I fell in love with baking before I knew that Brinks Bakes would ever exist. As a child, I was fascinated by the magic my mother would create in the kitchen using a myriad of ingredients.

Once I was old enough to bake on my own, my mum would trust me with her valued bran muffin recipe. The moment those perfect dome shaped muffins popped out of the oven and the smell of freshly baked muffins wafted through the air, I knew I had found my passion. I pursued my love for baking and later added cooking to my repertoire as a teenager, jazzing up two-minute noodles and stir fries for my sister and I. After college, I found myself unemployed and baked for people as a way to earn an extra income. At the time, I never imagined it to be anything more than a mere hobby. Little did I know that one day this passion of mine would lead me to create the popular page “Cooking with Chanel_SA” where I would further share my love for food and baking.

 

During covid, I created Cooking with Chanel to help others answer that age old question “What should I cook today” and also to provide comfort to others during this hard time using food as the medium to connect with others.

 

Being an introvert, food helped me find my confidence. I knew that I could create dishes far beyond my wildest imagination without any culinary training and this fueled my hunger to learn even more about food. This hunger eventually led me to the MasterChef SA kitchen. I wanted to challenge myself, my skills and abilities in the kitchen through the competition. MasterChef is one of the toughest cooking competitions in the world. I entered as a introverted home cook and with each challenge I overcame in the kitchen, I gained even more confidence in my cooking abilities. After 18 challenges in MasterChef, I found myself in the semi finals and went on to participate in the Finale. I placed Top 3 in the competition with the title of second runner up and received the converted white jacket. Although I did not win, my passion for creating whimsical desserts and pastries once again crept into my heart. And that is when Brink’s Bakery was born.

 

I discovered during MasterChef, that I had an affinity for the sweeter things in life and I wanted to share this with South Africans who also love the finer and sweet things in life. I hope that with every creation you purchase, that you taste the love and passion in each bite!