Home Baking in Kenya and a Buttercream Recipe

Posted byAmariPosted inBaking 101Tags:

I was living abroad and came back to Kenya some years ago. The one thing I noticed in most homes is that not very many people do a lot of home baking. When I asked some people why; they mentioned that they may have to buy a very expensive oven to be able to bake at home. Fortunately for everyone, there are various more economical options out there for anyone who has the interest, or for some of us, the passion to bake at home.

When I came back and wanted to bake at home, my mum heard of a gentleman who makes charcoal ovens; she purchased a commercial one (36 loaf capacity) and it costed her Kshs. 30,000 (fairly decent for a commercial size oven). There are smaller sizes also available; Cookswell Charcoal ovens have a small bachelor size that is Kshs. 10,000. They also have a blog that can be very helpful if anyone wants to buy a charcoal oven or discover their benefits, you can check out Cookswell Energy Savings Jikos, their charcoal ovens are the original, energy-saving charcol ovens. So one option people could use can be charcoal ovens.

Cookswell Charcoal Ovens
Cookswell Charcoal Ovens

Another option, which I personally took when I moved to Nyeri to work after staying for a year; and I couldn’t move with my charcoal jiko, was to go searching for an even smaller alternative, I was happy to find an Electric Mini Oven, it was a Westpool model I purchased from Tuskys Supermarket and it cost me around Kshs. 5,600 – very reasonable for anyone on a budget. It served me faithfully for two years. They range from around Kshs. 8,000 to 12,000 currently.

Small & Compact-good for small scale baking

Another alternative for homes which already have electric or gas cookers is to use the oven area for home baking once in a while.

Gas oven with oven area-these are found in some Kenyan homes, but are not so utilized.

As for baking tools, such as whisks, measuring cups, mixing spatulas, mixing bowls, queen cake pans, loaf pans and electric mixers, they are readily available in most supermarkets, and are of very good quality – if you’re willing to spend a fair amount of money. You can also get those baking tools from cake accessory & supplies shops such as Topserve Ltd or vituzote.com. If you are on a slightly lower budget, loaf pans can be purchased at Jua Kali at far more reasonable prices. Check this page where we share various types of equipment required for baking.

Stainless steel mixing bowls
Set of measuring cups
simple mixing whisk
Loaf pans

When it comes to ingredients such as all-purpose and self-rising flour, baking powder, sugar, margarine, butter – to name but a few, are all readily available at any supermarket, neighborhood store or wholesale shop. Click here for information on ingredients used for baking. 

My feature recipe today is Buttercream frosting:

Butter Cream Frosting
Ingredients:
– 2 cups Icing Sugar
– 1/4 cup Unsalted butter  (you can also use margarine as a substitute)
– 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
– 1/8 cup Milk
 *This can cover a half Kg cake
Directions:
1) In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter for about 3 to 5 minutes.
2) Add Vanilla and milk gradually and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute, add more milk if needed for spreading consistency.
Ice your cake, bread or cup cake and enjoy ^_^
Picture perfect isn’t it?

Does anyone bake at home? If so what do you use for baking? Share some of your ideas! ^_^

Published by Amari

Baking with Amari offers learning experiences in form of short baking and cake decorating classes. We have a baking workshop at Discounts Arcade, Shop no. 51 on Ngong road (Adams Arcade area next to The Green House), in Nairobi that offers baking & cake decoration learning experiences for those who want to learn what bakers and cake decorators do in a practical/hands on Bakery kitchen. We have both online and practical/physical classes. We also offer baking business start-up training and group mentorship as well via our Baking for Profit Program. We also sell locally tested baking recipe books (soft copy & printed books).

44 thoughts on “Home Baking in Kenya and a Buttercream Recipe”

  1. Fun, I demand you make biscotti, I will be waiting to eat some…hahaha..

    I can bake scones very well, they are easy coz its just flour and sugar, yeast and time…usually use your oven to get them done.

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  6. Baked my first loaf in november and have not bought bread since. Love how the frosting looks will try it tomorrow on the fruit cake I baked in dec.keep up good work

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  8. Hi am a student at a local university and would want to start a mini bakery to deliver freshly baked pastry products to my fellow comrades. Kindly help me understand what equipments do i need and confirm if the charcoal oven is good for commercial purposes
    my email is aholicharles@yahoo.com.
    thank yu.
    Aholi Charles.

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  16. I have a passion for baking since i was about 5yrs. i have been doing home baking for my family and they seem to enjoy it when i do. i have a strong urge to venture into baking fulltime as i am currently employed but the wage is very discouraging and its not something i am passionate about. I would like your advice on how to start on a small budget and also mentorship would be great. Please respond to my email: njoxxy@yahoo.co.uk

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  17. would like to start a home baking business.how do iknow how to bake a 500gms or 1kg cake and how to price my cakes?help

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  18. Hello, if you want to start a home-baking business, I'm hoping you at least know how to bake, so for the recipes you use, just cost each of the ingredients you use, plus the expenses you use per month (split them with the number of products you sell, or would like to sell) and then add a percentage for your profit. Also please check the post on tips on starting a home baking business in Kenya -> http://quickbreads.blogspot.com/2013/05/tips-on-how-to-start-home-baking.html

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