Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasara Ponton

Hi Jasara, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

My story begins as a little girl always wanting to be by my mother’s side in the kitchen. I wanted to wear her apron, help wash dishes or grab the big wire whisk and help mix things in a big mixing bowl. There was always a race in the kitchen between my older sister and I of who could grab the mixing beaters once my mom removed them after mixing up a cake, or something sweet. I laugh at how tight my little hands clutched those beaters, truly a sweet triumph. I wasn’t always tall enough to see over-the-counter so my mom would be sure to have a stepstool on hand for either one of us when we wanted to be mommy’s assistant chef’s in the kitchen. By age four, I was tall enough to finally assist without the help of the stepping stool. One Saturday afternoon our mother announced that she wanted us to help make some chocolate brownies in the kitchen. I for one was over the moon. Chocolate is my absolute favorite and of course I have my mother to thank for that!

We followed recipes on the back of Hershey’s cocoa containers which was fun and also a science lesson. Our mother would often test us on what different measurements the recipe called for such as a half cup cocoa, 2 cups of flour,1/2 teaspoon of salt, a full teaspoon of baking powder, etc. These were fun lessons, especially for me because I often enjoyed math, science, and of course the end result of whatever we created together. My mother often emphasized that cold ingredients had to sit out and be at room temperature, and that dry ingredients had to be exactly measured so the finished item that we made would come out exactly the way we needed it and wanted it to. Growing up, cooking, learning, laughing, creating memories in addition to learning in the kitchen with my mother, our precious memories I will hold near and dear to me for the rest of my days! During the holidays, I would usually be by my mother’s side when people would call her up and ask her to make them some sort of cheesecake, pound cake, cookies, pies, etc. It was my absolute pleasure to try out new recipes with her and perfect the ones that were her staples such as her brown butter and sour cream pound cake!

I never imagined one day turning the lessons and memories I shared with my mother into a business. Unfortunately, my mother transitioned May 1 of 2016 and a huge portion of my grieving was and is staying in the kitchen, cooking, baking, and smiling with one of her aprons on. During the holidays one year, I had a request from a friend asking me to make them a cheesecake. My brother told me I should create a business, baking wonderful sweet treats and be known as The Blind Baker! Well, me being me I had to take it a step further and said to him “I’m not just blind and the baker, I’m Melanated.” This was a nice little laugh really with me because it was truly who I am! I have truly come a long way from being medically retired from the Army in 2002. I have created two businesses that I hold near and dear to my heart! With my baking I pour love into each and every bite, morsel, and spoonful of sweet treats created for each and every customer, friend, and loved one who orders with me

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

To be honest with you, yes!! There have been a lot of challenges, especially with me being blind. I have been blind now for 23 years and I will always want to be as independent as I possibly can, especially within my happy place which is the kitchen. Too often I don’t want to ask for help to start the oven and get someone to visually let me know how a certain item looks as opposed to me just doing my best to time everything perfectly. As we all know, perfection is an illusion, lol. If a recipe calls for something to be baked, fried, or cooked for a certain length of time and the item doesn’t look as if it is done within that time frame, there definitely has to be additional wiggle room for your finished product to come out the way you need and want it to be. It’s especially important to me since I pride myself on how the finished item looks for my customers!

I’ll tell you a quick & funny story; so one day I had about three orders to fill for cakes and I was in the kitchen doing my thing in the flow with making cake batter and everything. In addition to that my brother came over to visit and we were having a conversation. Once I was finished with the batter, I was wondering why it wasn’t at a certain consistency that I needed it to be. However, my time window was catching up to me as far as getting these cakes done, cooled, and glazed at a certain time. Unfortunately, I dismissed what the consistency should have been, and I proceeded to place the cake batter into the floured and buttered bundt pan to put it in the oven. I started on the next cake and briefly stopped to dry dishes and noticed I had some extra eggs in a side little bowl sitting on the other side of the counter. I then was wondering, why did I take out so many eggs? Then I remembered, I forgot to put the egg in the cake batter! All we could do was laugh when the cake with the missing eggs was done. It looked so sad. It barely had any structure and was the consistency and texture of crumbly cornbread!! So this is definitely one of the challenges I have faced being in the kitchen. I make sure to double and triple check that I have all items and ingredients in front of me and in the exact order I need them to go into the mixer, bowl, etc. I never want to make that mistake again however there are always bloopers in the kitchen! Not to mention running out of a staple ingredient like vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and even more importantly, flour, sugar, and eggs, the staples to any cookie, cake, or cupcake!! Which I have often done.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I have a passion for cooking in general and love to BAKE! The purpose behind my baking is to share how sweet life can be with one slice of cake, one cookie, and one homemade hug at a time!

How I view life and being blind, “A disability is only determination to do something differently. :)

I offer the below:

Cookies, Brownies, Rice Krispy Treats, Lemon Squares, Sweet Potato Squares, Cakes, Pies, Pie Crusts & more! If you have a special request, please text or email. EMAIL US!

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?

Absolutely! I definitely feel like I am a risk taker when it comes to recipes. I’m sure many people have often heard that baking is a science and with science the foundation has to stay the same and the room that you get for risk taking is in your flavors and decoration! As a little girl, I always loved the strawberry shortcake ice cream on the ice cream truck! So in my mind, I figured if it could be a ice cream it could be a cake and if it can be a cake, it could be a cupcake! Right? Sure can!! So of course, while in my creative mode in the kitchen after doing some food shopping and having some beautiful strawberries on hand, I decided to make that wonderful strawberry shortcake ice cream bar that I remember so much growing up into a cupcake! I knew it was definitely going to be a risk. How would I keep the integrity of the cupcake to be moist without being mushy in addition to wanting to incorporate fresh strawberries, as well as have that nostalgic flavor of that wonderful ice cream bar we all have grown to know and love? And let me tell you, it was definitely some trial and error! Some tasty ones of course lol but trial and error nonetheless! After test batches, I came up with a wonderful strawberry shortcake cupcake. That is one of my favorites!! It is definitely one of my most labor-intense recipes because of the process. I took a risk and the reward was a beautiful outcome that I am proud to call one of my favorites!!!

Pricing:

• varies

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.themelanatedblindbaker.com/
• Instagram: @themelanatedblindbaker