THEY claim to come from a greedy family made up of 'funny little foodies'. Yet, it was this passion for food, coupled with their love for baking, that led sisters Teresa and Bernadette Balen to set up their own home-based cupcake business, Bridgette's Pantry, in August.

While they join a legion of cupcake makers selling over the Internet, the edge these sisters have lies in their dense, flavourful cupcakes that taste like individual cakes, unlike regular cupcakes where one basic flavour is dressed up with different types of frosting.

The Conoisseur selection of cakes, for example, includes a decadent white and bitter chocolate truffle cupcake where white chocolate flavoured cake is topped with a delicious bitter chocolate truffle. And for Christmas, mixed fruit is macerated in a mixture of liqueurs and baked into individual fruit cakes topped with Christmas tree-shaped icing.

Like most home-based bakers, Bridgette's Pantry - named after Teresa's youngest daughter - started as a hobby. 'I baked and cooked a lot at home,' says Teresa, a homemaker. 'My kids' classmates and friends benefited from it because they came over regularly; then they started saying: 'Why don't you bake the cakes for sale?'

She then roped in her sister, Bernadette, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2003 and went to work for three Michelin starred chef Gordon Ramsay in London. Bernadette was previously a practising lawyer in Singapore before she moved to London 10 years ago. 'The practice was fun. I got a kick out of it but I knew I had to move on,' she says of her career switch. That decision served her well, as she now uses her training and kitchen experience to complement her sister's efforts.

Bernadette, who travels widely with her gourmet husband, comes to Singapore two to three times a year, and stays for months. When she is not around, the sisters resort to 'long-distance consulting', she says.

The 40-something sisters make it a point to use only fresh ingredients for their cupcakes, and ensure the cakes are 'not unhealthy', says Teresa.

For example, her fragrant Goma Matcha cupcakes make use of green tea leaves she grinds herself, as well as sesame seeds which she toasts. 'We refuse to make anything that we wouldn't feed to the children,' she said. 'If we can't give it to the kids, we won't sell it.'

That also means no excessive sugar. 'We won't make a cupcake with a sugar clown, for example, because I would never allow my kids to eat that,' she emphasises.

Apart from an exhaustive range of cupcakes, biscotti, cheesecakes and brownies, the sisters are looking at seasonal offerings. In addition to the Christmas fruit cupcakes (10 for $49), they offer chocolate chestnut cupcakes with rum. They're also experimenting with a Chinese New Year selection.

The cupcakes are priced from $22 for a box of 12 basic cupcakes with buttercream frosting to $49 for a box of 10 connoisseur cupcakes. Three days advance notice is required but the sisters will take orders up to tomorrow for Christmas Eve, depending on the quantity and flavours required.

For now, the Balens intend to keep theirs a Web-based business. 'Rentals are just prohibitive,' says Teresa. 'The Internet has been a great tool, so that's where we'll do our business.'

Bridgette's Pantry
69 Thomson Ridge.
Tel: 9752-3238/6553-0622
www.bridgettespantry.com

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