I had the most amazing experience hosting the workshop in coorg with rakhee from box of spice. the resort we stayed at orange county resorts was situated in miles of coffee plantations and was so beautiful. it truly was one of the most incredible resorts I have ever been too. rakhee and I got to the resort two days early to get ready and find the spot for the welcome dinner. we decided to have it near the infinity poor next to the lake and then we both cooked stuff for it. I made the hummingbird cake (scroll down for recipe) and rakhee made a mango tart and helped with some of the mains which where a jackfruit curry and a bean chilli. the food was incredible on this trip and we got to try so many things, a lot of which was new to me. lets just say I am now obsessed with paneer in any form, jackfruit curry, dosa and chaat and lets not forget the dal and naan breads. beware as this is a really heavy photo post as I just wanted to share it all with you. for a run down of the workshop if you are interested in hearing how it went down we talked about camera settings, lighting, styling and Photoshop and social media and then we had 4 practical sessions three when we could style and shoot and one where we photographed shivesh make a cake. as well as the candle lit dinner on the first night we also planned a candle lit dinner in the middle of the coffee plantation which was incredible. we also went to tata coffee to learn all about coffee it was really interesting. meeting rakhee and the attendees for the first time was amazing, we had such a lovely bunch of people and we all got on well I hope we can all stay friends.
above a women from when we visited tata coffee for a coffee tasting, and the photo on the left in a coffee flower it smells like jasmine,
jackfruit being cut up on the side of the road we pulled over to try some, it was really yummy. below was in the restaurant the chef was preparing naan bread and kebabs.
our villa at the resort.
my cake for the welcome dinner hummingbird cake I made it Indian inspired by using cashews instead of pecans and adding cardamom. I used a simple whipped cream frosting.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- seeds from 8 cardamom pods ground (I used Malabar coast brand from the orange county shop)
- 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 3/4 cups very ripe banana, mashed
- 1 cup toasted chopped cashews
- 1 and half cup chopped pineapple,
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 9-inch cake pans. or like me two pans one small than the other.
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In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamon.
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Add vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and eggs and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
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Stir in banana, 1 cup cashews, and pineapple just until evenly mixed.
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Divide batter evenly between the 3 cake pans. Place in oven and bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
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To make frosting, use and electric mixer to beat together cream powdered sugar to make a cream frosting.Spread frosting between layers of cake and cover top and sides.
the candle lit welcome dinner was so amazing, rakhee had a vision of what she wanted to archive and she managed it.
another shot of my cake
the baking session with shivesh from bake with shivesh, we talked about taking photos with a human element and motion this was my favourite part of the workshop as I love photographing hands.
this was the road in the plantation when we were on our way to dinner, I had to stop and take a photo as it looked so beautiful.
the deck all set up, waiting for it to get dark for when the guests arrived.
we had dinner on the deck in candle light it was so amazing and the food was so good.
another view of our villa I loved it so much I could of moved it.
this family let us into their home and we took loads of photos of them, people are so friendly in India,
the resort was so green almost like the jungle book. there was so much to look at each day.
we have another two workshops in india planned this year, one in kerala on the 31st july to the 4th of august and it focuses on yoga and food photography and the other in Jaipur between the 3rd and 8th of October there are some details on the kerala one in my workshop section (almost sold out).or you can email [email protected]
Stunning! Made me feel like I was right there.
Thank you Sarah xx
I always tend to think of India – I confess it’s not one of my dream destinations – as being red, orange and very hot. Seeing these pictures makes me re-consider my views, as these look refreshing, vibrant, green, full of life. I can only imagine the food, if I don’t have an interes in India as travel destination, gastronomically speaking I love Indian food, and would visit the country for it alone, could I afford to, frankly. Paneer, aha, how I miss it!!
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Yes this part of India was so different it was really beautiful x
I love what you captured with these photos. Takes my breath away! No other words seem sufficient here.
Thank you so much xx
Some of your best photography Aimee! Sounds amazing.
Would be lovely for you, me and Silvia to meet soon and discuss what you’ve learned from running a retreat like this and what we can take away to our retreat. Looking forward to it.
thank you Kimberly that’s so kind yes that would be great xx