BAKERS' Basket Baking Supplies at Door No. 4, Sanny Sweets Building on Tionko avenue looks unpretentious outside, but inside it is a totally different story.

Blocks and blocks of baking chocolate, rows of assorted cake decors, imported baking ingredients, shiny baking pans and utensils, stacks of different kinds of nuts, even pretty and colorful pastry and cake boxes.

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All these and more are found on its well-stocked shelves and displays. If you love to bake cakes and pastries, Bakers' Basket is the place to go for all sorts of supplies.

Bakers' Basket owner Aarni Aviles retired from a corporate career a few years back to venture into the baking supply business. She told me she is fascinated by baking tools and loves to browse books on baking.

This fascination led to putting up a baking supply store, aptly called Bakers' Basket, catering to the baking needs of hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, homebakers, and those who simply want to indulge in the joys of baking.

"We have a steady flow of customers who leave happy when they find the baking supplies they need. But we also welcome those who tell us what they need when they cannot find it anywhere in the city, so we can include that in our inventory," remarked Aarni.

That is good news especially for enterprising bakers who intend to make volumes of baked goodies to sell this Christmas. After all, isn't fruitcake one of the all-time-favorite Christmas giveaways that everyone is happy to receive? I know I'd be very pleased to get one of these luscious cakes that come in boxes so pretty it lifts my holiday spirits.

Bakers' Basket has all the ingredients one needs to make fruitcakes and all sorts of cakes and pastries, like chocolate cakes, cookies, cheesecakes, and more.

These food items are popular choices for corporate gifts and presents among friends and family during Christmas.

"There is a sense of satisfaction knowing our products allow our customers to make their own baked creations. When they leave my shop happy with their purchase, that makes me happy too," said Aarni.

You can find on the shelves of Bakers' Basket items such as chocolate blocks, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, marshmallows, nuts (cashew, walnuts, pistachio, almond flakes, macadamia, pine nuts, and pecans), whipping cream (Pour n' Whip, Whip n' Go), pastry and cake boxes, small baking tools like spatulas and graters (microplane), and baking pans of different shapes and sizes. They even have gift boxes of all shapes and sizes, as well as other nifty packaging that I found surprisingly affordable.

You would love to just stand there and gaze at their display: chocolates in various sizes and shapes, bags of colorful sprinkles and candy coated chocolate lentils, and baking products with whimsical names such as wildflower, pastel daisy, red hearts, sequins, star blend, star bright, bright sequins, pastel confetti, and they're all edible!

Bakers' Basket not only carries basic baking ingredients that one might have difficulty finding in the supermarket, it also caters to bakers who push their baking prowess to come up with more than the usual baked food. No wonder specialty coffee shops and hotels come to Bakers' Basket for their baking supplies.

So whether you're a home maker who whips ups baked goodies for your family and friends, a culinary student harnessing your baking skills, an entrepreneur who stocks her coffee shop or restaurant with delectable dessert items, or a professional concocting sophisticated cakes and pastries for hotels, you'll never go wrong going to Bakers' Basket for your baking supplies.

With Christmas just around the corner, baked goodies will come in demand now more than ever. Bakers' Basket opens its door to anyone who needs baking supplies from Mondays through Saturdays at 8 a.m. (9 a.m. Saturdays) to 6 p.m., and welcomes inquiries at telefax 0822214906 and 09177055147.