Daily Inspiration: Meet Tazarai Monroe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tazarai Monroe.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
I’ve been baking and cooking since I was a child! I have a lot of siblings and even more cousins that I’m older than, so I grew up learning how to cook, bake and put meals together with my mom, aunts, and uncles. As I got older, I would show my siblings some of my tricks, but I only started excelling at baking once I turned it into a game with one of my sisters. She would tell me what she wanted to taste or grab random ingredients from the pantry, and we would figure out how to make cookies or cake. Eventually, I started doing a lot of research on food science because I was struggling to find recipes with the flavor combinations I wanted.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, business isn’t the busiest now, but it was even slower during COVID. I’ve had to put baking on the back burner several times to ensure I can keep food on the table and my bills paid. Life has been rough; I had a single mom growing up, and she did her best, but it wasn’t easy.

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The cake/cupcake flavor I am most proud of is my ginger-turmeric-apple one. It was the first cupcake recipe I made up entirely, and it was fluffy, moist, rich without being too decadent, wonderfully spiced, and a good balance of sweet and savory. It was better than I imagined my first recipe would turn out. But honestly, I am most proud of myself for sticking to it/coming back to it. I’d love to open a cafe someday, catering mainly to EMS and Fire, people that used to be my coworkers. There are a lot of phenomenal talents in food and pastry here, but my willingness to try things that sound foolish, absurd, or just weird is one thing that sets me apart. It’s led to me developing some nontraditional but fantastic flavors, and I truly have my little sister to thank for that.

We’d like to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Luck! I am historically not a lucky person. Not with timing, not with circumstance. But baking has been there for me through good and bad luck, as it tends to remind me that, no matter what is going on, I have control over something, and I can still do and make good things out of nothing.

Pricing:

• 12 cupcakes or muffins- $22
• 24 cupcakes or muffins- $41
• 36 cupcakes or muffins- $50
• Anything over 36 or under 12, DM me!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecupcakecrypt/