After a long and arduous day at work, most people would prefer to kick off their shoes and rest, but not Shaneille Smith, who stays up most nights, whisking eggs, sugar, cream, milk and flour to bake up a storm in her kitchen.
On most nights, Smith finishes baking at 3 am and catches a few hours of sleep before waking up for work and to deliver cake orders at 7 am.
An administrator in the Asset Management Department at the Joburg Property Company (JPC), Smith bakes all sorts of delicacies, from a simple wedding cake to creepy crawlies and Spiderman jumping out of a cake.
Born and bred in Harare, Zimbabwe, the single mother of one moved to Johannesburg in 2006 in search of better prospects. One thing she travelled south with is her family’s recipes and passion for baking.
“Baking is my favourite pastime, it’s so relaxing,” she beams. “My cakes are relatively expensive because they are of great quality. When you taste my cake, you will be like ‘damn girl, I need more’,” she enthuses.
Smith says although baking has always been her hobby, she decided to enrol at the SA School of Weddings and monetise her passion. “I have always loved to bake and create. I took up a baking course so I can learn all the nice things. Since then, I’ve been doing my own little thing.”
She says on a good month she gets about six to 10 big orders. “It keeps me living.”
Some of Smith’s delicious recipes, like her favourite vanilla and chocolate cake, have been in her family for over 60 years and she is now passing them on to her 9-year-old daughter.
“I always make sure that you get your cake while it’s still fresh and moist. I might deliver your cake or order with blood-shot red eyes but what matters is the love and passion that went into it,” she adds.
Smith joined the City in 2009, working at the defunct Metropolitan Trading Company at Bree Street, which later got merged with the JPC. She is a qualified executive personal assistant and also enjoys sewing and knitting. She dreams of opening a bistro one day where she can sell her cakes.
Smith is the embodiment of “Womandla”, a woman who values her essence and is driven to make a better life for herself, her family and her community.
Her small confectionary enterprise is called Tulip-Treats. Look it up on Facebook. Order Tulip-Treats on tuliptreats@gmail.com or telephone Smithon 083 633 3725.
Written by Linda Mbatha, Londiwe Mthabela and Chanelle Meyer
