<p>The moment you think of Diwali, exotic sweets and savouries come synonymously to it. However, the twist this season's Diwali is the traditional and modern sweets fused together, which have replaced the usual 'soan papdis' and 'laddoos'. With city bakers and shopkeepers getting experimental with different flavours, customers too are very enthusiastic to take back home or gift hampers and sweets with a twist in taste this festive season.<br /> Savouries like 'cashew tiramisu', 'french cranberry laddoos', 'paan of nawabs', mixed dry fruit cookie, are some of the favourites picked by customers, not only because they are amalgamation of flavours, but also they are suger free.<br /> Ankit Sahni, owner of a prominent sweets and bakery chain in the city said that apart from sweets, people are opting for customised hampers with a mix of fusion sweets, coupled with dry fruits and chocolates. "We tried experimenting with the traditional flavours to give them a fresh new taste. The market is great when compared to earlier this year. Keeping the fitness freaks in mind we have tried making the sugar free sweets loaded with dry fruits and nuts. We have a good range of hampers from Rs 1,500 to Rs 10,000 to choose from along with other customized options available in a row," he said.<br /> Different varieties of 'Baklawas' are another prominent choice of many, especially the 'Kataifi Baklawa' (prepared from shredded Turkish filo and caramelized honey) and Honey cashew tart.</p> <p>"The hampers which consist of dry fruits and coconut are preferred over other products in the shop. With the changing needs, people are demanding chocolate bouquets and customised baskets for Diwali. Moreover, there's so much competition in the market now, especially in the F&B industry, that we need to make something new and better every festive season," said Narendra Tolani, a bakery and sweet shop owner in Indira Nagar.<br /> Keeping up the spirit of the festival, but also keeping precautions in mind, a couple of shops are also providing masks and sanitizers with gift hampers.<br /> "Every gift hamper has a mask and sanitiser in it. This is our way of reminding our customers and others that we still are in the middle of a pandemic. Talking about customers’ demand, the gold plated mewa roll is a special attraction this Diwali. To make our hampers more Diwali ready, we have also included scented sticks and candles," added Srijal Gupta, owner of a city-based restaurant and bakery chain.<br /> "The most preferred items among the pre-bookings is the gulab jamun and kaju katli flavoured doughnuts and tea cakes. Above all the flavoured makhanas (lotus seeds) and bubblegum flavored kajus have already begun going off the shelves. Masks are being provided with every purchase," said Manisha Pahwa, who owns a small bakery and an instagram store.<br /> Tanushree Gupta, the owner of bakery chains in the city said, "We are decorating cakes with lanterns, diyas, crackers and rangoli decorations on them for the entire Diwali week."</p>