 In the morning at Y254 channel you can find us across all our social media handles at Michelle Ashira you can find me on all my social in this particular session it's all about baking and cakes you know what they say about baking if it's a labour it's a labour of love and there's also the analogy that it's only therapeutic you know mentally, physically and all about that In the studio I am joined by Akulina Ndungu she is a baker and she runs her own bakery from home known as Laurent cakes yes Thank you very much for creating time to be with us Thank you How are you? I'm very fine You're looking good Thank you so much So starting us off Akulina where is this love of baking, where did it all start from? I think it has been in my genes all along In my grandmother she was a guitarist So since I was young I've had interest in cooking, trying out new recipes Alright so how did you learn how to bake now? Consider it that you had interest from way back in cooking and everything So when did you learn about baking? So when I was in high school I decided let me try out baking And when I did it was terrible I used to like get disappointed because of the rationing and all that Then I decided to do it professionally I tend to believe that one can bake, you can learn how to just put the right ingredients together And follow the recipe to the latter But how does one know how to keep different decoration and design And how do you keep up with the trends? My goodness you have to follow so many kick houses And then in decoration you have to be creative You have to come up with really good ideas It's all like Kitambo You get simple decorations, you just do flowers and all that You really have to go deep in it So how long have you been baking and how long has Laurence cakes been operating for? I've been baking for the last 4 years But Laurence I started it last year in November You know everyone has a story when it comes to starting their own business Some were once employed and decided to get into self-employment Someone was once just from school and decided to just get into self-employment What was the story before Laurence cakes, what were you doing? I was actually employed so for a whole year I was trained By one of the big kick houses in Nairobi And then after one year they decided to employ me I worked so hard at it I used to do most of the special cakes They are a bit different from these other cakes The diabetic, the carrot, the fruit cake And I got so good at it There are days I could do like a thousand cupcakes or even more It was hectic And I was like if I'm this good and I'm working for someone else Why not just employ myself and just start my own thing I felt like I'm not getting my worth So from that point when you've just seen your value And your worth at that particular time And how much you're bringing into the company So take me through your line of thoughts Now you've decided to start something of your own What was the first thing that you bought when it comes to a requirement In your line of job when it comes to baking? I bought a mixer but it was a hand mixer So it's not that good I would actually not advise anyone to get them hand mixers You'd rather even use a muiko or a spoon You just mix or a whisk A whisk is even much better You just use your hand and mix nicely If you can't get a nice mixer Because they don't mix everything nicely What other major things does one need when it comes to baking apart from the mixer? So you need an oven A really nice oven There are some ovens that are not that good They won't cook your cakes nicely Some will burn them So the nice ovens You really have to get a nice oven And then apart from that You have to get a nice person who will be bringing you the ingredients And all that You just don't go to the supermarket and just get the ingredients You have to have someone to get them for you Yeah because the supermarket is a bit high The prices are a bit high But then if you have a person bringing them It's a bit cheaper you'll save Okay so when you look at this other person who is bringing you the ingredients Where do they outsource them? Mostly from the wholesale places Or from the companies themselves Then they distribute So how did you raise your first capital to just put into the business How did you raise your capital? My goodness it wasn't easy So I started saving My salary was so little I didn't even get a chance to go out Have fun I will really sacrifice Yes Go home I just used the transport And maybe credit So the rest of the money I just saved it So I started saving like 5k per month Yeah Okay So did you have a business planner Like now he's the Lord in Cakes This is how we're going to operate Was there like a business plan? No What was your strategy? My strategy was getting clients first Because you know you can have everything you need for a bakery But then you don't have the clients So I started reaching out to my former classmates And my friends I'm baking You guys can order from me And since they knew I was working In a bakery In a cake house They were like We want to try your cakes Yeah And then I started baking I gave it a small twist Because I didn't want it tasting like What I was making before I wanted it to be special Something unique Yes So I gave it a small twist Yeah And they were okay You know like in every business That these guys Who like are