Nickay Green

Creative writing

Who baked that?

I would consider myself a very good baker. I have been baking for as long as I can remember with my grandmother.  My grandmother was a baker and own a small bakeshop in the Islands (Jamaica), so growing up I would stay up late at nights with her while she tests out new recipes, and she would teach me the different technique of how to mix and combine ingredients for the best results. I remember helping her make cookies on Sundays for us and making banana bread for Sunday morning breakfast. I could still remember her say “taking a bite from a fresh-baked bread is like taking in a breath of fresh air”. I was too small to understand what she meant but now that I am grown and bake my own bread, I can honestly say biting into a fresh-baked bread is indeed like taking in a fresh breath of air.

After my grandmother passed away, I keep baking because it lets me feel closer to her in some strange ways, and over the years I was able to be almost as good as she was (my grandmother is the best baker I know to this day).

My grandmother had a cookbook that she would normally write down her recipes in.  Since I was the only one of the grandchildren who had any interest in baking, the book was passed down to me after she died.

Now whenever my sister or I was having family functions and dinners, I would make it a point of duty to make something that was from my grandmother’s book.  The first time my sister hosted a function, (a birthday party for her son) someone asked about the cake and cupcakes I made, and where they could purchase it. My sister ended up saying I baked them and that thanksgiving, I ended up baking eight cakes because everyone who found out about the baker behind my sister’s cake wanted me to bake for their thanksgiving dinner, which was a hassle. From that day I told my sister to never tell anyone that I was the one who bakes for her events and I would do the same.

I always enjoy hearing people talking about my cakes and cookies and often time gets the question “where did you order that delicious cake?” or “how can I get in touch with the baker who made those cookies/cake?”. But my answer is always vague, or sometimes I would lie and say a friend drop it off I don’t know where they bought it.

It’s not that I am not proud of my work, but with school and work, I only make time to bake for special occasions and don’t want to feel obligated to bake for other people just yet.

Over the years people would inquire about my cakes at events and the few who suspect that I made them would ask me to bake for them for a price which most of the time I decline. Maybe one day I can open a bakery like my grandmother and then I can share my baking with the world, but for now, I will only share it at my events or my sister’s event without anyone knowing where it is from.

Just a few of my work .