If you haven’t heard of pastry maker Allysen Layne, you might begin hearing more about her now. Based on customer reviews, it is a running tie between her chocolate cake and Great Cake.
Layne, 24, got her start puttering around in the kitchen – helping out. She is largely self-taught and discovered her love for baking and decorating by accident.
“I always knew I wanted to cook. I could not afford to go to culinary school right out of university, so I started investigating what courses were available in the evenings. It was then that I realized there were not many cooking courses but there were some baking, pastry and cake-decorating courses available.
“I did some courses at the Israel Lovell Foundation and Joan’s Sugar Craft and Pastry Centre to learn to do the basics and to make sugar flowers, but otherwise it is self-taught – a combination of digging through magazines and a little imagination.”
Looking at her workspace at home (she says it’s her mum’s kitchen and she gets in trouble for taking it over with flour and pots and pans), it looks like a place where you can shoot a HGTV cooking series.
Located on the upper floor of the structure, spacious, tall cupboards painted green almost fill the right side of the room. Next to the fridge are rows of cookery books. The island is situated so you can circle from it to the fridge to the stove and to the sink.
“My dad, Al, is in construction. He built the house himself over a period of years,” she said proudly. The house is powered fully by solar energy, but that is another story.
Most of the equipment she uses is between domestic and professional. “I have not made any investment in commercial equipment as yet but that is in the near future.”
Allysen’s weekends are goners. She has started her own business, Edible Expressions, complete with business cards and a website. With orders ranging from wedding cakes to burger cakes to little pigs, she has no social life, she says, because of the amount of time she spends in the kitchen on weekends and at night.
“It depends on how many orders I have,” she said. “I put in an average of about 40 to 45 hours a week, besides everything else that I do.”
Everything else includes a temporary teaching position “which I do during the day”.
“I go to university at night and run my business during the night and on weekends. It is a lot but I love every moment of it, so I have no complaints except the shortness of time,” she says, laughing.
“It is not really easy, but careful planning, personal sacrifice and determination are key.”
A past student of Springer Memorial and Barbados Community College, Allysen holds a Bachelor’s degree in literatures in English, and is currently doing her Master of Philosophy in literatures in English.
“My dad was a bit concerned about me doing school and those courses in the evening but when you are doing things that you love, you find a way.”
Allysen’s creations are from a collection of recipes that are a mixture of family recipes and a few customized ones she has created from other recipes picked up along the way.
Working with 25 flavours, give or take a few, she caters to personal cravings and for the largest or smallest events. She recollects how, given free rein, she designed a cake that looked like a hamburger complete with fries, ketchup, mayo, cheese, lettuce and tomato for a little boy.
“The son thought it was an actual jumbo hamburger,” she chuckled. “They could not believe it was all cake.”
Her two favourite ingredients to work with are most definitely coffee and chocolate. When baking for herself, she makes rum and raisin cookies. And for her, the crust is what makes the pie.
“When I dig into a pie, I want to see a tender, flaky pastry that breaks easily. If it is tough, it just ruins the whole experience for me because then there is filling going all over the place,” she said.
What are the ups and downs of the business?
“Some of my most peaceful moments are when I am alone and I am just baking or decorating. I also enjoy interacting with my customers, having them fall in love with my products, helping them choose a design or flavour that is right for them or their special someone,” she said.
“On the downside, I hate shopping for the business and having to balance my books, that is the not-so-fun part.
Allysen’s venture is a one-woman cake show. She does the majority of the work but acknowledges the help of her family, [mum Phil and sister Candice included] who pitch in with the shopping and deliveries.
What advice do you have for young people who want to start their own business?
“Do it! I think that choosing this road is one of the best moves I have ever made.
“Besides becoming educated, I believe that everyone should learn a skill that provides them with other options.
“Some of the best advice my Dad ever gave me was to have a backup plan.”