Name it, she’ll bake it

Yozine Greenidge (centre), who is known for quickly whipping up recipes, demonstrates to students Christine Nicholls (left) and Cherise Roach how to make a chocolate cake. (Picture by Basil Griffith.)

By Anesta Henry | Wed, August 15, 2012 - 10:09 AM

Yozine Greendige can teach you a “tasty” lesson in the value of a pound of flour.

With her eyes closed, she can quickly whip you up a recipe for a cake or even pastry.

For over ten years, this week’s WEDNESDAY WOMAN, a skills training teacher specializing in baking technology at the Bush Hall Resource Centre, has shared her talent with a mixture of men and women from teenagers to adults.

“I love to bake,” she said. “I love to bake. And I love teaching people how to bake. Baking is my passion. I know you are not supposed to boast, but I know I am a good baker. You can wake me up out of my sleep, at any time of the night, and ask me for a recipe for a cake and I can give you.”

Greenidge, who also offers her skills at the Girls’ Industrial Union, said that during her beginners and advanced classes, students learn how to bake a variety of cakes: pumpkin, chocolate, marble, Black Forest and Caribbean coconut cakes, just to name a few.

Bajan pone, jam puffs and turn-overs are also on the list.

“Baking is a science,” she said, “you have to know how to put the ingredients together, like how a pharmacist would have to know how to put his ingredients together, to produce a successful product.

“I teach my students the science of learning to bake. There are people who say to me, ‘Miss Greenidge, when I came to you, I could not bake at all, now I can, thanks,’.”

She told the MIDWEEK NATION that when those sentiments were expressed to her, she experienced a sense of fulfilment.

The former pre-school teacher said she was grateful for the opportunity to lend her fellow Barbadians, especially women, a helping hand. She has entered her students’ work, in the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) competition every year and they have received gold, silver and bronze awards.

But above all, the baker, who was trained at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic and Pomarine Hotel, was happy that in the present economic climate, she can help some of her students to “keep change in their pockets”.

“An economic climate is going on in Barbados and worldwide, a lot of people are going to have to return to baking,” she said.

“One or two students have told me that they don’t buy bread anymore because they now bake their own salt and sweet breads; they [also] make their own pizza.

“And when they tell me that, I take the opportunity to continue to encourage them. I tell them to make these pastries on Sunday and freeze them in ziploc containers.

“When they are ready to eat them, just bring them back to room temperature. By doing this, you can cut back on the amount of money you spending in town. Bake your own cakes and pastries and save,” Greenidge advised Barbadians.