We would never have met Germaine and Derek if it wasn’t for the Bandra fair. During one of the carnival’s particularly chaotic moments, as we were making our way to Salt Water Café, we found ourselves taking refuge in a by lane opposite Lilavati Hospital, while trying to avoid a mask-wearing-bubble-blowing throng of revelers.

Here we found the recently opened Flour Magik, a small little bakery run by a sweet Bandra couple that puts love and raisins in everything. Derek with his wise salt and pepper hair and Germaine, with her clement eyes, remind this writer of her next-door neighbours from a few years ago. Every Christmas, they’d send over mava cake, marzipan and guava cheese, a tray with a collective smell that we’ve come to associate with Christmas. So discovering a cute bakery (yes, we hate that ‘magic’ is spelled with a ‘k’ too) with limoncello walls that smelled like Christmas, was much like finding a gift on the street.

Presently Baking
As we heard the mob pass, we decided to unwrap Flour Magik, peeling off pieces of Sellotape to find cheap, palm-sized treats - apple tarts, quiche, sausage pastries, sweet crisps (ignore the uninteresting chocolate cake) - and half pints of Dukes Masala Soda. They still haven’t set up entirely, but all of the above is currently available.

By the end of this month, they also plan to introduce multi-grain, whole wheat bread and garlic loaves that Germaine has been supplying to IBar, Otter’s Club and the NSIC for six years now. This, and mini meals featuring BBQ chicken, lasagna and more. We got the chicken quiche, apple tart, apple crisp and on Germaine's recommendation, a slice of flourless almond cake, which were all neatly packed in a cake box that travelled home without a glitch.

The chicken quiche was our favourite - just the right amount of creaminess, no overpowering egg-y flavour or smell- but everything else seemed to have an additional teaspoon of sugar or raisins. This fault particularly made its presence felt in the already-sweet and crumbly mini apple tart and crisps topped with pistachio shavings. And while the rich flourless almond cake got along nicely with our palates, the thin layer of powdery vanilla icing on top felt like a bit much. We suggest you scrape it off.

Holly Hunter

Flour Magik, and you’ll know this at first glance, isn’t as fancy as Bandra’s other dessert cafes. And that’s okay. Because if like this writer, you wish that Christmas comes more than once a year, then you won’t mind the extra sugar, icing or raisins all that much.

Getting there: Flour Magik, opposite Croissants, near Lilavati Hospital, Bandra Reclamation, call 9223491456, Rs 30 for the apple crisp, Rs 40 for the flourless almond cake, Rs 30 for the apple tart and crisp each, Rs 20 for the chicken quiche.

bpb review anonymously and pays for its own meals.