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Mumzel Gourmet Pastries is just what you ‘kneaded’ - Bakery named after pastry maker’s grandmother offers heavenly delights

Published:Thursday | February 4, 2021 | 12:15 AMKrysta Anderson/Staff Reporter
A look at a customised wedding cake 
created by Mumzel Gourmet Pastries.
A look at a customised wedding cake created by Mumzel Gourmet Pastries.
If you’re into 
desserts with a difference, then 
you’ll love these cake jars.
If you’re into desserts with a difference, then you’ll love these cake jars.
The 
birthday 
cake Mumzel’s Gourmet Pastries created for Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
The birthday cake Mumzel’s Gourmet Pastries created for Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Twenty-four assorted cupcakes form the number 31 in this special birthday creation.
Twenty-four assorted cupcakes form the number 31 in this special birthday creation.
This car lover was in for 
a delightful birthday treat.
This car lover was in for a delightful birthday treat.
Jody-Ann Moulton-Scarlett, owner and pastry chef, Mumzel’s Gourmet Pastries.
Jody-Ann Moulton-Scarlett, owner and pastry chef, Mumzel’s Gourmet Pastries.
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One of Jody-Ann Moulton-Scarlett’s most memorable orders to date is the birthday cake her bakery created for Prime Minister Andrew Holness in July of last year.

“I saw that as an honour and we will forever be so very proud of that cake and moment,” the owner of Mumzel Gourmet Pastries told Food, noting that it wasn’t the first time that the bakery had done such an order.

“That was the third time the Office of the Prime Minister used our business. The office once used our business back in 2019 to provide 550 assorted cupcakes for a Christmas luncheon for senior citizens, and the joy we felt delivering those cupcakes will forever be etched in our minds,” she said.

Mumzel Gourmet Pastries’ offerings are as dynamic as their mixtures. The bakery’s speciality cupcakes include Baileys, gizzada, spiced maple bacon and strawberry Moscato. Cakes are just as special and diverse. From Baileys Rum Cream, vanilla, red velvet and cookies and cream to chocolate ganache, dirty banana and gizzada.

“Our products are different and yummy! Our buttercream has been the talk of the town as it isn’t sweet and it tastes just like ice cream. My customers are obsessed!” the entrepreneur and pastry maker said.

It is hard to believe that Moulton-Scarlett, who has always had a love for desserts, once had misgivings about baking. “Baking from scratch was always intimidating and I thought I wouldn’t be good at it. I was especially fearful because this culinary art form is so precise,” she revealed.

This angst followed her into her enrolment in the food service management course at the University of Technology. But a unique interest was ignited in 2014 on a six-month work travel to Scotland. Charged with the task of desserts and breads every day, her love grew after learning new baking techniques and recipes. By 2015 and 2016, she went on to work in the bakery of the establishment’s sister company, located in the United States. That experience afforded her the opportunity to see first-hand just how the business was run daily.

“Getting up at 4:30 a.m. in order to get to work for 5 a.m. to start the first batches of doughnuts, cakes and cookies really gave me a push that I’ve never had before,” she said. She got up every morning with the motivation that she could run a bakery, and made a goal for herself that when she returned to Jamaica, she would do just that. “My passion was scary but I was determined, so with every pay cheque, I started purchasing small equipment that I knew I would need when I returned home,” she added.

Dedicating the name of her business to her late grandmother, Mavis Moulton, who was affectionately called ‘Mumzel’, the company combines her first pastry experience with her grandmother and the wealth of knowledge she gained while baking overseas. “I still remember the moment I ate my first pastry from her. I was either eight or nine years old when she called my sister Nikole, cousin Brian and I into the kitchen and handed us a piece of her toto. To this day, I remember the colour of the cup I got my cold [cup of] Lasco in, the outfit I had on but, most important, I remember exactly how biting into that pastry made me feel. It was more than just consuming what she gave us; it was an epic experience that I don’t ever want to forget!”

No turning back

Since opening her doors in Clarendon on February 15, 2017, there has been no turning back. She currently offers more than nine flavours of cake, provides three half and half cake flavours and 22 gourmet cupcake flavours, and has five cake jars on the menu. Additionally, she takes great pride in her wedding cake menu, which supplies more flavour profiles and offers rental services for cake stands and acrylic cupcake towers.

“Every time I’m asked what my creative process is, I giggle, because the truth is, most of the ideas I get are from God. You may find some of our flavours already somewhere on the market that we made into our own but when I get my ideas, I’m either sleeping or doing something random, and then the Holy Spirit would bring a fruit to mind. Based on my knowledge, I would start experimenting with flavours that complement that fruit.” That’s how ideas like gizzada cupcakes were born.

Though she is the face of Mumzel’s, Moulton-Scarlett’s husband plays an integral role in the running of the business. “I do all [the] baking and decorating and my husband is in charge of all fondant work. We require at least three weeks or more in advance to receive the order and once payment is done, preparations begin,” she shared.

While the process between ordering and delivery can be a long and tiring process, the positive reviews make it all worthwhile.

At the end of 2019, the company already had six or seven wedding cakes lined up for the following year. Then COVID-19 sent the business tailspinning into chaos. But smack dab in the middle of the mayhem of nuptial cancellations, the team found beauty in the pandemic, experiencing some of its busiest months to date. “Mumzel’s Gourmet Pastries doesn’t have a storefront for our customers to pop in and collect their orders. We made our customers feel safer during the earlier months of the pandemic by offering to drop off their orders at their homes, instead of the centralised location. We ensure that we do our best in keeping our customers safe even for cupcakes,” she said.

Living by the mantra that her business belongs to God and she is just running it, Moulton-Scarlett is looking forward to the continued blessings on the horizon. “Mumzel’s Gourmet Pastries isn’t just another ‘cake shop’. We love what we do. We take pride in the quality pastries we offer. Everything is made from scratch and we are positive that you will have an amazing experience eating our cupcakes, cake jars and cakes.”

Contact Mumzel Gourmet Pastries by emailing mumzelspastries@yahoo.com or calling or WhatsApping 876-471-9549. You may also find @mumzels on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

krysta.anderson@gleanerjm.com