The CookingWithFeem Story: From Baking at Home to Building My Own Food Business

CookingWithFeem started with a love of food, a lot of experimenting and plenty of time spent in my mum’s kitchen.

When I first started baking at home, I never imagined it would grow into something beyond a hobby. I was a university student who simply enjoyed trying new recipes, learning techniques and making food for the people around me.

At the beginning, there was no business plan. There was no big idea of becoming a food entrepreneur or building my own baking business. I was just creating things from scratch and seeing how far I could push my skills.

Over time, that developed into something much bigger.

From baking at home to selling brownies at a market for the first time, to travelling to France to learn more about baking, and now launching my postal brownie delivery service, CookingWithFeem has become a journey of building something I’m truly proud of.

After balancing university life with growing my brand, I’ve now finally graduated and I’m excited to take CookingWithFeem to new heights.

This is the story behind CookingWithFeem.

 

It All Started in My Mum’s Kitchen

Every journey has a starting point, and mine began at home.

You’ve all seen it – the place I spend almost all my time. My mum’s kitchen. It became the place where I first started experimenting with recipes and discovering how much I enjoyed baking. I spent hours trying different ideas, learning from mistakes and figuring things out as I went.

Some recipes worked straight away. Others definitely didn’t. But that was part of what made it so fun.

I loved the process of understanding how small changes could completely transform a dish. Baking taught me patience, creativity and the importance of paying attention to detail.

At that stage, CookingWithFeem was a passion project. It was something I did because I loved it. I loved seeing the reaction when someone enjoyed something I had created.

 

The Turning Point: My First Sold Out Stall

In 2023, I felt like the world was ready to get a real taste of my brownies. I held my first ever Cookingwithfeem stall at the Halal Food Festival in Dewsbury, spending the night before perfecting everything. I turned up hoping for the best, excited to get the word out there. We sold out. I knew I had to keep going and I had unlocked a newfound motivation.

I kept things going as a student side hustle, managing my university deadlines by day and baking new recipes by night. Literally. As things picked up, I shared my journey online and brought everyone along for the ride. There were a more stalls, more brownie boxes, and I was starting to see some amazing customers return for more. I even pulled my family into the operations, and everyone got stuck in. I quite literally took over my mum’s kitchen at this point. But I also knew I had to do more.

There’s something unique about baking. It’s creative but precise, and every recipe gives you the chance to learn something new.

I started becoming more interested in the craft behind baking rather than simply following recipes. I wanted to know why certain techniques worked, how ingredients interacted and what small details could make a difference.

The more I learnt, the more I wanted to challenge myself. And that led me to my next big step.

 

Taking My Baking Skills Further: Learning French Baking in France

One of the biggest moments in my CookingWithFeem story was travelling to France to learn more about French baking and croissant making.

By this point, baking had become much more than something I enjoyed doing casually. I had spent years learning through baking at home and developing my skills, but I wanted to take the next step. I wanted to understand the techniques behind professional baking and learn from people who had dedicated their lives to perfecting their craft.

French baking has always fascinated me because of the skill, patience and detail involved. Something like a croissant looks simple, but the process behind it is incredibly technical.

Learning about croissant making in France completely changed the way I viewed baking.

I learnt about the importance of timing, temperature, technique and consistency. I saw how much care goes into creating something that might appear simple but requires years of practice to perfect.

The experience showed me that becoming a better baker is about more than just making something taste good. It is about understanding the process, respecting the ingredients and constantly wanting to improve.

Coming back from France gave me a new confidence in my own abilities and motivated me to take CookingWithFeem more seriously.

It was the moment where baking started to feel like more than a passion. It became something I wanted to continue developing and building around.

 

Building a University Student Business

Starting CookingWithFeem while studying at university has been one of the biggest challenges, but also one of the most rewarding experiences.

Building a university student business meant learning how to balance lectures, assignments and deadlines alongside running a growing food brand.

There were times when I would finish studying and head straight into the kitchen. There were nights where I stayed awake until 4am making sure brownie batches were perfect before taking them to markets the next day. I wanted every batch to meet the standard I had set for myself.

Alongside baking, I was also learning the other side of building a brand. I was creating content, promoting CookingWithFeem on social media, speaking to customers, preparing for markets and understanding what it takes to run a small baking business.

It was challenging. The days were long and the nights became longer, but I loved it.

Seeing customers enjoy my homemade brownies and come back for more reminded me why I started. The late nights, the planning and the hard work all felt worth it when I saw people connecting with something I had created.

 

From Selling Brownies at Markets to Launching Postal Brownies

Selling brownies at markets was a huge part of growing CookingWithFeem.

It gave me the chance to meet people, hear feedback and share my baking with all of you. It also constantly reminded me why I do this.

Seeing customers try my brownies for the first time was one of the most rewarding parts of the journey. And even better was knowing some of them had travelled from afar for their brownie fix.  It also gave me the confidence to take the next step: launching my postal brownie service.

The launch of CookingWithFeem brownies through brownie delivery is a really exciting new chapter for the brand.

The idea behind my postal brownies is simple: bringing homemade brownies straight to people’s doors so they can enjoy the same bakes that started in my own kitchen.

Starting this brownie delivery service feels like a natural next step for CookingWithFeem. I can keep doing what I love while reaching more people through something I have spent years developing. Straight from my home to yours.

The Future of CookingWithFeem

Graduating from university marks a really exciting new chapter.

For years, I’ve balanced studying with building CookingWithFeem, and now I’m looking forward to dedicating even more time to growing the brand and spending more time with the people who buy my brownies, enjoy them for themselves or gift to others.

Now, with the new brownie postal service, I’m so excited to be bringing my bakes right to your doorstep. It’s an incredible next step in being able to share my creations with you all.

Thank you to everyone who has supported CookingWithFeem so far. From following my journey online, visiting me at markets, ordering brownies or showing an interest in what I create.

I’m so excited for what comes next. Follow along for the journey!

 

Editor: Seherish