Welcome to BonbonLakay.com! ***NOTE CURRENT ORDER PROCESSING TIME FOR NATIONWIDE SHIPPING IS 2 WEEKS***
The Story Behind Our Haitian Rhum Cakes, Baked with Love
Our cakes will be available on our website Spring/Summer 2019.
My first time baking a cake I could not have been older than 9. I grew up watching my aunt Elsie who had gone to culinary school in Haiti, and made custom cakes regularly out of our house in Port-Au-Prince.
Lucky for me as a kid, my mom nor any of my aunts ever limited what I was allowed to do in the kitchen. I took on the love of cooking very early on, and each time I wanted to help in the kitchen or make something of my own, while she made sure I was supervised(by someone else), my mom really allowed me to explore this interest. She was definitely a little too trusting of this 8/9 year old around fire and sharp objects. One weekend, I woke up decidedly wanting to bake a cake. We had just enough ingredients for a small cake. By then, my aunt had already moved to the USA. I have no idea what became of her cake pans. There were none in sight that day. I mixed my ingredients not measuring, piling in butter, eggs, flour strictly from instinct and memory. I had created a perfect no mess, no fuss, rich, moist golden yellow cake from scratch, baked in a mini dutch pot- not intended for baking at all. I remember my mom’s and our neighbor's reaction being pure shock that quickly grew into glowing pride. Folks wanted seconds, there was none left, and not enough ingredients to make another. News of this cake spread across our neighborhood to another aunts house. She was livid that she did not get any.
Since then I started experimenting with cupcakes and muffins every chance I got.
Fast forward to my high school years I started baking for every birthday and holiday. It was my special way of marking special occasions.
We still talk about the vanilla cake with fudge icing and a fresh raspberry topping I made 10 years ago for my mother’s 40th birthday.
The cakes made for my Uncle’s wedding are by far my favorite. My 25th birthday cake before that definitely left me in awe, I had outdone myself and I was pleased with the way it looked.
With every cake made, someone always without fail suggested I open a bakery, or take cake orders. And I would take an order here and there, but never pursued baking as a profession, and never saw my cakes as a viable business. Not because I didn’t believe in myself or my cakes, but because they were always such a labor of love. If I take the time to bake you a cake, it’s because I love you. You’re special to me so I am offering you something that is special to me. I could never start selling my love.
That is until now, with launching Bonbon Lakay our mission is to spread Haitian culture. Help Haitian Americans, Haitian culture enthusiasts, foodies learn more about Haiti, fall in love with the culture through its food, more specifically desserts. To me that meant making my Haitian Rhum cake available as well.
By Father's Day 2019 you will be able to buy our Haitian Rhum cake here on our website.

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