Moldovan woman’s cakes win praise in France: “Each cake takes days of work and patience”
On the Côte d'Azur, a Moldovan woman has established a small business centered around the tastes of her childhood. Having lived in France for eight years, she was inspired by homesickness to create cakes for the Moldovan community in the south of the country.
Mariana Moroi's journey began in Paris, and she now resides in the south of France on the Côte d'Azur, following a period spent in Nice. Like many Moldovans living abroad, she started from humble beginnings, but a pivotal change in her personal life opened an unexpected path for her.
"Like every Moldovan who has left for the diaspora, I started with various jobs, including cleaning and shopping. Then my little boy was born, and I became a stay-at-home mom. As a housewife, I enjoyed preparing sweets and meals, and I became really passionate about making our homemade desserts. One day, a friend suggested I try making them to order. I hesitated, thinking they didn't look very appealing. During the pandemic, I returned home, and as my children started school, I decided to give living in the south of France another shot. I spent two years in Nice, and that’s where my passion for cake-making truly began," Mariana shared on the show "Zi de Zi" on Radio Moldova.
The first few orders inspired her to elevate her skills: "I made a few custom cakes, and I realized that if I was going to offer something, it needed to be both tasty and visually appealing. I found an online school run by a Russian instructor, where I enrolled in a six-month course that included weekly exams. I learned to create complicated cream-based cakes. After completing the course, I spent an additional two months focusing on cake decoration. It was a challenge juggling this alongside caring for a small child, but I managed to earn two diplomas. This talent allowed me to support myself through cake-making, especially since only one family member was working, which made things a bit complicated."
Mariana emphasizes the dedication that goes into each cake: "When I start making them from scratch, it’s truly painstaking work. Here in Chișinău, people often say that pastries are expensive because bakers make everything from A to Z. If you’re doing this alone, it’s very challenging. It requires time and patience."
She also expressed her love for this work: "If I were to return home, I would try to start my own business to see how it goes. I don’t create intricate sugar paste figurines, but I can make simple designs like a teddy bear, a mouse, a flower, or a strawberry. Most often, I work with wafer sheets. I have a special printer for edible coloring that allows me to print images and apply them to sugar paste. I either place it on special sticks so it stands upright or adhere it directly to the cake. Just making a sugar-paste decoration with a coloured wafer sheet can take me three hours. If I’m creating a sugar paste bear, it takes even longer."
Today, Mariana Moroi runs her own business in France, creating personalized cakes for the Moldovan community there. She feels that her passion has brought her balance and independence, and she believes that the experience she has gained could one day serve as the foundation for a new beginning back home.
Author: Nicoleta Furdui
