Ramona worked in the travel industry and had a stack of colleagues whom she regularly surprised with her own baked goods. ,,When I was a kid just getting my nose above the kitchen counter, I was already helping my mom make apple pie. The mixing never went fast enough for me, because I wanted so badly to taste the batter.”

,,When I moved out on my own, I also started baking myself. I worked at a travel agency for nonprofit organizations and on weekends I was in the kitchen baking pies. My colleagues were very happy with me.”

Because of corona, the travel business came to a virtual standstill and, in addition, Ramona felt out of place at her job. ,,The travel agency was taken over and everything suddenly had to be much more commercial. That did not suit me and so I decided to quit and start thinking about what I would like. It was my job coach who encouraged me to do something with baking. She asked me what I really liked. I like baking cakes, but no one is waiting for that, right?”

She decided to give it a chance anyway, and a year ago there was Soulcake. ,,I thought carefully about how I would go about it. I think sustainable is very important and working with organic products. For example, I get my flour from corn mill ‘t Roode Hert in Alkmaar and eggs here in Egmond aan den Hoef from the care farm. I also like to work fair-trade and so for my spices I ended up with a company in the Zaan region.”

,,I just bake the cakes in my own kitchen. I don’t earn a worldly salary from it, but it gives me peace and freedom. I also have two boys, aged five and eight, with whom I enjoy spending time. I am a member of thuisbakkerspunt.nl, a platform for home bakers, so you can be found. In addition, with my membership I contribute to Bake for Life, a foundation that ensures that underprivileged people in Uganda can be trained as bakers.”

Ramona is now a year on and is glad she made the move to Soulcake. ,,It’s fun to be working for yourself like this and always coming up with new creations. For example, I just made a blueberry lemon cheesecake. I don’t do anything with fondant and dyes, but do decorate with fruit, flowers or layer cakes. I always make it just a little bit different, with just a little bit more spice, and with that I surprise people.”

She also surprises her customers with music. ,,I really like soul music and put a lot of soul in my cakes; my own soul and a lot of love. “Mommy, what is your soul then?” my little son regularly asks. ‘It’s your individuality, who you are yourself. It’s hard to explain to a child, but you get a cake full of Ramona. Or as a friend said, it’s soul delicious. Yes and then with that cake you also get the Soulcake playlist on Spotify.”

So for Valentine’s Day, she is also baking. , “Millionaire shortbread with dark chocolate and salted caramel. Very powerful, but it’s okay to make something nice for each other sometimes, right?”

Win

Especially for Valentine’s Day, Ramona is raffling off a cake to readers of Free who have nothing to do with Valentine’s Day. Could you use some soul? Email your name and address to [email protected] attn: Soulcake. The winner will be notified personally.

More Soulcake: facebook.com/soulcake.online and instagram.com/soulcake_keeps_the_soul_alive/