The famed Joynagarer Moa has now taken on the cake avatar. Suman Sen was extremely happy when his grandmother, a vegetarian, enjoyed the specially made Joynagarer Moa cake on his 10th birthday recently.
His friends ate it to their heart’s content which had a fair amount of chocolate between the layers.
Suman’s family ordered the cake online. Ma Kali Sweets & Khokoner Moa of Joynagar has sold more than 250 such cakes since Christmas and the demand is growing consistently.
“Joynagarer Moa is much loved. But we decided to try an innovation to add variety,” said Rajesh Das, owner of Ma Kali Sweets & Khokoner Moa of Joynagar.
“The moa market is shrinking gradually, mainly because of the non-availability of good quality nolen gur and global warming, which has made winter shorter. Moa makers are losing out because of competition and lack of marketing. However, our attempt has received good response,” Das told The Plurals.
The first few moa cakes were baked during Christmas and word-of-mouth publicity ensured a good start. A 1.5kg moa cake is priced at Rs 850.
“We also accept orders. But we can’t ship the product beyond Kolkata. We have also managed to increase the shelf life of moa cakes to two weeks, but it is advisable to consume it within five days,” Das said.
The shop also has a quality control laboratory to test the ingredients before the moa and cake are made. “The main ingredients of the three-layered cake include two layers of moa made of Kanakchur dhaaner khoi (rice bran), nolen gur (date palm jaggery) along with kheer, kaju (cashew nuts), kishmish (raisins), elaichi (cardamoms) and pista (pistachio) with a layer of chocolate in between,” said Khokan Das, who owns Khokoner Moa.
“The idea is extremely innovative and the product tastes awesome and everyone, including vegetarians, can have it,” said a septuagenarian who recently tasted the cake.
