I’ll be honest. Increasing prices is one of my least favourite parts of running a bakery.

Every time I have to update a menu, I do the math again and think, Can I somehow avoid increasing this?

Sometimes, I can.

Sometimes, I just can't.

Over the past few months, the cost of ingredients has been creeping up, especially sugar and chocolate. And if you bake regularly, you know how important those two are.

Chocolate goes into our cakes, brownies, cheesecakes, ganache, fillings and plenty of the little things we make at The Bittersweet Palate.

So when chocolate gets more expensive, I feel it pretty quickly.

Sugar is the same. One small increase doesn't seem like much when you're buying one packet for your kitchen. But when you're baking dozens of cakes and desserts every month, those little increases start adding up.

Then there is butter. Cream. Flour. Eggs. Packaging. Electricity. Delivery supplies.

Suddenly, the ₹50 increase in one ingredient isn't really just ₹50 anymore.

And believe me, I have thought about cutting corners.

Using a little less chocolate. Changing an ingredient. Finding a cheaper alternative.

But I don't want to do that just to keep a number on the menu unchanged.

If you have ordered from us, you know what you're getting. I want the brownie to taste like the brownie you loved last time. I want the cheesecake to have the same texture. I want the chocolate cake to actually taste like chocolate.

That matters to me.

So yes, some of our prices are going up.

Not by choice, and certainly not because I think people won't notice.

It is simply what happens when the things we use to make your desserts cost more.

Running a small bakery has taught me to watch every rupee. I would rather make a sensible price increase than compromise on the ingredients that make our desserts what they are.

And I really hope you understand.

Every order you place with The Bittersweet Palate supports a small business, a very real kitchen and a person who still gets excited when someone messages to say, “That cheesecake was so good.”

That part hasn't gone up in price.

And I hope it never does.