Kurhula Makhuvele, the owner of Fine Bakes, started selling pap and mogodu after losing her job. When that business failed, she taught herself how to bake hyper-realistic cakes, which have now made her famous on social media.
After her employment contract ended in 2018, Makhuvele was left jobless and decided to open a small fast-food business. It failed.
She decided to learn how to bake, and now her hyper realistic cakes have made her known to many South Africans, thanks to social media.
Makhuvele, who’s based in Kaalfontein, Ekurhuleni, had no idea that she’d one day bake cakes, especially those that look exactly like real-life everyday objects and people. All she wanted to do was become a businessperson, so she followed her passion after losing her job in 2018.
“I was not working then. I had a business where I was selling pap and mogodu but when the business failed, I decided to start a baking business at home,” said Makhuvele.
Without any baking or sculpting training, the then 27-year old taught herself how to bake. She made a few posters which she posted at nearby tuckshops to promote her business, and she got her first customer.
“After putting up my posters at the local shops I got a client and I made scones for them. Three months down the line, I got a call from someone who had seen my post and they said they wanted a birthday cake for their daughter,” she told Business Insider South Africa.
The challenge was that Makhuvele had never baked a cake before. She promised that she would try her best – and the customer was happy.
Makhuvele said she had to bake with a small oven from a two-plate stove after the stove at home broke down, and it took days to complete orders, but that did not stop her.
She decided to challenge herself to bake realistic cakes, relying solely on what she could learn from the likes of YouTube and Google.
“I watched YouTube channels on baking and a lot of baking TV shows, and I realised that this is doable.
“I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing, which is round cakes. I wanted to make cakes that tell a story,” she said.
The first hyper-realistic cake Makhuvele made was a candle-like cake for her pastor’s birthday. This was followed by many other cakes that have become memorable to the entrepreneur and have also led to her fame.
“The cabbage cake is the one that made me known in South Africa. I started trending after baking that cake.
“People couldn’t believe it was cake. I also made a video cutting the cake and they were shocked that it also sounded like cabbage,” she said
The cabbage cake not only made her famous but won her R75,000 from the Sasko Top Baker competition in 2020, which went towards buying a new stove.
Some of Makhuvele’s most memorable creations include a frog cake (which is her favourite) and a cake that looks like noodles.
“Out of all the cakes that I’ve baked, the noodles one is the most unbelievable. It’s the most realistic one,” she said.
Baking public figures
She also taught herself how to bake faces, including her own.
Other faces include prominent figures such as President Cyril Ramaphosa, Cassper Nyovest, Steve Harvey, Black Coffee, and Makhadzi.
After Black Coffee won a Grammy this year, Makhuvele decided to go even bigger by making a life-sized cake in honour of the DJ.
“It’s always been my dream to make a life-sized cake. I made the cake to celebrate black Coffee and to also inspire kids at home, to show them that if you work hard, you can achieve your dreams,” she said.
Black Coffee showed Makhuvele some appreciation by posting the cake on his Twitter account.
Makhuvele’s company now has one employee and although she’s gained more customers over the years, she still wants to see bigger growth.
“Sometimes we have five to 10 clients a week, but right now business is very bad. We sometimes don’t get clients at all, but I’m hopeful,” said the entrepreneur.