Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Youngster selling cupcakes from 13 now among culinary students graduating HLSCC

Youngster selling cupcakes from 13 now among culinary students graduating HLSCC

Shamoy Davis of East End began selling cupcakes in his second year at the Elmore Stoutt High School to prevent himself from being a burden to his grandmother.

The 24-year-old is now the owner of ‘Paradise Cupcakes Think Sweet’ and is among three students who will be graduating from the H Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) with an Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts next Sunday.

“I am passionate about music, I love singing, but baking is something that I got into while I was growing up,” he said during a Sips & Sweets culinary showcase at the HLSCC’s Culinary Arts Centre last evening.

“My mother wasn’t there and my father wasn’t there, and I used to live with my grandmother, so it was a way for me not to be solely dependent on her. That was a way for me to earn some money. I started baking in second form. I was 13 years old.”

He explained that he would bring his cupcakes to school to sell and the young pastry chef admitted to being “very scared” his first time round.

In fact, he told BVI News he did not know what to do.

“I didn’t know if anyone would buy them from me and when I called my grandmother before the bell rung, all were done. I was selling it for a dollar, and I got all of them sold. It was M&M flavoured cakes.”

Davis said his grandmother taught him the trade and he has been perfecting it at the college.

He said he intends to go even further with his studies.

“I want to do a bachelors in my cake-baking. I want to open a bakery so I could employ others as well and probably be a teacher because I like to be vocal,” Davis added.

The young entrepreneur said, among other pastries, he bakes cakes, pull-apart cupcakes, cupcakes in letters and numbers from his home.

Davis said he once worked in the public service and attended school part-time. However, to speed things up, he decided to leave his job and focus on his education while selling his cupcakes at school and around town to earn money.


Other final-year students

In the meantime, a total of five students had their cakes on display at the Sips & Sweets showcase and they explained that it took several hours to complete.

Radiance Modeste, who will be graduating on Sunday, said culinary arts has always been her passion.

Jolece Fraser, the third culinary arts student expected to graduate this year, said she was an office worker who she decided to ditch that job to educate herself and pursue her true calling. She intends to get her bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts at the Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, USA.


Challenges

Meanwhile, Chief Culinary Instructor at HLSCC Clint Creque said the culinary courses had their challenges.

“It was a bit challenging because of COVID-19. The time had to be crunched in order for students to get this class. So I had to compact both classes - Introduction to Baking and the Pastries & Cakes course.”

He has been in the field for the past 15 years and is also the owner of Sweet Tooth VI.

“This is something that I love. In this kind of industry, you have to love it,” he stated.

The other students who had their cakes on display were Kemuel Gumbs and Ganisha Araham. They intend to complete the remainder of their courses and graduate next year.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×