so loyal They'll buy your cakes No matter the price No matter what And they bring more clients And then These other guys They want free cakes Oh yeah Especially friends Exactly And I'm like I'm setting a business And I really can't afford to do that right now So I kept the loyal ones And most of them have been bringing back Like other clients Other clients Referrals Yes What was the feeling Take me through the feeling When you got your first client It was so amazing I really did my best And I sold the cake What was the cake Which cake did you make for the client? A special vanilla Yeah So I tell the client Please give me a feedback And the feedback was positive That like this cake was really nice And the decoration too And I was so happy You know When you're a chef Or you're into cooking When you've cooked something nice It comes out perfectly The way you wanted it You feel like really nice Like you've made it Yeah So it was like the best feeling ever Alright And then after that She didn't even take long A week after that She's calling me Like I have another order for you I was so happy Okay You spoke about something Which is very important There's a level of fulfillment When you're a cook And just get You know positive response from your client Initially While you're still In schools And also learning the ropes In baking For the times that you felt frustrated Like When did my cake to be Quite the opposite Yes There's even a team I cried I put too much baking In cake Oh my goodness Which cake were you making? I tried rainbow I really cried Because it came out badly And then the taste was so awful Yeah Too so bad Alright So what are the flavors Do you make apart from You mentioned carrot cake What are the flavors That you make That's You know On show You know Clients just come In this particular You know I'm sure there are Particular flavors That your clients Always on demand Yeah This caramel Caramel is full of chocolate Mostly the ladies love that And then there's chocolate There's also zucchini And then fruit cake Mostly the elders They do the fruit cake Since it doesn't have too much sugar Yeah There's also my vanilla My special vanilla Yeah They also love it There's also marbol Yeah Mostly these are the cakes that sell Alright And Are they custom made In terms of A client has to tell you What they want prior Or do you just make them In the just scope of the shelves Yes They are custom made Yeah Mostly I get orders Like a day before And I cook them And bake them How they want it Plus the design Okay Does that mean like If I have a certain visual Even if I see a picture online I say like I want the same cake as this one And I just come to you At Lauren cakes And they say I want this particular cake Just exactly like this Does that mean like You can in a position To bring my You know In reality Yes Yes you can do that Okay So what determines Your prices for cakes What are the major things That determines that Mostly the flavors And then the size Then the decoration Yeah Because most of the time Like vanilla cake Can't be the same price With the fruit cake You see The fruit cake has Like a lot of ingredients Yeah And then when it comes to The decoration There's some decorations Which are really hectic And then they're detailed Yeah Mostly the baby showers Yeah All right Let's look at a couple of The cakes that you've made And you see Oh You guys back at home You ain't ready for this You ain't ready for this Let's see a couple of cakes That you baked For your clients prior So as we get to see that So All right You can take us through Each of these three cakes And define their names And the top behind the deco It's okay This was for a kid Okay Actually all of them Yeah It was a bati? Yes Bati, okay Yes They're all but the patties I did my bowl Orange for this one The other one was vanilla And then You have to like Bake two cakes So that you can raise it All right Yeah, because One cake reaches around here Yeah, so you have to raise it All right, okay Yeah And then Another question I have a burning question It's okay What if someone knows How to bake But they suck at You know like Decorating Like how do you come up With these images Are they edible Like the cartoons? Yes They're edible You have to actually mold them With fondant Oh, okay Yeah Fondant is the hard icing You know it All right I didn't know that Now I know Yeah, it's the hard icing So you have to use it to Yeah, to make the models Oh, okay Because you can't use Soft icing with that Okay Yeah, and for this This is a picture And this is rice paper So it's edible For the crown The crown is not edible All right You just have to buy it Okay Yeah So you should be Go so happy Yeah I want to take us through this Yeah, binten Mm-hmm This is also rice paper Okay Yeah And that is fondant too The flavor I think it was also Vanilla or orange Okay Yeah All right Kids really love that This was for a grown-up You can do it for What was the occasion? For a bridal shower Okay Yeah, and you can also do it for a birthday This is orange meal Mm-hmm It really is Okay It's one of my favorite Mm-hmm Yeah, you have to Bake it with oil And then the decoration too Also use oil All right So What's the flavor? Oreo Oreo Yes How long does it take to bake this particular cake? This one took around one hour Mm-hmm Yeah Then you let it cool Mm-hmm After it has cooled nicely