I’m sinking my teeth into a spoonful of Bella’s Brownies and Cream dessert jar, and it is unbelievably amazing. There’s gooey chocolate brownie combined with fresh cream and halved strawberries and the combination is perfect! For someone who doesn’t appreciate overly rich chocolate desserts, I find that this is ideal because the presence of fresh cream and strawberries cuts down on the decadence of the brownie and creates a lovely explosion of delicate flavours.

Bakes by Bella is a few months old and is a baking venture started by Melissa Dharmadasa. Everyday, she uploads beautifully artistic pictures of dessert jars she’s just created, along with rows of decadent brownies (to be added to the jars later), assorted cute cupcakes sitting on lace doilies and paired with a cup of tea, and iced teas in mason jars to the @bakesbybella account on Instagram. A dedicated baker, she tells me that she has been baking ever since she was a young girl, and this new baking venture was something she started purely out of chance, after having experimented with leftover brownies, fresh cream and chopped strawberries in a mason jar and hey presto – a deliciously comforting dessert jar!

The range offered by Bakes by Bella is small but focuses on dessert jars (the Victoria sponge cake, cream and fresh strawberries, the Cookie Cake Mountain featuring chocolate chip and double chocolate chip cookies and topped with M&Ms, the Ice Cream Sandwich in a Jar which features ice cream, sponge cake and strawberries, and most recently the Bella’s Scarlet Jar which features moist red velvet fudge brownies, fresh cream and cream cheese frosting). The range also includes cupcakes available in four variants which are vanilla, chocolate, cookie dough and red velvet. Melissa has also introduced rainbow sponge cake dessert jars recently.

Bakes by Bella also does cakes for events such as the Brownies and Cream cake which is a brownie cake topped with fresh cream and strawberries, a Cookie Cream cake, and a Pineapple Upside Down cake. Customers can call Melissa and make their specifications (she doesn’t do fondant!) for cake orders. Interestingly Melissa gathers plenty of inspiration from Pinterest and she reveals that the #bakesbybella hashtag on Instagram was an idea by her husband who did a little search and realized that there was no hashtag to be found, thus paving way for her very own.

Her dessert jars come with bright red or gold lids and wrapped with a red ribbon – perfect for indulging on your own or even gifting the jars to a friend or loved one. Bakes by Bella is not on Facebook or Twitter as Melissa much prefers Instagram to interact with her customers. She can be contacted on 0777445449 for orders, and do take a peek at the @bakesbybella account on Instagram or search for posts under #bakesbybella hashtag. I can assure you that the pictures will make you want to reach for your phone to place an order before you know it.

By Sarah Kellapatha
Pics courtesy Bakes by Bella