Cake creator Hasina misses meeting wedding couples

A Blackburn baker is looking forward to the wedding season returning later this year so she can meet her brides and grooms once more.

Hasina Bangi, owner of My Kitchen Bakery, is often posting images of her intricate mouth-watering creations on social media – but says seeing people’s reaction in person is worth all the stress and late nights.

Speaking about why she set up her business, the mum of two said:

I started in the pursuit of something fulfilling and more meaningful for me. I wanted it to align with my life goals and lifestyle. I also wanted something that would allow me to be creative and bring lots of joy to people.

Hasina is taking part in our ‘Picture This’ campaign. The campaign features local people talking about the things they miss doing due to Coronavirus, reminding us that if we all do our bit to control the spread of the virus we can get back to doing the things we love quicker.

WATCH Hasina’s video for our Picture This campaign

Hasina set up her business in 2019 and it has continued to go from strength to strength – but she admits “the pandemic has affected my business massively.”

Prior to COVID, Hasina loved meeting couples for wedding consultations to discuss what kind of cake they’d like her to create.

She commented:

This time last year My Kitchen Bakery diary was full of bookings for wedding cakes. Things have drastically changed. A lot of people postponed or cancelled.

I loved getting to know my brides and grooms for months prior to their wedding and I would get a feel for what they wanted just by seeing their personalities.

The best part was delivering their wedding cake and watching their reaction, and the guests’ reactions too. Bringing in the cake – the centrepiece – is a buzz in itself. That’s what I’m looking forward to.

It’s a difficult time for anyone. It’s unprecedented. This has never happened before and this anxiety has had a heavy toll on small businesses like mine.

Unfortunately, many businesses haven’t survived this pandemic. A lot of businesses have closed down.

Until larger scale weddings are able to resume, Hasina has adapted her business – creating products for people to enjoy with their family in the comfort of their homes.

She is also focusing on developing new cake ideas, techniques and designs for couples for later in 2021 when larger weddings will hopefully be able to take place once more.

Coun Mohammed Khan CBE, Council Leader, said there is a lot to look forward to in the future if we follow the rules now:

Families right across the borough are looking forward to weddings and other celebrations. So many occasions in 2020 had to be postponed so there’s lots to look forward this year – if we all work together.

If we follow the COVID-19 guidance and get vaccinated when we are offered appointments, we will get back to normal life very soon.