PETALING JAYA: Shasmita Manimaran has been a huge fan of Harry Potter for as long as she can remember.
In fact, she is so enamoured by the magic and mysticism of the books and movie franchise that she decided to combine her love for baking with her love for all things Harry Potter.
When this third-year law student isn’t studying late into the night, she is managing her small business called Colossal Cauldron by SB.
The 23-year-old started her baked goods business in August last year and introduced her Harry Potter-themed DIY s’mores kit a month back to give her business an edge over the competition, she tells FMT.
And in just over a month, the response has been overwhelming. “I never realised how many Harry Potter fans there are out there,” Shasmita says, giggles happily.
Each s’mores kit is packed with six marshmallows, twelve brown crackers, bamboo sticks, a bar of Hershey’s and a portable bonfire to deliver the campfire experience.
“Our portable bonfire is non-toxic and completely safe,” Shasmita says, explaining that it’s made of fuelling gel and is reusable. “All you have to do is pop off the lid and light it with a match or lighter to begin using it. It can burn for up to three hours”.
However, she does caution users not to blow out the fire. “All you have to do is pop the lid back on and when ready to be used again pop it back off and reignite the fire.”
With the current pandemic putting outdoor activities on hold, Shasmita hopes that children and adults alike will be able to enjoy this DIY kit at home.
“They can imagine sitting around a bonfire at camp toasting their marshmallows and sandwiching them between crackers and chocolate.”
Being a Potterhead herself, Shasmita had to go the extra mile to not only give her customers a unique dessert but to also get them feeling like they are in Hogwarts itself.
Aside from the ingredients needed to make the s’mores, each kit comes wrapped in vintage baking paper similar to the newspaper in the movies. The kit also includes Harry Potter stickers and a personalised letter from Hedwig the owl.
“We also have promotions where customers get freebies like Harry Potter-themed bookmarks, magnets and extra stickers too,” Shasmita says.
“All the ingredients used in our s’mores kits are 100% halal,” she guarantees, adding that each full kit retails at RM29.50 per box and requests for add-ons or even personalised messages are entertained.
However, Colossal Cauldron is famous for more than just their s’mores kits. Their mouth-watering menu includes fudgy brownies, multi-flavoured cheese tarts, cheesecakes and Biscoff-flavoured cakes.
She says the first dessert she introduced was brownies before cheese tarts and cheesecakes made it on her menu.
“We even do seasonal dessert boxes such as Chocolate Bombs for Christmas and 6-in-1 dessert boxes for occasions like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day.”
All items on the menu are Harry Potter-themed. There’s Mrs Weasley’s fudgy brownies, Honeydukes cheese tarts and Amortentia Love cheesecakes.
Shasmita’s love for baking and Harry Potter have taken off like a bullet train, or the Hogwarts Express you might say, and she has no plans of getting off anytime soon.
“We have many more Harry Potter-themed desserts on the way and even have a surprise planned for November,” she says gleefully.
If you’d like to try the sweet treats of Colossal Cauldron by SB, check them out on Instagram and Shopee.