; not just for special occasions”.

The desserts are decorated delectably, put in a brown paper box with plenty of passion topped with a card from Des’ree with pouring emotions in the form of hand-written verses…if you crave these ordinary yet pleasant-surprise elements full of warmth, then you are with the right chef.

She does not try to incorporate any local flavours in her recipe, rather, says “Mine is all about offering 'creative variety'. Homely elements are what mom’s cooking is for…so, Salted Caramel Bars anyone?”

When the brownies were melting in my mouth and I was having a tad-bit sugar rush, I asked about her secret cosmic ingredients like peace, love and understanding, for which she replied, “When I first started baking - it was to channel off my negative energies - as blessed with being temperamental. Now, the desserts are a rich statement for people to fight off the adversities of life ... like I've fought off mine”.

Des’ree Desserts

• Please email at desreedesserts@gmail.com with your name; contact number, time of delivery & your delivery address. Or call at +8801754079229 or text at +8801752844527
• Please place orders 2 days prior to date of delivery. For orders for more than five, please allow more time.
• They will deliver around Dhaka free of charge. However, there are certain locations where we will not deliver due to regretful experience with local residents.
• All items are priced within Tk 1000-2000 and generously serve 15-20 people. Custom orders charges slightly more.

*This article was first published in The Independent Weekend Magazine June 24 Friday 2011