What is this newsletter?

If you like desserts (and food in general), overthinking,  personal essays, spicy discussions, being in your feelings, recipes that actually work and make you feel like a professional cook, pretty food pictures, mild swearing, and hip hop, this newsletter is for you.

Each month, I take a stab at decoding identity through desserts and other food-adjacent things. In a world of increasing instability, I firmly believe that food will save us all, so we better figure out what the hell is going on.

Who is Shikha la Mode?

Pastry chef, writer, distance runner, maniacal Drake enthusiast, hip hop lyrics-quoter, and the proud owner of an astronomical amount of anxiety!

When my home life fell apart, pastries saved me. From baking at home to starting a Dessert Club in school to finally making my way into kitchens at age fourteen, desserts made me feel safe and loved at every point in my life.

Desserts opened a window to who I was and who I could be. They introduced me to eccentric creatives, different countries, lots of tears, and an unwavering resolve to feed people and share stories with them.

I think a lot about desserts because they matter. They bring joy, confusion, and love. They begin, reveal, and unleash stories. I'm searching for all of it. So come hang!

My friends have been calling me Shikha la Mode since college, and it's never going away.