At her home in Nilai, the mother of two explained to FMT that she wasn’t always in the kitchen sifting flour and churning out mountains of butter icing.

Instead, Sundri worked as a human resource manager at a renowned event management company.

“I was five months pregnant with my son at the time and was craving for a slice of rich, luscious butter cake but my go-to-butter cake lady had since left the country. So, I thought, why don’t I learn how to make it myself?”

While juggling the demands of her job and being a mother, she took up baking lessons and learned the delicate art of cake decorating.

With these newfound skills, she opened Sundri Bakes n Bites.

“I began catering but only during the weekends. It was meant to be a part-time endeavour.

“However, through word of mouth, I began receiving more orders and my clientele grew,” she says, adding that some of her customers have been ordering from her for the past 26 years.

Making Sundri Bakes n Bites into a full-time business was never part of the equation, Sundri explains, adding that she had a fantastic, supportive employer and resigning from her job was the furthest thing from her mind.

But upon turning 50, Sundri’s son left for college and she felt guilt-ridden about her teenage daughter left all alone at home. She decided she wanted to spend more time with her before she too left the nest.

“That’s when I decided to become a full-time baker. I told my employer that I wanted to see how far I could go with my baking skills in the next 10 years,” she says, adding that she felt encouraged by her customers to step out of her comfort zone.

“My boss however, was reluctant to let me go but said that if ever my baking stint did not go as planned in two years, I could return to the company. And so, I left in 2015,” Sundri says.

But it was not all sugar and sprinkles for Sundri at the start.

“My godfather told me every baker does butter cakes and that I needed to offer something different,” she says, explaining that she began working on an idea for a cake that could become her trademark.

It was in early 2017 while at an engagement party that inspiration hit.

She remembers being mesmerised by the sight of the many platters of gifts for the bride – sarees, bangles and sweets – and suddenly thought ‘what about a cake made in the form of a folded saree?’

Still, it wasn’t easy to convince her customers. All that changed however, when a friend ordered one of her saree-themed cakes for her engagement.

“It was a success! Everyone oohed and aahed as the cake was presented,’ a visibly happy Sundri remembers.

“But my saree-themed cakes only became an overnight success after I posted a picture of one of my cakes on the Facebook group ‘Jobs for Caring Moms Malaysia’.

Within 24 hours, her post had garnered 1,800 likes and hundreds of shares. Many people left glowing comments of her beautiful workmanship — and she very quickly became known as the ‘saree lady’.

Sundri’s signature saree designs are creatively decorated with colourful butter icing and fondant drapes according to each customer’s requests.

Her beautiful saree cakes are priced at RM300 onwards (for a minimum 1.5kg pure butter cake base).

“Soon after, I began receiving requests from people asking me to teach them how to make these cakes.

“It was then that I realised that the market for these cakes was big and that not many people knew how to make them. I figured that by teaching others how to make these cakes, customers in other states would be able to enjoy them too.”

To date, this successful baker has taught more than 500 students via physical and online classes, many of whom have gone on to make a living from baking.

“I’ve had many students who lost their jobs during the pandemic and are now making a living by baking delicious cakes.”

She says that one makeup artist had fallen on hard times because of the pandemic and used the last of her earnings to pay for her baking classes.

“I encouraged her to bake and posted her creations on my social media platform as I do with the rest of my students. Recently she told me she received 10 orders and that her customers are so happy with her cakes.”

Smiling, Sundri now finds happiness in seeing her students become successful bakers.

“For them to be able to earn back the money they used to pay for my classes and now support their family with their baking earnings, that is a blessing,” Sundri says.

If you are interested to learn baking or cake decorating, WhatsApp Sundri at 019 2669044 or check out her Instagram and Facebook for more of her beautiful creations.