My Baking Journey
Learning from bakery chefs: My baking journey started when I visited India to meet my grandparents. My mom’s relatives who own one of the best bakeries in their city, invited me for a sneak peek behind the scenes and a fun hands-on experience in their bakery kitchen. I had always been fascinated by baked goods and pastries so I was very excited. I had a great time making a cake and icing it with different flavors of buttercream and fondant decorations. Alongside me, professional chefs were making beautiful 3-tier cakes and yummy cookies. Something happened that day, and left me happier than ever. When we came home from our India trip, I started baking regularly and experimented with many types of cakes and desserts. I had fallen in love with baking.
Me and Brother baking at Elchico (Bakery In India)
The cookie-girl at school: I love eating cookies so I started baking chocolate chip cookies at home. They turned out delicious so one day I packed a big box, took it to school and passed them around in my class. 32 cookies were over in a wink! So many friends came up to me and asked if I could make some more. I was so excited to share my cookies with others. After that, I was making cookies every weekend. I would take a big batch of cookies to school every week, and kids from all grades in my school would find me to get one. I came up with new flavors every week, like Cookies & Cream, Red Velvet, Smores, Twix, Strawberry, and would hand them out for free before school started. I made so many new friends and became popular as the Cookie-girl at school.
Starting a Baking Club: When my middle school offered the opportunity to start student-led clubs, my friend and I jumped on it to start a baking club. Many of my school friends joined me for a new baking adventure every month and I had a lot of fun leading this group on fun recipes. The group votes on what they want to learn, and we have tried out yummy treats like Chocolate Pudding and mini cheesecakes. I am so thrilled that through my baking club I get to meet and teach other passionate bakers like me.
(A collage of one of the desserts we made)
Baking competition winner: My middle school recently held a baking competition. As soon as I heard about it, I was excited to participate. My coffee macarons were a winner and I won the baking competition. The announcement was made to the entire school. After that, I had so many friends and even teachers congratulating me and wanting to try them out. One of my teachers asked me if I could make an order for her, she wanted to cheer up the other school teachers as our school was reopening in person. This is when I decided to expand my baking to spread joy to others, and Sia’s Cookie World was born!
