Cake Decorators Network members are baking up a storm during the lockdown
The members have been baking like no bakery ever baked before!
The Cake Decorators Network (CDN) members are keeping busy by baking up a storm for their families during this lockdown.
Tania Riley, who is a member of the network, said the members have been active in baking and learning how to bake bread, rolls and other yeast products.
“There has been much encouragement amongst each other to share recipes, pictures, successes and problem solving,” said Riley.
ALSO READ:
One of Hospice Benoni charity shops are open
“One of our members, Willy Reed, is a bread expert and was so very helpful and willing to assist the members as a whole.
This has been done via our members’ WhatsApp group, which is an active baking and cake decorating communication channel amongst our members.
“The members have been baking like no bakery ever baked before!
Jam tarts, donuts, short bread, milk tart, choux pastry, jams, preserves, dragon fruit chutney, sauces, jellies, crunchies, biscuits, isomalt lollipops, you name it, they baked or preserved it.
Riley said apart from baking, cooking, jamming and preserving, she has been spending time prepping for her upcoming private classes, like the tube embroidery royal icing bird, which will start after the lockdown.
“I have been making a bride and groom topper for a wedding cake, cooking and baking and some veggie plantings,” she said.
“I have enjoyed the time to re-centre myself, rest and do all the things I do not usually find the time to do. I am glad that I went to night school so many years ago to reskill myself in cake artistry.
“This allowed me to become independent of asking someone else for a job to ensure my income in an economy where jobs are hard to come by, and often do not provide what a person requires to get by.”
She encourages everyone to learn a new trade skill to fall back on so that if you find yourself without work, you don’t have to be dependent on finding a job somewhere for income.
“Although you would still need to run a business to earn that income, you are not dependent on someone else providing you with that job first.
“A person cannot control what happens as a result of the environment or other people’s actions, but we can all control our own responses to it,” she said.
BEFORE THE LOCKDOWN:
Riley said just prior to the national lockdown in March, they ran a number of Easter egg workshops which they opened to the general public as well as members.
“The workshop proceeds went to the Cake Decorators Network and ingredients were sponsored by Sugar and Crafts, Rolkem and Cake Arts.
“Members of the committee covered all the cake boards for the participants. Some of our members attended an Isomalt Protea making workshop by SA Olympic Chef Nicolas van der Walt,” she said.
She added that one of their members was awarded a free attendance on this programme at a prior demonstration evening that Chef van der Walt did at a monthly meeting of the Cake Decorators Network on how to make Isomalt Rock Roses.
Other activities this year included some of the members completing a fairy figurine modelling project with Retha Joubert in the Cake Arts Studio in Farrarmere.
The Cake Decorators Network will have two draws at the next meeting that they will be able to hold after the lockdown period.
The two members who will win will each be awarded with a trip to Cake International in England in November 2021.
The network is a group of volunteers with an organising committee.
Their sole mission is to build people skills within the fields of cake decorating and allied fields of interest.
The annual membership is R320 and it is R30 for each monthly meeting that you attend.
All this year’s members will have a pro rata credit on next year?s membership fees due to the lockdown.
Tania Riley:
On the personal front, apart from baking, cooking, jamming and preserving, I have been spending time preparing for my upcoming private classes, once the lockdown period has ended, such as the tube embroidery royal icing bird.
“I have been making a bride and groom topper for a wedding cake, cooking and baking and some veggie plantings,” said Riley.
“I have enjoyed the time to re-centre myself, rest and do all the things I don’t usually find the time to do. I am glad that I went to night school so many years ago to reskill myself in Cake Artistry.”
She said this has allowed her to become independent of asking someone else for a job to ensure an income, in an economy where jobs are hard to come by and often do not provide what a person requires to get by.
“I encourage everyone to learn a trade skill to fall back on so that if they find themselves without work, they do not have to be dependent on finding a job somewhere for income.
“Although you would still need to run a business to earn that income, you are not dependent on someone else providing you with that job first.
“A person cannot control what happens as a result of the environment or other people’s actions, but we can all control our own responses to it,” she said.
Anyone interested in joining the Cake Decorators Network in Benoni or the private classes in Cake Artistry should contact Riley on 082 931 6200 via WhatsApp.
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as fake news) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
