While cake-baking is traditionally a vocation associated with the fairer gender, a young man from Kopong is proving men can enjoy sweet success in the kitchen too.
22-year-old Daniel Moleofi is fast becoming a hot prospect in the pastry world, satisfying customers’ cravings with his sugary delights, which include: cakes, cupcakes and muffins.
The Lá Brad Cuisine & Cakes founder inherited his baking skills from his mother and his desire to emulate the magnificent meals she dished up for the family on a daily basis.
“That sparked interest in me to start learning how to cook,” explains Moleofi, who waited until he had completed his BGCSE examinations before setting out whole-heartedly to pursue his baking dream.
“It was only then that I officially invested my life on learning how to cook pastries, which later transformed to preparing cakes,” he tells Voice Money, setting up Lá Brad Cuisine & Cakes in July 2020.
Having studied French at school, the young baker-cum-entrepreneur saw fit to add some French flair and mystique when naming his business – the French, of course, are famous for their love of pastries.
Nearly two years on, and having withstood the constraints of Covid-19 through ‘patience, family support and the grace of God’, Moleofi has established a steady customer-base working out of his Kopong home.
“All of my clients never get tired to give a call or come to me for services. Some of the biggest gigs that I have done are for wedding cakes; they generate more revenue as they are costly to prepare,” notes the talented cake-maker, who also prepares cupcakes for Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) employees.
“They normally engage me during their birthday parties,” adds Moleofi, who works alone but recruits help when he receives a big order.
With the winds of winter starting to spread their icy grip across the land, Moleofi admits the change of seasons impacts on his enterprise.
“This particular business is seasonal. You find that in the first quarter of the year it slowly goes down then it suddenly blossoms. When winter begins it slows down again because events and functions are few,” he explains.
Thus, to diverse his revenue streams – and also because he enjoys it – Moleofi offers monthly two-day cake-making lessons for P1, 300.
“I have introduced a Cake Baking Masterclass, which covers the equipment needed for cake making, baking from scratch, buttercream making, cake filling, scrapping and edging just to list a few,” he confirms.
Looking forward, Moleofi is eying a ripe cherry to place atop his cake-baking business.
“My aim is to own a Cake studio with a Café Corner in the near future and I believe I can achieve that,” concludes the determined youth.
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