Meet Aamina Masood of Brilliant Cakes in Plano

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aamina Masood.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My journey in pastry arts started as a child when my mother taught me baking albeit from a box. I asked neighbors and friends to purchase Wilton decorating products for me as a child and I would bake for school bake sales and friends. I remember one of my first cakes was for my science teacher’s daughter’s birthday. I was thirteen at the time. Later on, I took a break from baking and studied computer engineering at Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine. I have a bachelors and masters in computer engineering.

After graduation, I worked in website programming for a few years until I had my first child. I tried doing private consulting but with the economy changed and software being outsourced, I decided to wait to work again. In the meantime, I decided to pursue my hobby of baking and decorating. I started Brilliant Cakes around 10 years ago, unofficially and started taking orders. As it was still a hobby, it was not official business but I did have a website. After my second child came along, my elder one was diagnosed with food allergies and intolerance. I decided I wanted to find out more about baking sciences and started looking around for courses. I found that Collin College had a certification in Pastry Arts. I discussed this with family and decided I will do the basic certification to improve my recipes and to help my daughter with her food intolerance.

Very soon after, I started the credit courses, I realized that this was what I had been waiting for all my life. My teacher and mentor, Chef Michele Brown, encouraged me to apply for the Le Dames d’Escoffier scholarship for women pastry students. To my surprise and excitement, I was rewarded a full scholarship to complete my Associate in Pastry Arts. However, I had to be a full-time student. This was very difficult with a toddler and a young child, however, with the support of my family, I made it through with flying colors. I received my degree in Pastry Arts and certification in Culinary Arts along with an ACF certification in 2015. During and after graduating, I worked at various bakeries and at SMU in the pastry catering kitchen. After gaining industry experience, I saw a demand for quality cakes and pastries made with natural, organic, top quality ingredients. I did a reboot of Brilliant Cakes and started working on my own pastry business.

In 2016, I re-established Brilliant Cakes and haven’t looked back since. My cakes have been featured on social media several times especially the ever popular peacock cake. I specialize in customized cakes and use the best ingredients. They are not comparable to any other product out there. I have also recently started working in an administrative capacity in the Culinary Department at Collin College, my alma mater. This has given me the opportunity to combine my culinary/pastry knowledge with my computing skills. At this time, I continue to work both on my job at Collin and my business. Finding a balance of work and family is perhaps the hardest part of this but I try.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Finding a work-life balance is the toughest part. However, I find Collin College to be a great work environment and very accommodating to my needs. My own business also offers me the flexibility to keep myself as busy as I would like.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would try to work with a country club. That is an experience that I would like to have. I have worked in catering and bakeries but not at a country club.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.brilliantcakes.com
• Phone: 4692354775
• Email: orders@brilliantcakes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brilliantcakes_chef_aamina/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brilliantcks

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