Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Baking Jamaica Happy

Published:Friday | June 14, 2019 | 12:00 AMJessica Harrison - Gleaner Writer
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A year and a half ago, two cousins decided to partner up and bake Jamaica happy. It was not their intention though, as they both started out on completely different life paths. Spareheaded by Jhane Palmer and Shadae Allen, Bake Me Happy Ja provides a variety of baked goods and treats for weddings, parties, baby showers and any other event that you can wrap your minds around. They also offer a ‘bakers for hire’ service in which package deals can be negotiated if you would prefer to have a dessert activity station. That is, decorated cupcakes, cookies, etc.

All about the cakes

BakeMeHappy Ja offers an impressive array of cake flavours for their customers to choose from. There’s rich chocolate cake, various cheesecake flavours such as Bailey’s, oreo, guiness, pistachio, passion fruit and coffee. Traditional fruit cakes, carrot cakes and banana breads are at the top of a few customers list as they are very moist with a variety of nuts and are usually frosted with flavorful cream cheese frosting. “Vanilla is another flavour that we do. Though vanilla is thought to be a “plain jane” we love to add flavour which may come in the form of a filling (raspberry, strawberry, etc) that we might use when assembling the cake.” said Palmer delightfully.While each cake has its own flavor profile, the Bake Me Happy team ensures consistency in quality; light and fluffy and never too sweet. And if that isn’t enough to convince you, the icings are also done just right and depending on the nature of the event, different types are used.“We truly try to accomadate our customers with their orders, we try as best as possible to exceed their expectations and give them a great experience with our cakes. We just want to bake people happy, you know?” said Palmer

The Road to Baking:

While not at first supported by their traditional minded families, lead bakers and decorators, Palmer and Allen set out to change the course of their lives after constant professional and and academic disappointment. Having completed a baking course through Occasions Catering and Hireage, both girls realised their passion and potential for baking and decided to run with it and start a business.

“I was venting to my aunt about my frustration and disappointment with my current job and she insisted that I tried the baking course. At first, I questioned my abilities but I quickly grew fond of it,” said Allen.

Palmer recounts her journey, “It was after my first year of university doing a BBA in Business Administration and absolutely hated it. My aunt encouraged me to switch to hospitality and tourism Management and be more intentional with my baking skills.”

Despite having many trial and errors such as burning cakes and doing less than worthy decorations, the two have grown and are gradually making strides in the baking arena. They entered a wedding competition at the sweetheart bake expo and came in third place.

A baking camp

Bake Me Happy Ja is now on a hunt to nurture the inner bakers of our future generation and will launch its summer baking camp in the second week of July! The camp is geared towards children and teenagers ages 8-16. It’s a two week course teaching the basics in cake baking and decorating. Campers will also be exposed to savoury baked treats and a bit of cooking as well. “They can come ready to learn and have tons of fun,” said Palmer excited.

For additional information, they can be contacted via All social media platforms @Bakemehappyja. Emails and calls are also welcomed via bakemehappyja@gmail.com, Shadae Allen 876-844-2501 or Jhane Palmer 876-294-1597

 

jessica.harrison@gleanerjm.com