Alumnus: Leanne Watkins

Leanne Watkins has one mission in life right now and that is to provide her customers with delicious cakes and cupcakes custom made to suit bespoke celebrations, events and special occasions. This 30-something pastry chef studied and honed her craft at Capsicum's Cape Town campus before graduating in 2016 and shortly thereafter opening her own pastry business, Crumbs & Frosting. “I actually started Crumbs & Frosting during the school holidays as something to keep me busy and bring in extra money, but it ended up taking off and has been going ever since. Working on cakes while studying was tough, I was exhausted, but it was well worth it in the end, and I am pleased to say that the business is doing well.” Leanne enrolled for the patisserie course, a choice driven by the fact that Capsicum has branches across the country, which she found useful in case she needed to transfer, something she was considering at one point. Now she is flying high with her much in demand birthday cakes, wedding cakes, specialty cakes, cupcakes, biscuits, chocolate brownies, fudge and donuts. She also caters for vegan and gluten-free customers and the many accolades on her Facebook page are testament to her prowess in the kitchen. Not one to rest on her laurels, Leanne has been branching out with new products to make and sell, including sourdough bread, macarons and Kouign Aman (pronounced queen-a-mahn), which is said to be one of the world's greatest pastries and has been described as a muffin-shaped, caramelised croissant.