06/10/2026
A little piece of our story, shared by The Human Collective 🩷
Thank you, Ryan, for taking the time to meet us and tell our story with such care. It means so much to look back at how far Maria’s Baking Stories has come.
We hope you enjoy reading it! 🥹
Please give his page a follow too ,he’s doing something lovely by sharing the stories of people in our community.
Maria & Mike x
"We moved to Scotland from Cyprus in 2015 because my brothers were working here at the time, they wanted us to come over, to work with them and try life in Scotland, so we did. We began working in Kirkcaldy at a bakery called Kingdom Bakers, in 2020, the factory shut due to the pandemic so we were suddenly out of a job. Suddenly we were stuck at home, in a foreign country with 3 kids, my parents were here at the time thankfully, but we had no choice, we had to think about what we would do.
I always had it in my head that I wanted to do something I was passionate about, this is my passion, baking. I'm from a family of bakers, my mum started baking when I was little, back in Cyprus. She would make these biscuits, selling them out of her church. This was at a time that my dad had suffered a heart attack and there was 4 kids to raise. Eventually people would help, and she began to sell to markets, my other 3 siblings went onto help out too. I was the baby and I would sleep on the sugar bags, this was my life in the bakery. We eventually had 12 bakeries in Cyprus as well as a factory.
Then the crisis came, the Cypriot Pound was very powerful, the Euro wasn't. It did more bad than good. All our families lost everything. My parents, my siblings and us. It was not long after that we came to Scotland to work with my brothers, it was time to begin again.
We began working from home, we'd make Cypriot pastries, then birthday cakes and then we'd be supplying afternoon teas. It got so busy, it was like a miracle. If you believe in miracles and we still live that everyday. Life can be a challenge but we got through it together.
It's been amazing since we opened up, we have customers who have become our friends, they're here every week and this is what I had in mind when I had my dream, I like to share what I do. I wanted people to be happy by eating cake.
Food is happiness
You share it with your friends, your family, it's a moment. We try to interact with everyone, we want people to feel like they're home. I remember in Cyprus, I was the baby, I had a quiet voice, but here, in this place, my voice is loud. I share my passion, my love with people. He is the reason you know"
Maria begins to cry and look at her husband
"He gave me the courage, and he still does. He believes in me more than I believe in myself.
This is everything for me, for us. I'm constantly thinking "what can I do next". It's not easy. But this place keeps me alive. Mike tries to get me to slow down but I can't.
We want to thank people because it feels like a miracle. Everyday we come here, we open up and I still don't believe it. But we are here, we have our shop and we are together. We have Peter and Amy and our kids help out now and again. I'm in the kitchen with Mike, and all day we bake. I see customers come in and I get energy from that and they always have something nice to say, they hug us, thank us.
"That's why we do it, that's everything to us"
Maria & Mike
Maria's Baking Stories
Please continue to support these wonderful people by enjoying their amazing food or if you can't get in when they open tomorrow, give this story a share ❤️
The Human Collective is sponsored by Fife Properties, Mitchell Street, Leven and Fife Properties Estate & Letting Agents Dunfermline, please give them a wee follow!
