Following the creation of some delicious baked treats for her family and friends, Brooke Richards from Fife, has set her sights on opening her own bakery.
Many of Scotland’s hospitality workers are finding new ways of adapting during the pandemic and looking forward to their businesses opening up again, hopefully in the next few months.
But one budding baker who has her eyes firmly set on the future is 10-year-old Brooke Richards from Cellardyke in the East Neuk of Fife, whose impressive home baking skills have been delighting her family and friends since she was three years old.
With so many different bakes under her belt, Brooke reveals that her favourite treat to make is cupcakes, which she especially enjoys frosting.
She said: “I started baking with my mum when I was about three years old and I was making things like crispy cakes and fairy cakes.
“I like to bake lots of different types of cakes, like cheesecakes and truffles and scones and birthday cakes. But my favourite things to bake are cupcakes – and I really like my chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting.”
Inspiration
But where does she get her inspiration from? The 10-year-old baker draws many of her ideas from baking shows, while also creating some of her own recipes for the delicious bakes.
Brooke continued: “I sometimes make up my own recipes and sometimes use other people’s ones. I like to take inspiration sometimes from programmes on the telly like the Great British Bake Off and the Junior Bake Off and a programme called Sugar Rush on Netflix.
“I quite like Mary Berry and I use her recipes when I make pancakes, loaves and Victoria sponges.
“I also try to practice baking every week and I watch YouTube to learn new techniques like piping buttercream in different shapes and designs. Recently I’ve started watching how to do the roses with buttercream, and I’ve bought different nozzles with my Christmas money.
“I always have lots of volunteers to try out my recipes but it’s mainly family I bake for and give some out to my friends as well.”
Brooke’s Bakes
While we may not be able to get our hands on some of Brooke’s delicious treats quite yet, the young baker has her sights firmly set on the future.
She added: “My dream job when I’m older is to own a bakery shop of my own called Brooke’s Bakes so I can share my baking with others.”
And with so many celebrations to bake for throughout the year, Brooke has some favourite occasions she is especially looking forward to.
“Christmas is my favourite time of year to do baking for because I like to make all of the little fondant details on Elves and snowflakes and things like that,” she said.
“I also made some things for my nana for Mother’s Day. My nana and granddad gave me a shot of their Kenwood mixer to help me make all my cakes and that was really fun.
“I also try to use local produce where possible, like strawberries in my cheesecakes and sometimes in my cupcakes.”
“I recently made some 3D shapes using a geometric mould. I put candy melts in, then I put it in the fridge for a bit, then put another layer on then pop them out of the mould. Then if there are any little bits around the edges, I cut them off.”
