The Happy Baker spreads more happiness with a food truck

By Marianne David

The Happy Baker has been making a lot of people happy for quite a few years now and with the recent launch of a food truck, this delicious brand of happiness is being spread even further!

For Mayukha Perera, who heads The Happy Baker, it all began back in 2008 but she’s been baking since she was nine.

My first taste of happiness from The Happy Baker was the kiribath (I used to have both the black pork curry and katta sambol and red mackerel curry and katta sambol options). This is one dish which has to be tasted to be believed; it delivers mouthfuls of pure comfort and succulent spiciness and is utterly irresistible.

Most popular picks from the menu

It’s no surprise that the kiribath is one of the most popular items on the menu, given how it comes with succulent meat curries on the side. Right now it’s thick and delicious mutton curry that’s being served and this dish flies off the shelf in no time.

The gourmet pies, the eclairs, and the ever-so-soft cupcakes are fast sellers too, especially the pineapple gateaux cupcakes and the coffee cupcakes with nougat. In fact Mayukha’s top picks from her own menu are the kiribath with mutton curry, pineapple gateaux cupcakes, and the eclairs.

I also had the chance to taste her chocolate cake a week ago and I was in cake heaven – it was exquisite.

While the main menu features quite a wide range of items, including fingerfood, kalupol pork buns, eclairs, and cupcakes, the food truck options are limited to ensure there is no wastage.

Here comes the food truck!

So how did the food truck come about? With the decision being between a food truck or a cafe, Mayukha decided it was best to go to the footfall rather than wait for the footfall to come to her and, parking the cafe idea for now, rolled out the food truck.

The response? Awesome! “Since I was also in the corporate for 30 years, I had already built a good network, so I started marketing it on FB, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Whenever we are on the road, quite a few people stop by just to say hi because they’ve heard about us either through word of mouth or social media,” said Mayukha.

And where can this food truck be found? Plans right now are to operate in front of the World Trade Centre (WTC) once a week (mid-week), while the response from the fitness crew at Independence Square has been great too, making it a likely regular spot on weekend mornings, offering the gourmet kiribath and curry options.

Companies can also get the truck onboard for their events, some of which have already reached out, and The Happy Baker is also in the process of getting a loyalty card sorted out.

Banks are up on the deal: if any of them want to have the food truck over for a few hours, The Happy Baker can use the bank’s own QR code for payments so that revenue gets routed to the bank. All they need to do to get this going is send a WhatsApp on 0777 328 575 and Mayukha will happily discuss tailormade collaborations and solutions.

Private parties and kitchen takeovers

The Happy Baker also caters for private parties, with the menus entirely custom made depending on the client’s preferences.

“Recently, we catered to a private banking event end-to-end, from canapes and cold meat platters to fingerfood and dessert, including service. For such events, we charge a per-head rate that factors in service staff, cutlery, crockery, etc.,” she explained.

That’s not all; The Happy Baker also does kitchen takeovers, through which it provides a private chef option. “We come to your place and cook/bake in your kitchen. This way, you get to entertain your guests in the comfort of your own place and with gourmet food made then and there!”

How ‘The Happy Baker’ story began

Tracing the origins of her culinary journey, Mayukha said her biggest inspiration was her late mother, whom she described as the smartest human being she has known.

“She was a Chemistry teacher for over 40 years at Musaeus and she was an awesome baker and cook. Baking is chemistry and she would teach me from a young age how ingredients work chemically, so that has helped me be consistent and experiment. Whatever I know today, I owe it to her. I had no formal training; I learnt everything from her,” she recalled.

Having become a single mother by the time her daughter was around five years old, Mayukha found that, despite being a career woman throughout, there were times when any extra income would be helpful.

“I started building a house for myself and Asini in 2006 and that was put on hold for a while as it wasn’t easy juggling everything together. It was at this point that I thought of putting my culinary skills to commercial use and started taking orders as a part-time gig while working full-time. At that time, since I needed to call the business something, I randomly called it ‘The Happy Baker,’ as the kitchen was always my happy place.”

A disappointment – then a dream come true

Then, after working for 30 years in the corporate sector, an abrupt – and utterly unexpected – job loss took place, leading to Mayukha committing herself to culinary endeavours full-time.

“I was honestly enjoying what I was doing. I had just moved into Talent Acquisition and I was doing a pretty good job. I had a good team to work with and I genuinely loved the opportunity to give jobs to Sri Lankans. What is there not to like about that? But without any warning or indication whatsoever, I got fired out of the blue over a half-an-hour conversation. I was shocked and disappointed and felt that it was finally time for me to leave corporate and concentrate on The Happy Baker as my full-time thing.”

The decision came with its share of uncertainty, with Mayukha sometimes wondering what on earth she was doing, but she had by then reached a stage in her life where she found herself unable to tolerate corporate drama and fakeness any longer.

“The only way I could avoid all of that nonsense was if I worked for myself, so here I am slowly building this up together with the biggest gift from God, my husband Chris, who has been my utmost strength through every win and every fall.”

Cafe on the cards

So what can we expect next from The Happy Baker? It’s a question Mayukha has been asking herself and once again there are two options on the table: another food truck or a cafe.

This time, though, she is more inclined towards the cafe option, needing more kitchen space to be able to scale, so we may see The Happy Baker opening up its own place before too long – something that anyone who has tried Mayukha’s cooking will joyfully welcome.

Given the excellence of her food and how she has maintained consistency in terms of taste, quality, and quantity over the years, it is certain to be a huge hit and a very happy place indeed.