You can decorate it It is also raised These are two cakes These are two cakes? Yes How many kgs? One One kg Yeah, you do like two halves Yeah For this particular cake How much will it go for? Ah, that is 2400 Mm-hmm Yeah, because you charge like two halves Okay Is there down payment that is required? Yes How many percentage? Half of it Then the rest you can pay later All right Yeah Okay, take us to this This is the only wedding I've ever done Okay Many more will come Yeah Because of the corona and everything Mm-hmm Yeah So this was a friend's wedding Okay Yeah, they called me and they were like We have a wedding tomorrow Please, please, please Please do something Okay And I'm like, it's okay I'll sort you out How You're able to work under pressure that is That's what I'm getting Yes So you're delivering photo For a wedding that is happening tomorrow Yeah You see, yeah, yeah I'm used to pressure Because the time I was working Like for the four years I've worked there They do like so many cakes And it was hectic You have to work under pressure And the cake has to come out perfectly Okay Yeah So for the wedding cake How many cages is that? 15 That was 15 cages Yes Because I've seen it straight It was Like 5kg below 5kg Then 3 Then 1 Okay, let's look at Tik Tok Yeah This cake Ah It was actually inspired by Tik Tok Then a friend of mine was like Can you do this for me? Because I really want a nice cake for my birthday Yeah I'm like, sure I'm so sure she loves Tik Tok Yeah, she does I love it Okay So what was the flavour of that cake That on Tik Tok? It was caramel Okay Real quick, let's go through the fashion I love this cake Okay, take me through that So it wasn't an order Okay I saw a cake online And I was like I want to try this out So you were challenging yourself Yes Yeah And it came out perfectly I was happy with what I did Yeah Okay Then I see the bride to be Yes So That was a bride doll Okay What was the flavour to that? And how many kg is that? That is marble to kg Yeah It's around 25 Okay Then you have the cupcakes Yes The rainbow cupcakes They're really nice So what does this entail in terms of The ingredients and the flavour? They have eggs And then They have this special kind of flour That makes the cupcakes It's not just the normal flour? No It's not the normal flour I usually use It's ready You just have to mix it with eggs Right And oil and water Yeah Then after mixing it That's when you do the rainbow You get your colours Yeah You just have a little colour by colour Alright So how early should one book you For a particular event or occasion? Mostly a day before But if you... That is the latest A day before But at times I I do have ready cakes Yeah So if you really need a cake You'll just have to take the flavour that I have But if you want a custom made cake A day before will do Okay So You're about to have a cake on set And Okulina is going to take us through The whole aspect of design The flavour It looks yummy Thank you Hamston So take us through this particular cake And Okay thank you very much Hamston Take us through this cake And the flavour How many kgs And yeah They go behind this This is a half kg The flavour I did Yeah And then The decoration The theme is wedding Yeah Mostly in weddings you can just do such kind of design Okay The flower is it edible? Yes very much edible Alright So do you offer classes when it comes to baking? Yes I can offer classes I've actually done one Mostly We've done online Because I can't let the guys come to my plane Absolutely Yeah Yeah But I've just done one So now But classes They're ready Alright so how can people find you on social media And just engage with them If they need classes in baking If they need to Order a cake Just take us through where we can find you on social media My IG cake handle is Laurent cakes You can find me there The Facebook one Is Laurent delicacy I just have this too Which is actually very crucial Especially Instagram So let's look at Just winding up right Have you ever been in a situation by your center clients A cake and they were like No this is not what I actually requested for And how do you handle that situation? Yes it has ever happened I was so frustrated So I baked a cake And it was at the party for a young kid Yes and the mother was not She was not satisfied with what I did How did you handle that situation? I had to bake another cake Because I wanted that kid to have a birthday quiz of me So do you do deliveries? Yes we do because we are an online shop In town CBDs for free Then any other place we charge So give us again For the last time your social media accounts And then we wrap it up and enjoy this cake Laurent cakes on IG Then Facebook, Laurent delicacies So Laurent cakes across all her social media handles And you can order And she says anything that you visualize She can bring it to life So order Or then she does delivery for free CBD So at Y244 channel is where you can find us Across all our social media handles At Michelle Ashira Is where you can find me across all my social So in this particular session I want to say that you enjoy the rest of your viewing Rahio on Y244 channel Happy Mashija Day And who is your Shija? Shija Ako Nani My mum And she gives out amazing names Ako Lina So we'll enjoy this cake Happy Mashija Day to you Enjoy the rest of your viewing Rahio on Y244 channel And have an amazing day