How one new hobby completely changed Yvette’s life

She tried baking for a year. Ten years later, it’s her full-time job.

An annual pledge to try a new hobby has turned into a lifelong love of baking for Sydney’s Yvette Henderson. Ten years ago, as an already accomplished home cook, Yvette decided to venture into, what was to her, an unfamiliar world of cakes, biscuits, slices and everything in between. 

“I give myself a learning project every year, to try to learn a skill or do something that I’m either not good at or a bit hesitant to do,” Yvette said.  

“About a decade ago I started baking. It became a passion very quickly and I was buying pans. It only ramped up after the year ended, my office at home started to look like one great big cake shop.” 

Yvette’s foray into professional baking started at the advertising agency she had worked at for 20 years, bringing in cakes for her colleagues to try.   

“I’d bring something I’d baked in and people would say, ‘this is great can you make me a cake for my kid’s birthday?’” 

Last year, Yvette’s coworkers encouraged her to share her cooking and Mumma’s recipes on social media. With an open mind and little in the way of expectations, Yvette started to share her content more on @mondaynightbaking, an Instagram page where she documents her recipes and shares family stories from her unique culinary background as an Italian, Maltese, Egyptian, Australian.  

Yvette’s warmth shines through in every recipe, and her conversational style gives you the feeling that you’ve known her for a lot longer than a 30-second reel. It’s no wonder her account has grown to almost 10,000 followers.  

“Pretty soon people who I didn’t know started to follow me which I thought was quite bizarre. People are so encouraging, and I’ve made relationships with people who I might never even meet, it’s really lovely.” 

Yvette now bakes full time, teaching classes and taking private bookings and orders in the Sydney metro area. Her specialties include a hummingbird cake, carrot cake and a Ferrero Rocher cake, as well as the traditional Italian cakes and bakes. 

In addition to her baking and social media, Yvette has been an active member of the Country Women’s Association (CWA) for almost a decade and is the president of the Sydney City branch. 

“People think the CWA is all about scones, and while they are very good, there’s a lot more to it. Our focus is really on advocacy and fundraising for the challenges faced by women and children in Australia.” 

The Sydney City branch support communities across rural NSW by providing essential funding for scholarships for children and rural women completing their tertiary studies. The organisation has also supported several medical research projects, including pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis and more.  

As part of their advocacy efforts, the CWA attends markets around Sydney, selling an assortment of homemade jams and preserves. Flavours range from classics like orange marmalade and Yvette’s own mixed berry jam to a strawberry, apple and rhubarb spread and a negroni scented jam. 

For the CWA Sydney Royal Easter Show scone fundraiser in 2026, Pace Farm donated the CWA Tea Rooms more than 700 eggs. Yvette and the other members produced more than 40,000 scones and raised funds to continue its important work.  

In the coming years, Yvette wants to develop new recipes and share them on her social media pages. When creating new recipes, Yvette prioritises quality, in-season ingredients.  

“It starts with a couple of questions. What do I want to eat? What’s in season? What’s on special? 

“I like to use ingredients I’m confident in. With Pace Eggs, I know how they react with other ingredients and I know how they’ll taste in a cake. 

“When you’re baking it’s important that you have precise weights, particularly with eggs. That’s something that I’ve found Pace Farm is quite consistent with, which is great to work with.” 

When asked about her other aspirations for the future, Yvette made it clear that she has found a true passion in baking. 

“If I could spend the rest of my life at the kitchen mixer that would be a beautiful way to spend a life”.