Rashmi Michael
Hi, I'm Rashmi. I am a baker, recipe developer, researcher, problem solver, chef, photographer, singer, breathe dance, and a lover of all things raspberries.
I am a Celiac.
I know firsthand the pain of not having the freedom to eat our favorite foods because of not having gluten free options. Or to have options but only to have them filled with stuff you should Not be having.
This is why Chiffon Tree is a deeply personal labour of love for me.
I wanted to give a safe space to people who need to or want to eat gluten-free where they don't have to worry about ingredients or nutrition or taste or safety and can just say, "This! This is what I want!" And have it. Just like everyone else.
I baked my first cake when I was 12 and discovered a soul-consuming passion. Scoured whatever I could get my hands on to get recipes from wherever I could. Baking almost every day since then, it all came to an abrupt halt when I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2014. And suddenly, just like that, I couldn't bake anymore, I couldn't just go out and have a meal, or have my favorite cupcake. Things we take for granted.
It threw me into intensive research to find a way to bake and cook without gluten and recreate the same magic again. I crafted my own gluten-free recipes for the things that I and my family love and I will tell you unabashedly they turn out better than the gluten ones along with being fabulously satiating and nutritionally sound.
In my culinary journey, in 2018 I attended an Italian cookery course in Florence, Italy, where I not only learned authentic Italian cooking, I also learned gluten free versions of the beloved pasta and Tiramisu made from scratch. Those will be coming soon.
Years of research in nutrition, recipe developing and trials, and my own search for gluten-free food that is soulfood and is good for our bodies too has culminated in Chiffon Tree.
I bake in my gluten free kitchen and only with the good stuff: Real butter, real cream, real extracts, organic wherever possible, an eye on nutrition and bowlfuls of flavour.
Chiffon Tree is based in Bangalore.
I hope you enjoy my baking as much as I do. Wishing you happyness!