Icing on the cake

A BAHRAINI baker, who has risen to the top of her profession in America, has returned to the island after 12 years to reunite with her family … and treat her niece to a jaw-dropping cake creation.

Manal Mohammad Riaz Hakim, lives in Sugar Land Texas, where she runs a successful halal bakery in Houston called Manal Sweets.

 She is famed for her fully-customised signature 3D cakes, produced without gelatin, a protein that forms when an animal’s skin or connective tissue is boiled. It is used in many foods and drinks and some people can develop an allergy. It is also not acceptable to Muslim communities as a major source is pigskin.

“Baking cakes is my dream, my passion and my happiness,” said the 39-year-old who originally graduated with a bachelor in business administration from the University of Bahrain in 2005 and a Masters in Management from Pakistan’s Hamdard University in 2010.

She even completed a graduate programme for Early Childhood Development in the US after she moved there in 2011. Despite working for various leading companies, baking was always her favourite pastime. “It’s not a business for me, but happiness for my soul,” she explained.

She wanted to share that passion with her niece, Ayzal, who celebrated her first birthday on July 8 by creating a sky-scrapper of a cake with halal ingredients.

“My sister is blessed with a beautiful baby girl and she requested that I make her a customised carousel-themed cake and carnival-themed birthday party,” said Manal. “I couldn’t miss her birthday and it feels amazing to be back to a place where I was born and spent 23 years of my life.”

Manal created a six-tier 3D LED cake with light pink, dark pink and gold combinations, including edible horses, flowers and other decorations.

Every tier featured a different flavour such as vanilla, chocolate, rasmalai, gulab jamun, mango and Oreo.

There was also a dessert station setup for children consisting of cake pops, cookies, cake shots, Oreo pops, popcorn, cupcakes, heart pops and chocolates.

“Mini LED light balls were used to light up the cake and a spinning tray rotated the carousel with music,” she explained.

“It took a week to make the decorations and one day for the cake and set up. I have made a lot of five-to-six tiered cakes but this was my first rotating one and what better way to celebrate my niece than by challenging myself and creating something super cool for her. She absolutely adored it.”

Now that her mission is complete, she is enjoying her summer days in the kingdom before returning to the US mid-August. She has big plans for her bakery that is currently under renovation, as she is changing locations.