I started frosting cakes a year ago, when I was six years old. I don’t really remember it, but Mommy says that she started baking when I was eight months old. I would be in a baby carrier on her back so I was always watching her bake.
I live in Bangalore, India and I like to draw and craft. I like crafting houses, plants and flowers. I am also home schooled and every day when I finish classes I tell Mommy I want to frost a cake.
I learned how to frost cakes from my mommy and dad. Mommy would give me layers of cake that were scraps so I could practice on them, and the first cake I frosted was a chocolate cake; it was brown. I started by putting cream and chocolate inside the cake, then icing on the cake and then I put chocolate icing over it and smoothed it with a bench scraper. I then put more icing around the top so it got smoother and was all finished.
Then I put the other decorations on. It had flowers. They were artificial flowers and Mommy helped me decide where to put them. I felt great afterwards. I don’t know how to read the clock but I feel it took me quite some time to frost the first few cakes. Now, I think I am faster and I feel very, very happy when the cake turns out beautifully.
After that first cake, someone from my church wanted a cake and Mommy said it was time for me to try. I have a design in mind for each cake and I like making cakes where I put hearts and flowers on.
I practice making frosting flowers on the table with the leftover cream. Mommy said she has a lot of leftover cream every day, so she saves that up and most evenings I practice piping flowers and different shapes on a cake base so I can move my wrist more smoothly. I also like making shells with frosting.
So far I have frosted eight proper cakes and a number of scrap cakes and dummy cakes. My rainbow cake was one of my favorites. I put some hearts and candy and rainbows on it and I used all different colors. I would like to make a fairy cake that would be pink and purple. Mommy also makes donuts so I would like to learn to make them. I also like it when Mommy makes wedding cakes; the blue and white cakes with white flowers on them. I like them because they’re beautiful.
Mommy always tells me how much people love my cakes on Instagram and how they feel encouraged to help their children also make cakes; that makes me feel very happy. My friend Ziva said she loved her brown teddy bear cake. I felt happy because I love her.
Mommy had never posted videos of me practicing frosting cakes until recently, she says if I have the skill for it, why not? I felt excited when I saw Taraji P. Henson had shared a video of me on Instagram. I would like to take my cakes to people in America. My friends said they had seen my video too, which made me feel good. Mommy and daddy also say to me: “You are great!” I feel very happy when Mommy and Daddy tell me how well I frosted a cake, it makes me want to do many more.
If I could make a cake for anyone, I would make a cake for my friends with heart shapes on it. When I grow up I want to be a singer and a baker and I think Mommy will let me work in her bakery. I want to sell cakes with Mommy and Daddy when I grow bigger.
Zizi Wali lives in Bangalore, India with her parents. You can see her cake frosting on Instagram @zironchicakes.
Additional details in this essay provided by Ronke Wali.
All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
As told to Jenny Haward.
