Puspalata is the woman behind the famous RM1 cakes. (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)

PETALING JAYA:

Would the sweet toothed among you like to indulge yourselves without feeling the double guilt of devouring something delicious and paying too much for it?

Well, at Chocolata Paradise, you can spend just RM1 to have your cake and eat it too.

It’s a stall located at the front of Puchong’s Restoran Sky Delicious World and it offers a variety of tasty sponge cakes topped with buttercream frosting.

For RM1, you get a bite size slice. Regulars like to have a few in different flavours at one time.

“Chocolata” is correctly spelt since “Lata” is the nickname of stall owner Puspalata Perbagaran, whose initial business was selling homemade chocolates. She diversified into cakes some years later.

Speaking recently with FMT Lifestyle, she said: “We used to make our cakes with premium ingredients, but there were requests from customers for more budget-friendly cakes. That’s how the idea of the RM1 cake started.”

Puspalata always has a bright smile when serving her customers. (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)

She said the aim was to enable as many people as possible to try the cakes and to have the option of sampling as many different flavours as they would like.

The switch was a hit, and news about Chocolata Paradise quickly went viral. Of course, Puspalata’s bright, friendly smile helps too.

FMT Lifestyle sampled a few of the flavours and found the cakes to be light and fluffy and the buttercream frosting not too sweet but definitely serving as flavour enhancers. Clearly, any cake lover will have to exercise great control to resist the temptation to try all the flavours at one go.

Doesn’t this box of assorted cakes make your mouth water? (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)

There are 16 flavours to choose from, including vanilla, chocolate, blueberry, mango, durian and coconut.

“We just released the new teh tarik flavour last week,” Puspalata said.

Now 39, the former HR administration executive became interested in baking 13 years ago. At her wedding reception, many guests liked the chocolates she gave out as door gifts and the idea of making confections occurred to her then.

“I straight away signed up for chocolate-making classes the week after my wedding,” she said.

She shared her chocolates with her friends and family after the lessons and their positive feedback gave her the nudge she needed to start her own business.

She ventured into cakes about seven years ago when she realised there was a demand for them from her customers.

Puspalata puts the finishing touches to a tray of strawberry cake. (Moganraj Villavan @ FMT Lifestyle)

She said making chocolates was easier for her than baking cakes. “A lot of patience is needed in making cakes. You need to have precisely the right amount of ingredients. It’s more time consuming as well.”

Chocolata Paradise offers baking classes for those interested in learning how to make cakes, cheese tarts, brownies, cookies and many other goodies.

Puspalata said she found “immense enjoyment” in being able to share her baking expertise with her students. “During the classes, they would share their own knowledge or baking tips with me too. So we’re actually learning from each other.”

She also said Chocolata Paradise was planning to set up another production area for the cakes because the amount that could be produced at the current venue was too limited.