Sectie Singh started her small home-based bakery in Barrackpore back in 2015 after deciding to bake her husband a cake upon his return home from working abroad.
“One day when he was coming home, I got up and said let me try and bake a cake as a surprise and I did and we enjoyed it. Everybody else enjoyed it so I continued baking just as a hobby.”
Before starting Sugar Art Cake Studio, Singh was an auditor then human resource/payroll lead assistant at different companies.
“I got married and my husband got contracted to do expat work and it was for a couple years, so I decided to stay home because he will be on rotation and if I work we wouldn’t have time together.”
[caption id="attachment_996651" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Sectie Singh adds delicate finishes to a dessert at The Sugar Art Cake Studio - Marvin Hamilton[/caption]
Singh laughed as she recalled her mother telling her that she never thought she'd see her baking in the kitchen much less like being there. At the time, the now named Sugar Art Cake Studio went by Cake-A-Licious Designs TT and her first order was from one of her neighbours. She said they had ordered a Mother's Day cake that carried a basic design decorated with chocolate drip with tiny alcohol bottles, regular frosting with sprinkles and a photo printed onto the cake.
Singh said, "I want to portray something different now because I want to be doing more of these modern-styled cakes and more wedding cakes.”
She said in order to accomplish this, she had to go back to school and learn all about cake decorating and pastries which is she now fully immersing herself in.
"I did courses. There was this teacher from Dubai, she came to Trinidad on a short vacation and she had advertised a one-on-one with a few students. That just opened a whole lot more than what I actually knew I was capable of doing in this field.”
Singh also enrolled in courses with the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Colorado along with other classes both locally and internationally-based. Though she did all of her training online due to covid19, she never let it deter her from growing as a baker, cake artist and pastry chef. With all of her training, Singh now carries the title of professional cake artist/pastry chef.
“I also found a new passion in which I like doing desserts, I like being creative. French and Italian desserts are where I just found a really good passion for. This wasn’t there before and so far, I’ve been getting good feedback from my clients. I introduced them last year for Valentine’s Day. I have really good feedback and the customers, they come back.”
[caption id="attachment_996653" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Pastry chef Sectie Singh enjoys one her baked treats. - Marvin Hamilton[/caption]
Singh imports most of her ingredients as she isn't able to find them locally nor use local ingredients which, she said, do not give the same results to what she learned while becoming certified. Checks done by Business Day showed that a three-pound pack of imported flour can cos
