Mrs Gbemisola Adesina is the CEO of Divine Concept Confectionery, Abuja, Nigeria. She is a blend of creativity and spreads it to her baking and decoration businesses. In this interview with FRIDAY TREAT, she shares her growth process and how she offers quality services even with the economic situation in the country.

Tell us about your brand?

Divine Concept Confectionery is my brand’s name. This is also our social media handle on Facebook. We specialise in making celebration cakes of different kinds of yummy goodness of different flavours, beautifully crafted sugar, healthy snacks for parties, meetings and families.

We have different means of passing on this knowledge to interested parties at affordable prices through our trainings. We hold online trainings, on- site beginners’ classes, and masters’ class on cakes and pastries and for cake icing. We teach butter cream, whipped cream, fondant, royal icing techniques and sugar flowers.

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How has it been since inception of the confectionery company?

It started as a hobby, before I officially turned it to business fully in 2008. There hasn’t been any form of regret and I am passionate to forge ahead, to keep learning and breaking new grounds.

You are in a city people say the living standard is high, how then do you balance quantity and quality?

The baking industry is a very large one and a lot of people are baking very cheap, bad snacks with the intention of  making money. With the state of the economy and the success of the business, we devised a means to still ensure clients get the best at affordable prices. When my client brings a picture, insists on it but can’t afford the price, I ask what their budget is and show them a cheaper but good flavour, or see how the design can be incorporated into a lesser type of icing that can be within the budget. That way, they get quality with the budget they bring.

What is unique about Divine Concepts confectionery?

What distinguishes me from other bakers is my quest for excellence, quality, and sincerity. I don’t water down the quality of my product for any reason. I love to impress my client so well and to satisfy their needs as much as possible.

How do you encourage entrepreneurship?

You may never be able to explore your ability for creativity and productivity until you task your brain to start and sustain a business of your own. You can start at that level you are, just ensure you’re not giving up too soon because you heard people say, ‘I am not gifted in that area’. That’s not true. Any business one wants to venture into, one must be ready to invest in knowledge. As a salary earner, you can have other streams of income. You can also can be an employer of labour.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I am Adesina Gbemisola from Ondo State, Nigeria. I am a graduate of Accounting from the University of Ado Ekiti now Ekiti State University. I’m a wife and mother of three wonderful gifts from God. Asides baking, I love singing and decorating. I also love meeting people and being impactful.

What recipe do you have for us today?

Coconut cake. This is one of our simple cake recipes.

Recipe of the week

COCONUT CAKE:
Unsalted butter 500g
Granulated sugar 250g
Egg 500g
Flour 600g
Baking powder 3 teaspoon
Dessicated coconut one cup
Coconut milk one and half cup
Coconut flavor 2 caps.
Preservative ( optional). 1 teaspoon.

PROCEDURE:
Note that if you do not have a measuring scale, your butter is equivalent to 2 sachets, 250g each.
Sugar – 1cup.
1) Cream both butter and sugar properly till it’s fluffy.
2) Add eggs 500g. i.e 8 pieces (whisk eggs before adding)
3) Mix all dry ingredients together: Flour, baking powder, dessicated coconut, and (preservative) If it won’t be consumed within two days. Then add all to the batter. At this point, no rigorous mixing but gently fold in the dry ingredients into the batter till it is well mixed.
4) Add the one and half cups of coconut milk, and the coconut flavour.
5) Pre-heat your oven, cream your 8 inch pan, or lay the pan with parchment paper, turn the batter into the pan, and gently place in the already pre-heated oven. Ensure the oven is not overly hot. Bake for 30 minutes, check if it’s ready, if not continue until it is slightly brown and the knife comes out clean.
6) When the cake is done, leave for five minutes in the pan, and wrap it in a foil paper (remove from the pan this time).