Nine years ago, Keziah Wambui was an ordinary mother doing her best to raise her three children.

Her children, then aged 14, nine and six, would occasionally ask her to bake cakes for them, something she was unable to do as she did not know how to bake.

She however could not afford to buy the cakes for them, so she decided to learn how to bake.

"My children would often say, 'Mummy, bake me a cake, I want one'. Unfortunately, I didn't have the baking skills they wanted. Working as a hairdresser, I barely earned enough to afford the expensive cakes they wanted. So I decided to learn how to bake," Ms Wambui said.

In the process, she came up with the idea of starting a cake confectionery business, which she says was not very common in Nakuru.

"Four months after my short baking course, I still couldn't bake. It took me another seven months to start baking because I couldn't find the necessary accessories in Nakuru town and had to buy them in Nairobi. That's how my business journey started in 2015," she said.

Sample of cake decorations.

Photo credit: Leleti Jassor/Mtaa Wangu

Cake decorating has become the ultimate form of creative expression for bakers.
Gone are the days of boring store-bought cakes with simple writing at the top and lots of cream.

Today, every celebration is an opportunity for consumers to indulge their aesthetic senses and for bakers to prove their worth.

Ms Wambui says she started her business with Sh20,000, becoming one of the pioneer cake decorators in Nakuru, and over time has expanded her business to offer complementary services in the cake industry.

Samples of decorations used on cakes.

Photo credit: Leleti Jassor/Mtaa Wangu

She explains how cake decorating has evolved. In the past, everything on a cake was edible, but now we have both edible and non-edible decorations.

To keep up, she spends a lot of time online learning about new trends in the cake market.

The last quarter of the year, she says, is usually her peak season. During this time, there are more celebrations and Kenyans tend to indulge and celebrate extravagantly.

But like any business, hers is not immune to challenges.

"Business is slow at the moment. This business is luxurious, so when the economy takes a hit, people prioritise necessities over celebrations," she says.

Samples of decorations used on cakes.

Photo credit: Leleto Jassor/Mtaa Wangu

But despite the challenges, she says there is a bright side.

"In the hair business I was in, it was easy to lose a client. If they came to you with a specific style and you couldn't deliver, word would spread quickly that you weren't up to the task, potentially driving away other clients," she says.

The cake business however, she says, is effortless, a client can either use my services for cake accessories or just cakes, so the chances of going out of business are minimal.

Ms Wambui also supplements her income by teaching students how to bake cakes and selling the basic baking kits.

How baking hobby turned to lucrative business for 29 year old

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Muthoni Wanjiku