Darla Daily Smith has been making customers smile with her delicious cakes and baked goods for more than 30 years. Today, she is fulfilling a lifelong dream of giving back to the youth in the Jacobsville neighborhood through baking.
The owner of Daily’s Annex Bakery, 701 N. Main St., offers a free six-week class beginning in September for high school students with limited opportunities. Smith has taught the class for the last four or five years.
“It’s at no cost and my way of giving back to the community,” says Smith. “This is a dream I had.”
Each student receives a certificate from Daily’s School of Baking. Smith provides each pupil with all of the equipment needed such as aprons, bowls, spatulas, pans, and more that Smith allows them to take home after completion of the class.
“If they go to work at a deli or a grocery, they can say, ‘Look at the skills I have,’ and they will be equipped,” says Smith.
The program begins in September and students meet a couple hours one night a week for six weeks during a time that best works for their schedules. Smith says students will learn how to decorate cupcakes and cakes while working with icing and fondant and acquire business skills.
“Instead of getting in trouble, we come together as a group and say, ‘Let’s come up with some new baking ideas,’” she says.
For more information about Daily’s Annex Bakery, call 812-423-0320 or visit its Facebook page.