The Citizen (Gauteng)

Home baking made easy

UBAKED: INGREDIENT­S IN A BOX

- Sandisiwe Mbhele

Lets you make a cake that looks like you bought it from a bakery.

The smell of something fresh out the oven was a familiar sensory delight in the initial stages of lockdown. People were finally trying their hands at making fresh bread and banana bread, and mastering other cooking skills.

With some forms of normality returning, more than a year since the coronaviru­s pandemic started, there is not all that extra time to do fun hobbies or spend hours baking.

The busy lives have returned, routines are slowly getting fuller and making that special birthday cake or cupcakes for loved ones and friends can be too time-consuming.

But a local startup has met the growing need for baking kits for any occasion.

uBaked, founded by passionate baker Carey-Anne Robson, was already teaching pastry classes back in 2019, when online classes were booming, and running her business, Finchly Bespoke Bakes.

Realising she needed to adapt as quickly as possible to the change in the market, she noticed a gap for home bakers “to simplify the process by having premeasure­d ingredient­s because, having experience baking through the whole process with my kids, I understood how fussy and difficult it can be”.

“This would be a great idea for people who want to bake but are not confident enough to do so.

“You can make a cake that looks like you bought it from a bakery, you can personalis­e it your way, all for under R300.”

The concept was developed during the hard lockdown, when companies such as baking businesses were most affected.

The kits are premeasure­d ingredient­s of recipes, which include flour, chocolate, baking powder and a detailed recipe card. Other staple pantry ingredient­s, like eggs and butter, are not included.

“I learned baking from firsthand experience, so what I have done is provide quite detailed documents that are downloadab­le links when you order.

“They give you an extra insight of what you can do to make the process easier with some special techniques,” said Robson.

They started with four boxes of tea-time treats (cookies), as well as desserts, bread and cinnamon rolls.

Some techniques seem intimidati­ng, but the kits are quite streamline­d and can be made by anybody wanting to bake, no matter what level.

Robson says some of the recipes are 40 years old and are very simple. Opening a business in 2020 was daunting.

Having experience as a brand manager for luxury perfume brands, she wanted to sell at least 100 boxes a month.

“We are living in quite a conservati­ve market in terms of online ordering. People want to order from trusted brands. We have been forced to look at other channels for driving sales, such as Takealot, where you do a lot of volume. But it takes a lot out of your profit margin.”

The boxes are affordable, at around R200, maintainin­g the balance of a premium product at great value.

Special kits for celebrator­y moments, such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas and Easter, at times sell out.

uBaked is launching a celebratio­n box soon.

“It is going to have ingredient­s to make your own birthday cake or a celebratio­n cake for a special occasion,” she says.

With the option of chocolate or vanilla, it can be made into a cake or cupcakes, with a variety of toppings.

The health-conscious era is still influencin­g the market. Healthy eaters are requesting sweet treats that are less guilty, with fewer calories but still taste just as nice.

“Our chocolate cake is our top seller, but I love making cinnamon rolls and I think they are better than Cinnabon in my opinion.”

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