Sadiya Hashmi: Baker Bio

This homeschooling mom with an MBA brings together flavours from all over the world.

Image | Sadiya

Caption: Sadiya's ready for the pressure of the tent — at home, her two sons are serious baking critics, asking tough questions like "did you want this flavour to shine, or did you want [it] to be in the background?" (The Great Canadian Baking Show)

Age: 38
Hometown: Edmonton, Alta.
Occupation: homeschooling mom with an MBA
Baking style: fantastic fusion
In butter tarts, raisins or no raisins?: "Oh, absolutely no raisins, please."
Instagram: @sadiyahashmi_(external link)
When Sadiya auditioned for The Great Canadian Baking Show, she brought a baklava cheesecake. The unique dessert was a reflection of her unique path to the show.
"I just wanted to share what fusion desserts would be," she says. "I have a Pakistani background, I grew up in Bahrain, I went to college in the U.S. and then I made Canada my home. Everything I've loved of all these countries, I'm bringing it with me."
A self-taught baker, Sadiya quickly became her family's go-to source for baked goods.
"Anytime my mom wanted to give baked goods as a gift she'd be like 'Sadiya, why don't you bake this?'" she says. "That's how baking started in my life."
Sadiya's family also keep her skills sharp. Her two sons, aged six and eight, are budding food critics who aren't shy about giving their mother frank feedback.
"They're always like, 'The depth of this isn't coming through,' or 'Did you want this flavour to shine, or did you want this to be in the background?'"
Even though she has a tough-to-please crowd at home, Sadiya says that baking in the tent will still be "the biggest challenge of my life." But she's ready.
"I'm content with what I'm bringing to the tent," she says. "And that's what the tent is all about, right? Bringing who you are and sharing it with the world, with Canada."

Media Video | Great Canadian Baking Show : Meet Sadiya

Caption: Sadiya was born in Pakistan, raised in Bahrain, and earned her MBA in the U.S.; she is now a super-proud new Canadian who has made Edmonton her home.

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