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Since 1986 Bahraini pastry chef Khadija Baslar has been serving up delicious desserts for the island's residents. And the InterContinental Regency Hotel's head pastry chef's position as one of the only female pastry chefs in the Gulf region led to her recent appearance on popular Dubai television programme Nashwa.
She has also been featured in a book on women's achievements produced by Her Highness Shaikha Sabeeka, wife of His Majesty King Hamad.
Chef Khadija, 43, from Isa Town, began her culinary journey when she decided to bypass the regular educational choices and pursue a degree in hospitality.
She said: "I chose this profession because no one in Bahrain was choosing this field - everyone wanted to be a doctor or teacher.
"This is not a desk job and it is so much fun. It is like being at the seaside, you get to learn and observe so many things every day."
Being in a kitchen, however, wasn't Chef Khadija's favourite thing as a child. Most of her childhood, she remembers, consisted only of watching her grandmother and mother cook and just occasionally assisting them.
"I was never too interested in cooking as a child," she said. "I remember my father telling my mother - 'let your daughter cook, we don't want to be ashamed in front of her husband'.
"I feel bad now that I never wrote down my grandmother's recipes and I wish I could make food that tasted just like hers - she had magical fingers!"
Chef Khadija started her career with Sheraton Hotel in Manama after graduating from the island's former hotel and catering school.
She joined the InterContinental in 1989 as pastry chef and has since travelled the world for training and exhibitions visiting Hong Kong, Switzerland, Malaysia and various cities in Europe.
And not surprisingly she says the three most important ingredients in her kitchen are flour, eggs and sugar.
When not busy preparing stunning wedding cakes, event confections or perfect desserts for the hotel's guest, Chef Khadija is at home whipping-up something special for her four children.
She said: "I enjoy cooking at home for my children. I cook once a week on my days off and I tell my husband - 'let me feed my children now!'"
Chef Khadija is particularly keen on experimenting with chocolate and adding dates to it. She said: "Dates are the natural sweets created by God. If I could have some time to play with them, I could come up with 100 recipes."
Aside from pastries, she is also a wonder when it comes to baking fresh bread which she explained was something that has come down to her through generations.
"When I was a child I lived in a big family. I used to always watch my grandmother and my mother making bread and it was very interesting."
When not cooking or tasting various desserts, she is particularly fond of fish dishes saying : "I love the machbous with hammour my mother used to make. It was amazing."
In the future, Chef Khadija hopes to take classes at her home and teach others to cook. Here she shares a simple yet tasty recipe to prepare at home.
