After more than two decades in the business, celebrity cake maker and leading baker, Tosan Jemide of Cakes by Tosan fame is set to retire from active cake-making.
According to him, he will be focusing on new projects including mentoring and running a cake school. Known for designing some of Nigeria’s most iconic cakes, the multiple award winning Jemide, who turns 50 this month, will also be launching a book, Sugar Icing, as part of activities marking his golden jubilee.
sSpeaking on his retirement plan, Jemide said he is indeed grateful for the many opportunities he has received over the past two decades. He also expressed his excitement about the “new phase” of Tosan Jemide, which is referred to as CBTImpact, a project focused on giving back to society and mentoring Nigeria’s next generation of cake masters.
He said: “I am not retiring into oblivion; actually, I may become even busier with some of the new projects we will be embarking on over the next few months and years. The whole idea is to help the new generation of entrepreneurs and professional bakers to be better at what they do by instituting a new and minimum standard for excellence in the industry.”
Jemide agrees he owed his success in part to the formalised training he received as a young baker in the United Kingdom, even though he faced several challenges as a rising star, he never lost hold of the fundamentals. “I think it is the same for every industry. Those who subject themselves to exacting standards and maintain them through the years, always endure, no matter the weather. And so, when you hear all the nice things being said about Cakes by Tosan today, it is mainly because we have refused to compromise on excellence,” he volunteers.
This, he hopes to bring about through the CBTImpact project which is set to be launched in April. As a master icing expert and cake decorator, Tosan Jemide is best known for building the iconic ‘Tallest Cake in Africa’, a 28-feet masterpiece unveiled in 2013 to global recognition and acclaim. He has also made cakes for many of Nigerian leading elite, while enjoying wide patronage from individuals of all classes. More recently, Jemide has taken to bread making, and is currently the president of Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN). He is also the Managing Director, Topcrust Bakeries.