Cake decorator Malinda Ali has been letting her scrumptious cakes do the talking for her. The tongues that have been tasting Malinda’s cakes have also been wagging her name across Guyana and beyond its borders.
Black, fruit, sponge, chocolate and red velvet are among the wide variety of cakes Malinda has been making. Her two-year-old business began with family and friends who saw her potential and love for baking and icing cakes.
“At the age of 14, my mom allowed me to use the stove and by 18, I perfected my baking skill and with every first attempt it always came out perfect,” Malinda said in a recent interview.
Cooking and baking, as it is in many families, are just done in large portions in Malinda’s family. Growing up she saw her mother and aunts cooking and baking with pride and over time she too caught on and found a passion for baking.
Once she got started there was no turning back and soon she found herself baking for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, social parties, bridal showers and all other occasions she could possibly bake a cake for.
Malinda gives credit to her mother, aunts and commercial cake decorator, Liz Larson.
When asked which she enjoys more, the baking or the frosting of the cake, Malinda said “both”. But even an expert like Malinda has challenges. “Black cake is the most challenging cake I have done so far. I just wanted to get the right kind of taste,” she said.
But then again Malinda isn’t one to back down from challenges but finds them inviting instead. “I love to experiment with new things,” she added.
One of the worst things that can happen while baking is opening the oven to check on the cake before the right time and making the cake fall. To avoid that, she said, persons should stick to the baking times.
“Baking has better me in many different ways. I got to meet new people, make new friends, go places and it made me more confident about myself,” she told The Scene.
Malinda’s cakes portray her creativity and how out of the box she can get. Her cakes are known for their royal, creepy, funny, exquisite looks depending on what she creates with her frosting. Most of her cakes are done for children celebrating birthdays and she has done some of the latest trends like Frozen (from the movie), and the all-time legends like Spiderman, Batman not forgetting the Disney princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, and Sleeping Beauty). When decorated her cakes have been known to leave persons baffled at how creative she can get but then again with an inspiration like Liz Larson nothing less is expected.
Malinda who does her business from her home in Enmore would either have her customers pick up their orders or have them delivered by taxi.
Although she sees her cake business expanding in the future she’s yet to ascertain whether she’ll head into cooking as well. Apart from her baking, Malinda is taking a course to stay ahead of the game and has a family to take care of.
Malinda’s favourite cakes to eat are the black and sponge.
In her limited free time, she enjoys watching cooking shows, watching comedies with her children, meeting new friends and taking long drives.
With the Christmas holidays upon us, Malinda already has her work cut out for her and indicates that persons need to place their orders early to avoid the rush.
Malinda can be contacted on numbers 255-0185 or 639-6300 or by visiting her Facebook page at Malinda Ali.
