Today we are going to meet you with a lady we have been wanting to introduce you to for a long time. She is established as a professional in our city, and not only because her name is known throughout the country. She became popular for the biscuits she painted and decorated. But before we tell you the story of the professional path of Dora Lubenovawe will introduce you to her past.
He grew up in Vidin, graduated from “Dimitar Blagoev” secondary school /now “Tsar Simeon the Great” secondary school/, and then moved to the capital, where he continued his education at the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy. She is a chemical engineer. Dora adores her profession, works for a long time as a chemist, but in the end takes a completely different path – that of confectionery.
Even when he was 16, he started making his first sweets at home, without anyone’s help. Her mother advises her to develop in this field by studying at a specialized school, but she does not do so because her goals are much higher. Confectionery turns out to be her hidden passion and that’s it 35 years later, she rediscovered it. This also becomes the thing that gives her real pleasure. Dora likes to experiment with a variety of desserts and is constantly making new things, there are also favorites, for example a cake with cherries, which she constantly offers to her customers. One of the jewels in her showcase are the boutique cookies with royal icing or the so-called “Royal icing”.
“When I started doing this, I had almost no experience and started teaching myself by watching videos like most people learn. However, I got to a point where I was no longer satisfied with what I was doing and wanted to move on -up and I started looking for a way to make royal icing cookies. Then I had to look for a way to make them myself. I found courses in Belgrade, I’ve been to three courses there and I actually got what I’ve learned so far, because there are really great professionals there. I’ve been to a masterclass with a Hungarian woman twice, she’s very good, she’s world-famous. And I still want to continue my education I took a course in Bulgaria with a woman who also makes cakes and cookies very well. Now my idea is to go to Italy, in Milan, there is a woman I adore and I want to go there,” says the confectioner.
Dora has found that she learns new things from every single course she attends. According to her, inthere is always something to learn, she is sure of that and it is not by chance that she says that one learns while one is alive.
Handles the brush very well. He has had the inclination to draw since childhood.
“In the good old days there were clubs in schools and then I used to attend a painting and sculpture club. My teacher was very cool and maybe she turned me on to it. It was the same with pastry, I started and then stopped. But a few years ago years ago when I had to paint, I sent a painted cookie because she had sent me a necklace, I really love handmade things and I respect artists and she said, “You’re an artist!” and I said “no I’m” and she said “you are, you don’t know”. And since then I’ve been drawing, I mainly draw on cookies because it gives me pleasure.”
Years ago, Dora started organizing workshops on making royal icing cookies by hand.
“This also stems from childhood, I had a very strong desire to be a teacher, I never managed to graduate in pedagogy, and maybe this is some old passion of mine… I wanted to pass on to people what I learned, because this is something which calms the person down. And after I felt confident enough, I decided to do workshops all over the country. The first one of course was in Vidin, there was a lot of interest and people were very happy and satisfied with what happened there. I’ve held many workshops in Sofia, I’ve been invited to other cities as well, but it just so happened that other circumstances related to my health came together and I just had to stop, but I think now after I have made my place, to continue with this thing and I will invite guests from all over the country.”
Dora has always dreamed of her own place where she can make all the baked goods that she likes. And going to her kingdom she calls “Di Art”, crossing the threshold of her cafe-bakery, all my senses were sharpened because, apart from smelling the familiar aroma of vanilla and freshly baked sweets, I couldn’t help but be delighted by the sight of all the tempting baked goods in the window. The place that Dora has created makes you feel at home – where it is warm and cozy. We found her and her assistants in a chaos of work, and Dora was just kneading dough for a cake. I asked her what her bakery gives her?
“It gives me peace of mind. I was very calm when I was doing the whole thing and the first time I had anxiety was the night before I opened. Would I do it, how would it turn out. but that anxiety disappeared the moment I started working – then it disappears the worry, my work calms me down a lot and I feel very happy about it.”
Today, Dora can say that she has achieved what she has dreamed of for years.
“What I’m doing right now, I’ve been thinking about for maybe more than three years and I was worried in Vidin if such a place would be successful because it’s different, it’s my place, where I want to do what I want I like it and I think it’s real… But in the end I told myself that until you try, you can’t know. I have peace of mind that things will work out, it just takes time I haven’t reached my full capacity like everything I want to do here… I need some more time to prepare to do the workshops I want so much too.”
This was the story of Dora Ljubenova from Vidin – a woman who is another example of how the path in our lives can take a very sharp and unexpected turn. A turn that takes her in a different direction, which she passed years ago, but in transit. A path that was actually hers. She is proof that one should not run away from one’s talents, no matter what they are. And now, at 50, she can say that she has achieved what makes her feel truly happy in her world.
