Foodtrove by Anjj – Cake Keyn and More!

by Iyath Adam

For this month’s Lonumedhu interview, we sat down with Anja Abbas – @foodtrovebyanjj – Instagram content creator and the founder of Cake Keyn – the first cake picnic in the Maldives.

Read on to find out about how Anja got into food content creation, how Cake Keyn came about and future events that she is planning!

Lonumedhu: Tell us about yourself. How did you get into being a ‘food influencer’?  

Anja: First off, it wasn’t planned. And I don’t really think of myself as a food influencer, but more as a food content creator.

Remember during the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone was posting food? At that time, I was doing my Master’s degree abroad and was a full-time student, so I had a lot of free time. My friend and I were also baking quite a lot back then, so I started posting those since I didn’t have much else to share. After a while, I realized that my feed was looking quite nice with just food photos, so I decided to delete all my personal content, renamed the account, and made it public. That’s how the foodtrove page started.

I had been posting food on and off since then, but I wasn’t very consistent until 2023. That’s when I really started posting more regularly, and it’s also when the account took off, with more people starting to follow the page. Baking is just something I do as a hobby in my free time, and this has become a way for me to share my creations with others.

Lonumedhu: Your food plating pictures look so aesthetic and just mouth-wateringly good! And you have a knack for trying out very different flavour combos too. What's the process like from start to finish?

Anja: I’ve always really liked Asian-style food and follow a lot of accounts that post those kinds of dishes. I love trying new food too, but getting specific ingredients in Malé is still challenging, even though things are getting better now.

When it comes to cake flavour combinations, most of the time, I come up with ideas for flavours that I think might go well together on my own. Or if I come across something on social media that makes me curious about how it might taste, I test that out too. I usually check a few recipes or techniques online, then tweak them to match my own preferences and come up with a final version.

The plating and photo-taking process is pretty simple. I don’t do much, I just use a white backdrop or a plain white table and keep everything as minimal as possible for consistency. I always use natural lighting for the photos. If I bake something and there is no natural light, I usually skip taking pictures for Instagram. Maybe I’ll snap one for memories, but not for posting.

Lonumedhu: You recently founded the Cake Keyn event – the first cake picnic in the Maldives. How did it come about?

Anja: Cake Keyn was something I had wanted to do ever since the original Cake Picnic Tours went viral. I reached out to my friends @githeyomirus and @manaalulu to help make it happen. Since we needed more support and a team, we also reached out to @hawwanbakes, @hanbunmv, and two of our friends, Suha and Fadwa, who made up the organising team.

Lonumedhu: What was the response from the public to Cake Keyn?

Anja: After we made the Cake Keyn page, we gained a lot of followers within a very short amount of time. And when we opened for tickets, I think we were sold out within 30 minutes. And we didn’t reach out to any bakers or participants beforehand; it was all organic participants.

The event itself went really well. The cakes were so pretty, and everyone was incredibly creative with unique designs and flavours.

After the success of the event and all the support we received, I’m honestly very proud to have founded Cake Keyn. In terms of my foodtrove social media presence, Cake Keyn is amongst one of my biggest achievements

Lonumedhu: Do you have a chef or famous foodie whose work inspires you?

Anja: I don’t think I have any one person in particular, but if I had to name someone right now, @doobydobap is one food blogger that I really like. I love her style of cooking and the wide range of Asian food content she shares. I often get inspired by a creator’s food or style and then try to come up with my own take. I enjoy making simple, comforting dishes and I’m not a big fan of complex recipes, so the simpler the better.

Lonumedhu: What's your favourite food to make?

Anja: Fun fact, I’m not actually a huge fan of cooking, I’d much rather have someone else cook for me. So, I’m not really sure what my favourite food to make is. That being said, I gravitate towards simple rice-based meals with chicken or eggs for protein. I also enjoy making cute toasts now and then. To be very honest, I am still figuring out my preferences, so I don’t think I have a singular favourite food yet.

When it comes to baking, I love making chiffon cakes in different flavours. I love chiffon cakes out of all other types of cakes because of how light, airy, and satisfying it is to bake. But other than chiffon cakes, I also love making different kinds of loaf cakes and desserts that aren’t easily available to try here. I enjoy exploring special cakes from different countries too.

If I had to choose one of my favourite things I’ve baked so far, it would be the Swedish princess cake (except for the marzipan bit). Another one I really loved was a chamomile cake with peach compote and vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream. It was a flavour pairing I came up with, and it turned out so nice that I still think about it from time to time.

Lonumedhu: Are there any more exciting new things like Cake Keyn from you that we should look forward to?

Anja: We are planning to have another Cake Keyn within 3-4 months. For the second event, we are hoping to host it outside, at a bigger space. During our first time, we were only able to accommodate 50 people. So, for the next event we are aiming for 100-150 participants –  if things go according to plan. We are also in the talks of hosting Cake Keyn on a larger scale by going to different islands.

Aside from Cake Keyn, I’m also really excited about something new. Two of my baker friends and I will be doing some bake and matcha pop-ups soon. We’re still in the planning stage, so we’re very excited to share the details with everyone soon.

As for the foodtrove page specifically, I’ve always wanted to have a website or blog where I can post my own recipes. It’s been a bit of a challenge because I’m usually very focused and present while baking, so I often forget to note down the details. Still, I’ve managed to write down a few recipes of my own.

Additionally, having an official blog would mean experimenting with the same thing multiple times to perfect it, and unfortunately, right now I don’t have the time or resources for that. But I am open to publishing recipes on something simpler, like a Substack. For now, I’m always happy to help or share recipes through DMs.

Lonumedhu: What’s your advice for other budding content creators who want to showcase their creations on social media?

Anja: Whether it’s baking or any other skill or talent, put yourself out there. You’ll end up connecting with a community of like-minded people, which is honestly amazing. From my own experience, I can tell you that being around people who share your interests helps you grow, learn, and stay inspired.

Don’t wait for everything to be perfect. Just start somewhere. You’ll improve and figure things out along the way. I’m still learning too, and I know I have a long way to go.

Lonumedhu: Thank you so much for your time, Anja. It was lovely to chat with you. Wishing you all the best!