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Retro Mama Mona Shakib is dishing out delicious desserts from her newly-opened shop in Reef Island after an overwhelming rise in demand for her baked goodies.
Mrs Shakib, who has been baking for as long as she can remember, started a home-based business five years ago, testing the market for her tempting treats online.
Her cupcakes, pies, cookies and cakes proved such a big hit on the island that the baking queen took a brave step into the retail world to satisfy the sweet tooth of those ending their fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
Mrs Shakib said: “I started operating as an online home business and things were soon going really well with growing numbers of customers. I had to open up a shop to keep up with demand.
“Now, we have customers who come to us from all over Bahrain for their daily sweet fix and the best part about it is being able to interact with all of these wonderful people who truly appreciate the soul that goes into it.”
The winning ingredient is baking from scratch, with the best ingredients, of course, and from unique recipes, she added.
The baking queen is particularly inspired by ‘Good old American’ wholesome recipes and her slogan is ‘it’s all about the flavour’.
She explained: “This concept is personified by the ‘Retro Mamas’ of the 1920s era. These are the ladies who are all-round mums and wives supporting their families and ensuring that there is always good food on the table.”
Mrs Shakib has followed in their footsteps, making sure her daughter Elissa, two-and-a-half, and her husband Shahab Saeed, BMW Group’s marketing manager, always have something scrumptious to nibble on at home in Riffa.
She said: “My husband has been very supportive of me and helping to make my dreams come true and my little girl is a great food critic. Watching my mother bake as a child is what really got me interested in baking and experimenting with my own recipes.”
At the age of 12 she would make sure to surprise her father every day with a new cake when he came home from work.
“There is something extremely gratifying about creating something from scratch, putting your heart into it and then seeing the end result of that as smiles and satisfaction on the faces of people you love. Today those happy faces belong to my customers!”
Her best sellers are the Red Velvet Cupcakes, Key Lime pies, Oreo cheesecake bars and according to her fans, one of the best birthday cakes on the island – the rainbow cake. Her cupcakes start from 800 fils and cookies from 500 fils.
She also makes a selection of pies, cheesecakes, brownies and cookies on a daily basis, offered with a cup of coffee and soft drinks.
Her long-term plan is to open branches of Retro Mama throughout the kingdom.
* For details, contact 77700222, or follow her on instagram @retromama_bh
