Want to try Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s signature cheese tarts?

There is a pause as Varalaxmi Sarathkumar does the maths. “Um. I cannot remember now. I haven’t slept all night,” the actor laughs. She is on the telephone from her dwelling in Chennai, which has become a bakery in a single day, stuffed with trays of freshly-made cheese tarts. And has misplaced rely of what number of tarts she has baked, packed and offered on the primary day of her new mission, Life of Pie.

Inspired by the Hokkaido cheese tart, Varalaxmi’s model, which is offered for takeaway, is an addictive amalgamation of candy and savoury flavours. Featuring a creamy cheese filling set in a buttery pastry shell, it’s best eaten straight out of the oven, when the centre is molten and the bottom flaky.

“About four years ago, a friend and I were in a mall in Kuala Lumpur and we got this amazing smell,” says Varalaxmi. “We walked towards it. And there was this huge line, which we joined just to see what the fuss was about. It was a counter for Hokkaido cheese tarts, and when we ate it, it was like heaven in your mouth!” She provides, “Whenever someone came from Malaysia or Singapore, I would ask them to bring me some.” During lockdown, she determined to recreate it herself.

“I’ve been baking through this lockdown, doing really random things like cakes, quiches and hasselback potatoes,” she says, including shortly, “I’m not a cook at all. I don’t have any recipes. I just looked at You Tube…”

After attempting a number of variations, Varalaxmi stumble on a course of that labored with regionally accessible substances, in her dwelling kitchen. “I have a really basic set-up here… I tried making it with three kinds of cheese, then finally found one that worked. I obviously can’t get Hokkaido cheese here, which is why I won’t call this a Hokkaido tart,” she says.

Baking by means of the day on this steamy summer time can’t be be simple, but the actor appears hooked on her new mission. “I started at 6.30 am today, and only finished by 4 pm,” she says, including with a chuckle, “It’s a lot of work, but it’s not like we have anything else to do during the lockdown! I’m also getting a workout with this.”

Right now, Life Of Pie is a one-woman present, from baking, packaging and washing dishes, to even supply. “Before the lockdown, I was the last person you would find in the kitchen, now I’m there all day,” says Varalaxmi, including “I still need to get the packaging right: I do not want them to get squished. So I’m asking people to pick them up, and I’m also trying to drop off the tarts.”

In the meantime, the Life Of Pie web page has quietly surfaced on Instagram (@lifeofpietarts) with barely 20 followers, a stark distinction to Varalaxmi’s personal (@varusarathkumar) Instagram web page, which has 842 thousand followers.

“I have not posted anywhere that I’m doing this. I don’t know if I will able to handle orders once I put it on social media,” she says, including that she has not determined what to do with this model as soon as film shoots restart. “You never know what starts up, and what clicks,” she says, including, “Right now, I’m just going with the flow.”

Life Of Pie’s cheese tarts are ₹125 for one, and ₹600 for 5. WhatsApp 7358755577 to order.