A mum of one is toasting to her new business after leaving her career in software development to pursue her passion, and new business she launched during the pandemic.
What began as a hobby quickly grew into a lucrative operation as orders for Mishal Niazi’s desserts increased dramatically since launching her baking business, Curations Dundee, in May earlier this year.
The 27-year-old from Dundee says she has always been a “foodie” and comes from a big family who love food, too.
Originally from Pakistan, Mishal, who lives in Dundee, has progressed her food blog and Instagram page where she documented some of her bakes and favourite places to eat in the city into a firm which she has recently left her full-time job to pursue.
She says the move “is a dream come true”.
“Curations Dundee started as a food blog, journalising what I was eating and cooking. I’m part of a huge foodie family and I’m originally from Pakistan. Our families all live together in Pakistan and everything that brings us together is food. It has always been a really big part of my life in general,” said Mishal.
“I launched the business in May this year but it was around the end of March/the beginning of April that I had started making dessert jars to sell.
“I was nervous, but the response was overwhelming. It hasn’t been long and I now have so many regular customers in such a short amount of time which brought me to the decision to leave my job and do something for myself.
“I studied business at Dundee University and found a job in a software development company in the city after graduating. I’ve always wanted to do something for myself and having found my passion I wanted to do what I love.”
Big plans
Accommodating orders for everything from her popular cake jars, to personalised cookies, baklava, tiramisu, custom cakes and more, Mishal has big plans and is focused on not just growing her business, but moving from her home kitchen into a commercial kitchen providing she can secure a space.
She added: “Initially it is going to operate as home-based, but I would love to get a commercial kitchen. I’ll look into that maybe the end of this year.
“The response has been great so if it continues it might have to be sooner.
“In the beginning I only ordered 50 jars initially and I thought, ‘If I can sell these in three months that would be great’. I sold out of them within weeks and had a backlog of orders to meet.
“I was working crazy hours initially and I was going 48 hours without any sleep as I was doing my day job and baking all night and into the morning.
“I would send my six-year-old daughter, Anaya, to school in the morning, too, and then get going with work.”
Specialising in desserts
And it’s not just Mishal who is a talented baker or dessert maker in her family – her sister and cousin, who both live in Pakistan, also have their own baking businesses.
The trio support one another by sharing ideas, trialling flavours together and sharing successes and failures with one another.
Mishal said: “The jars are super travel-friendly and the cakes are more delicate. I bounce ideas off of my cousins and sisters, one of my cousins has her own baking business in Pakistan, and so does my sister. We exchange recipes and things, too.
“Tiramisu is my house speciality and is a staple in my kitchen. I learned how to make a classic tiramisu when I lived in Italy. I worked in orange and lemon flavours, and made a mango flavour, too.
“I’m still looking to expand the range of favours I have on offer, and I’ll have more time to do that going full-time with it.
“Currently there’s strawberry, orange and lemon, banoffee, Nutella, apple and custard, apple and mascarpone and Biscoff.
“I’m making baklava and other desserts which are different. The sugar cookies are more focused around being edible art, so people can customise and personalise things.
“I made a limited amount of cakes and I make large tiramisu cakes, too, so I’ll be able to focus on offering these bigger bakes to customers now I have more time to dedicate to them.”