Gallery • 3 Photos

Melina Mejia

Mini S'more Cheesecakes

Melina Mejia (10) has had her baking business going since the Fall of 2020. Ever since she was little, she has always been in the kitchen with interest of helping around with food. Rather that be with a big dinner, a small lunch, or a quick little snack.

She started to get into baking from watching her mother bake for family events. Little by little, she grew interested in baking. When she first started her business, she said, “I didn’t have that much success when I first started because I wasn’t that big of a name, and people didn’t know that I baked and sold desserts on the side. It took a while before I started getting a lot of business, but I’m glad that I stuck with it.”

Her favorite things about baking are the end result because it “looks, tastes, and smells so good.” She is also very fond of the trial and error when baking because it makes her want to work harder to perfect her new recipes. Some techniques she talked about include, “Double tasking  for example, when something is in the oven, I would either start washing dishes, or if I have another order after, I would start prepping for the next. I learned that time is sacred and that I will have to use it wisely when baking. Another technique that I developed was putting two different desserts in the same oven. It took me a while, but I recognized that some of my desserts were baked at the same temperature and so I could kill two birds with one stone.”

Melina’s favorite items to bake are chocolate chip cookies because they are simple, yet complicated to make. Average times from the start to finish of any baked good are between 2-2½ hours. Her most popular items people order are her chocolate chip cookies, snicker doodles, mini cheesecakes, banana bread, and lemon loafs.

Go give this young baker a try and check out what she offers @melinasbakedgoods on Instagram.