“My passion for cake-baking came from childhood,” shares Keisha Ferguson with Thursday Food. “I was raised in a household with a father (Trevor Ferguson) who was and still is a master baker.”

As a child Ferguson worked summers at the family bakery and would later on as a teenager bake from scratch. When the family migrated to Florida, USA in 1996, Ferguson would take her passion for flour several sifts further by enrolling for a BBA in Management and International Business at the Florida International University (FIU). “I worked during my college years on campus and later with the Jamaica Tourist Board. Upon graduation I began teaching in Broward County Public Schools as well as pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.” Even after 10 years in the United States, Ferguson found it difficult to “shake her love for Jamaica,” and as such returned in October 2004 to join the family bakery as managing director. Ferguson is also a part-time lecturer at the University of Technology in the Marketing and Management Departments in the School of Business. The sugar-coated story is enough to seduce, but there’s more, like the delectable desserts that form part of the menu offerings at Rib Kage and the fact that with best friend Leisa Forbes, Kingston will, come October 1, boast yet another dessert endroit. If opposites attract, then great minds whip up irresistible sweet plates. Forbes, like Ferguson, grew up in a family where cooking and baking were always done extremely well. “My mother was a caterer when she lived in Jamaica,” she explains. “I attended the Institute of Management and Production (IMP) where I obtained my Associate Degree in Business Management and then worked at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel for five years. I moved to Atlanta, attended Devry University, and worked in the family’s bakery and coffee shop where I officially fell in love with creating desserts.” Like Ferguson, Forbes would move back to Jamaica, determined to become part of the cake creation landscape.

There are trials and tribulations:

Both have full-time jobs.

Ingredients that the business partners would like to use are not always readily available.

Balancing their personal lives with their full-time jobs.

The need for more space.They are currently working out of Forbes’ apartment.

On Consistency.

“We try to control our product quality by ensuring that we use the best ingredients possible. It is also important to us to know the results if adjustments are made.shortcuts are not practised. We also like to have lead time for large orders so as to ensure that the desserts are not rushed and the quality compromised.”

The burgeoning dessert landscape

“Desserts, especially the light, gourmet ones that we label delicate desserts are popular with the Young Professionals for the following reasons:

Young Professionals are not afraid to try new things and actually crave things that are new and different.

The coffee craze – espresso, cappuccino, frappe, etc, etc creates the need for a good dessert.

The ability to bring The Food Network into homes along with personalities like Rachel Ray and Emeril has further piqued the interest in gourmet foods and upscale dining.

Travel has also exposed us to the culinary tastes of others, and finally the Young Professionals’ disposable income affords them the opportunity of spending $300.00 to $350.00 on a dessert.