Christmas I’ll Never Forget Shannelle Wilson remembers grandma’s Christmas cakes

Tussling with her younger brother for the batter pan after their grandmother poured out the ingredients of a Christmas fruit cake was a yearly tradition in Shannelle Wilson's Highgate, St Mary, home.

That tradition later sprouted into a successful business that she now relies on to make her own family traditions. These days, the Caked by Shan boss spends her December days baking her famous Christmas cakes and bread puddings for customers who, she says, "are like family". But it all started back home.

"My baking skills were passed down from my grandma. She used to bake during Christmas and that was my favourite time during the season. Me and my brother ... would be sitting there watching and waiting for her to finish and that's what brought my interest in baking," she recalled.

"I would learn the steps to know when she soon finish, I would say grandma, 'let me cream it for you'. I didn't really want to help but I wanted the pan to lick out," she laughed. "That was my favourite, favourite memory of Christmas.

"Once you see cake baking, you know the next event is grand market and then the big Christmas dinner where food done cook early and everybody come together," she added.

Those memories shaped her future. She attended St Mary Technical High School where she focused on her passion: food and nutrition.

"My teacher, Miss Muir, saw that I had a very high interest in that subject. I used to stay there, even when I didn't have any class. I just stayed by the food lab so she pushed me to enter JCDC competitions and that further pushed my love for baking," she said. "Each year I used to always get a medal for any of my items that I entered in the competition."

But life took her far from Highgate and her grandmother's kitchen. After completing high school, she achieved an associate degree in hospitality and tourism. But, unable to afford further studies, she had difficulty finding permanent employment. Determined to find a way out, she moved to Kingston, and interviewed for a post with popular cruise line Royal Caribbean.

"I got the job to be a pastry chef on board in 2014," she said. Within a decade, she became a seasoned seafarer.

"I worked on seven different ships varying from the smallest to the largest in the world. I had launched my business in 2018," she said. But that success came with painful sacrifices.

"I had to sacrifice my time at home, I didn't have my son yet but I had to sacrifice my relationship and time with my family. When I eventually got my son, it was even more heartbreaking because I would miss Christmas holidays," she said.

"It was long, standing hours, especially on sea days when the ship is out and away from port for an entire day. We would have like three sea days a week and that is extremely rough on every single crew [member] because you're stuck with 6,000 guests on board and the work is more intense because they're eating a lot and we have to work as much as they eat," she explained. But she pressed on, always mindful of the end goal.

"My transition now being home and making Christmas cakes, bread pudding or eggnog sauce to ensure that families can enjoy at least one tradition for Christmas, gives me a certain level of joy. I can spread that Christmas spirit to other families as well as reliving it in mine." She still follows her grandmother's traditions, including soaking her fruits from November 1.

"My secret to the fruits is I season them with my special ingredients in a sealed container. Some people boil it but I don't think that gets out the true flavour," she said. Wilson lamented, however, that the current generation is losing that feeling of old-time Christmas.

"My way of trying to keep this alive is to cater to my market so their families can enjoy a piece of tradition even if they do not do the baking themselves. Nobody gets left out," she said.

"Every family should have that one thing that makes their Christmas special. Something that can be a Christmas to remember."