Meet Nosizwe Moleah of Madeline & Pearl

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nosizwe Moleah.

Nosizwe, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I began baking at ten years old with my mother when my family & I resided in Johannesburg, South Africa. We started with cookies, brownies, and cakes. To me, the passion of baking hadn’t really hit just yet; it was just great bonding time with mom. She’s such an amazing cook and has inspired me my whole life to do what my heart desires.

Towards the end of my 7th-grade year, my school Reddam House hosted an Entrepreneur Day for the students, where I decided to sell brownies. All the teacher & students loved my brownies so much, they made sure to let me know the day of and the next day. It wasn’t until we moved back to the States where I truly began to love baking; I was 14 years old. My mother gave me this cupcake book called Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World and my life has been sweet ever since. I baked every cupcake in that book. During that time, I was being homeschooled so I was able to attend summer baking programs and baking/pastry classes throughout my years in high school, baking pastries every single day. I was able to create my own pastry high school to say the least.

After graduating high school in 2012, my family & I decided to move to Los Angeles, California where I would pursue my dreams of becoming a Pastry Chef. Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom & New School of Cooking is where I studied for Baking & Pastry. After culinary school, I immediately started to intern in kitchens such as Platine Cookies, Shortcake LA, Melisse & Nic’s Beverly Hills. I knew if I wanted to win in the pastry business, I had to work for the best and do my best.

Madeline & Pearl was originally founded in December 2013 after I hosted my own dessert event called The Sweet Hour in Beverly Hills. I chose to name the business after my grandmother’s because I wanted a name that was classy with boutique vibes, a sweet boutique.

After completing culinary school and my internships, I was ready to showcase all I had learned. The Sweet Hour was hosted at Nic’s Beverly Hills, where I was just finished my internship. I thank Larry Niccola for giving me the opportunity to showcase my work, it was truly a Sweet event. In the beginning stages of my pastry business, I was only offering artisanal vegan ice cream ranging in flavors from Cookies n’ Creme to Banana’s Foster, Strawberry Cheesecake & Chocolate Covered Pretzels. While running my business, I took on an opportunity to work at a restaurant called Hinoki & The Bird in Century City. During my time there, the business began to grow and I was able to create over 40+ flavors. After my time at Hinoki, I moved on to work at Chef Wolfgang’s Flagship restaurant Spago Beverly Hills under Chef Della Gossett. During my training at Spago, I decided to go on a hiatus with Madeline & Pearl to fully focus and hone in; knowing my training would make my business much better in the long run.

Now Madeline & Pearl has grown and we are now offering cakes, cookies, pies, chocolate bars & more! Vegan options are available as well.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The pastry road has been a big blessing but definitely not easy. I’ve been vegetarian my whole life, born and raised in Rastafari; so I did struggle with eating for lunch as a lot of the meals were not veggie-friendly. I definitely think there is room for improvement for restaurants to have more vegan/vegetarian options for the cooks who do not eat meat but still wish to work in a kitchen. Due to this, I was able to become great friends with a lot of the savory cooks, sneaking little snacks here and there. That’s one thing I absolutely love about working in the kitchen, always room for snacking!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Madeline & Pearl – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Madeline & Pearl is a sweet boutique by Chef CiCi specializing in a variety of pastries such as cakes, cookies, confections, artisanal vegan ice cream, vegan pastries, & more. I named my business after my grandmother’s Madeline; my dad’s mother who represented creativity, African culture & arts. Pearl; my maternal grandmother who represents faith, wisdom and elegance.

I am the Pastry Chef/Owner of Madeline & Pearl. I put so much love and passion into my pastries because this has been a dream come true. I love what I do and wouldn’t trade this pastry life for anything. I am super thankful for the growth of Madeline & Pearl. I re-launched the business in 2019 with a bigger & better menu; providing pastries to the Los Angeles community. I was blessed with the opportunity to compete on the Food Network’s Chopped Sweets (March 2020), bringing my business to a bigger market. Business has been busier & better! I had so much fun on the show and I’m super thankful for all the supporters who watched and have been supporting.

With the training I’ve had under many amazing pastry chefs, Madeline & Pearl brings a wide variety of sweets; making us different from others. My clients have requested pastries from Pavlovas, King’s Cake to Croissants. This keeps me on my toes as a chef and always allowing me to be creative.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My future plans for Madeline & Pearl is to make us a household name. I plan to offer our pastries to more local cafes and coffee shops in the Los Angeles area, eventually venturing out to other cities of California. I’d love for Madeline & Pearl pastries to be in grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, hotels, airplanes…everywhere. I have so much to offer and excited for the world to experience the pastries I create.

Pricing:

• $16 per dozen Cookies
• $18 per dozen Dark Chocolate Brownies
• $35 dozen Cinnamon Rolls

Contact Info:

• Website: madelineandpearl.com
• Email: madelinepearlboutique@yahoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madelineandpearl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madeinpearl

Image Credit:
Chef CiCi (personal photo), photographer Adrienne Diaz @hoolamamma, Dark Chocolate Glam Cupcake, photographer Adrienne Diaz @hoolamamma

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