3 minute read
Cake Designer (Ziona
A FAMILY'S DELICIOUS PASSION AND LOVE Zironchi Cakes
Interviewed & Written By: Maddie Delbridge & Annie Delbridge Photography: Revelation Photography (@omprakashparker)
It is often said that the family that plays together stays together - for Chika, Ronke, Ziona, and Zeke Wali, the tight-knit family behind the self-made bakery phenomenon, Zironchi Cakes, there is plenty of playing, praying, baking, and working, all together. This amazing family is an inspirational role model for us all, demonstrating how they work together as a family to build their thriving business, located in Bangalore, India, but enjoying global recognition through the power of the Internet and their beautiful Instagram feed, @zironchicakes, where they share plenty of tips and advice for those who hope to follow in their footsteps, too.
Beautifully decorated cakes for all types of celebrations are showcased at @zironchicakes. We interviewed the youngest member of this family, seven-year-old Ziona, affectionately called "Zizi" by her family, who is often featured displaying her amazing decorating skills, which she started working on at the young age of six! She shares that she started by watching her parents bake and decorate cakes, and asking them if she could start helping as well. Her father, Mr. Chika, would give her the scraps or left-over cakes to practice on, and her mother, Mrs. Chika, would provide her with cake dummies to learn and practice. Gradually, over time Zizi started making and decorating birthday cakes for friends and helping out on incoming orders while continuing to build her impressive cake decorating skills. Zizi started making practice cakes to give away to neighbors or friends, specifically working on designs she knew she loved like, the famous "Pop-It Cake" or "Mermaid Cake," both featured on their colorful Instagram feed. Zizi is now well-versed in the art of decorating signature cakes such as these, and will often try out new cake designs to learn as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Chika are always with Zizi when she makes her cakes, "guiding and encouraging me whenever I face an obstacle. They always support me and believe I can do any design," she shares. "Every cake I make is different from the previous one, so I always face a new obstacle which is different from the last one," she explains, noting that she especially loves to try difficult cakes. An especially challenging order involved draping a globe-shaped cake with fondant, and though it took a lot of time, she was proud of what she was able to accomplish! She studies cake videos and practices techniques and cakes completed by well-known cake artists in the industry. Zizi and Mrs. Chika are especially inspired by the artistic cake decorating work of Yolanda Gampp, who makes realistic cakes. In fact, Zizi's dream is to "be as good as her" when she grows up. A fun fact about Zizi is that she does not eat a lot of cake herself, sometimes enjoying just the plain sponge vanilla or chocolate cakes with a little Nutella spread on top. Zizi and her parents credit the love and passion they share with each other and put into each cake they make, for the success of their business, and are especially inspired by the feedback and positive responses from her friends and followers around the world. Zizi explains the special power of cakes to "Bring their [her friends'] favorite things in the form of cake to make the celebration perfect. They get to eat yummy cake as well as have it designed in their favorite character or thing!" The Zironchi Cakes family's advice to all who hope to build a successful family business like theirs is to "Never give up even when it seems impossible. Have the courage to NEVER give up on your dream and passion." Sounds like amazing advice from an amazing family. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Chika, Zizi, and Zeke, for inspiring us to dream big!
