For as long as 17-year-old Grace Lee Yan-ki can recall, baking has held an important place in her life.
This passion led the teen to publish a cookbook, Baking Essentials, in July and found an NGO called Bake a Change in 2021 to share the joy of baking.
“What I really like about baking is I get to share it with the people around me. And especially [since] it’s sugar ... it releases endorphins that make everyone happy,” said the Year 13 student at German Swiss International School.
Baking education
In the summer of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic brought her unexpected spare time, the self-taught baker decided to apply for the diploma in patisserie at the Hong Kong Culinary Academy.
The course’s age requirement was above 18 years old, but Grace wrote a seven-page document about her love for baking and her goals for the course. Eventually, her passion persuaded the academy’s principal to admit her to the programme. After spending two summers completing the course, Grace became the diploma’s youngest awardee in 2021 at the age of 15.
A week before Grace finished the diploma, she came up with the idea of making an English cookbook that would suit Hongkongers’ tastes. She spent a year writing the recipes, which come with QR codes to video tutorials that she filmed.
“[The book] goes from easiest recipes that require the least tools to the more difficult ones. But if you follow the steps carefully, you won’t mess up,” the author said, adding that the book’s mission was to make baking accessible to everyone regardless of their background and resources.
Make a change
As Grace’s goal is to make baking more accessible, the teen founded Bake a Change to offer free-of-charge baking classes. With more than 22 members, the group has partnered with nine NGOs, providing baking classes to more than 200 people. They have raised more than HK$10,000 at school events and craft markets.
“[Baking] made me more connected to my community ... It allowed me to reach and talk to so many more people, and I’ve been directly learning from a lot of their experiences,” the student said.
Quick question: How might baking benefit students?
Think about it: What have you learned from Grace?
Word power:
1. fundraise: to collect money for a particular purpose
2. patisserie: cakes, especially those made in the French style
3. self-taught: having learnt something by reading books, etc., rather than by somebody telling you how to do it
Handy phrases:
1. free-of-charge: without having to pay
2. mess (something) up: to do something wrong or badly
