By Betty Luke
After taking three-day baking lessons at a friend’s place and perfecting the skill through practice, 31-year-old Pauline Njuguna has started imparting the skill to young boys as a way of giving back to the community and empowering the gender that has been forgotten due to over-emphasis on the girl child.
Her undying desire to beat boredom after work and love for a side hustle pushed Ms Njuguna to start the lessons which have started paying off.
Immediately after finishing the classes, the mother of two boys started baking cakes for family consumption before she later went commercial, her now part time employment besides her main source of livelihood-motorbike spare parts shop at Mukuu area.
“I started baking for friends and family not knowing that they would later embrace my cakes,” said Ms Njuguna, who bakes at the backside of her spares shop located at the diversion to Kulamawe.
Unlike other traders in Isiolo who bake and display for sale at their shops, the entrepreneur bakes on order basis and price of her cake depends on flavour, quantity, decoration and design.
The baking process starts with blending eggs with creamed butter and sugar until one obtains a smooth solution which is then mixed with flour paste.
The solution is then put in a tin and placed in an oven. The average heating degree for a normal cake is 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes, subject to change depending on the cook’s preference.
Some however prefer lower temperatures and more time claiming that such prevents burning of the bottom layer of the cake.
She says creativity was vital as distinguishes baker from another and ensures customers have variety of options to choose from.
“When a customer tells me, they want something special, I must be creative enough to come up with a unique design which will excite them,” Ms Njuguna said during an interview with thepresspoint.com.
Pauline Njuguna displays some of her cakes. BETTY LUKE/PRESS POINT
The easiest way, according to her, is for one to look at something and make its model in the form of a cake, as many customers prefer traditional items like pots, guards and baskets which are increasingly being embraced for social gatherings such as birthdays and weddings.
“My friend taught me how to bake only, I had to be creative enough to perfect the skill,” she said.
Her first cake was a pot model, which she baked for Mfinyanzi group during recent celebration of their senior citizens who she says commended her for the work.
“I was so nervous and cautious when baking it. I was waiting the time the event would end so that I could call the client for feedback,” she said.
However, on some occasions while starting up, she says, she had to redo her cakes as they did not appear according to customers’ preferences but did not get discouraged.
Ms Njuguna’s cakes range between Sh1, 500 and Sh6, 500 depending on the quantity and flavour and she is currently selling in Isiolo and neighbouring Meru and Laikipia counties.
“I am so concerned about the client’s feedback and that is what makes me improve and make it better,” the baker stressed.
Her closest friends are her regular clients and they have been referring many clients to her and occasionally buy her cakes and eat with her.
Acquiring ingredients locally is her biggest challenge, since she has to order them from Nairobi incurring extra transportation cost.
“I am able to satisfy clients who order cakes weeks to their events unlike those who order days to the event since I have to acquire ingredients from Nairobi,” Ms Njuguna said adding that she has plans to open a cake shop in Isiolo where other bakers can buy the ingredients at a cheaper price.
The young entrepreneur intends to open a bakery in two years’ time to create employment to young people while also mentoring young men to bake and earn a living from it.
One of her clients Mr Mark Murithi said her cakes are sweet and soft.
“She has the knack in doing it (baking) because her cakes taste different from those sold at other shops,” Mr Murithi told thepresspoint.com.
