AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Belfast girl with autism has been cooking up a storm during lockdown.
Riah Totten discovered the joys of baking after the coronavirus pandemic forced her and her family to remain at home.
An avid football fan, the current restrictions mean she is no longer able to play the sport she loves.
But Riah has been keeping busy and doing her bit to raise spirits by baking hundreds of scones for the elderly and vulnerable living in Belfast.
With the help of her mum, Amanda Dobbin, she’s already baked well over 300 scones for pensioners cocooning in Clonduff, Belvoir, Cregagh and Revenhill.
Together they have used an astonishing four litres of milk, six bags of self-raising flour, a bag of sugar, 12 eggs, a bottle of cooking oil and salt to make the huge batch of scones.
It was quite an undertaking too, with the pair getting up at 6:30am and baking through until midday.
Though they made an impressive 120 scones on their first day of baking, things really ramped up from there with Riah and Amanda baking 265 the day after.
These aren’t just your everyday plain scones either, with the pair mixing things up with a variety featuring ingredients like cherries, coconut and, best of all, chocolate chips.
Amazing baking! Thank you and 3 cheers for Riah Totten (8) who when unable to play football has been baking everyday for elderly and vulnerable people in the community in south and east Belfast. 🌟🌟🤗... They look delicious Riah!! pic.twitter.com/qufMaKXRDm
— BelfastLieutenancy (@BLieutenancy) April 19, 2020
Her efforts have not gone unnoticed, with Belfast’s Lord-Lieutenant Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle taking to Twitter to pay tribute to her incredible act of kindness for the city's most vulnerable.
“Amazing baking!” she wrote.
“Thank you and 3 cheers for Riah Totten (8) who when unable to play football has been baking everyday for elderly and vulnerable people in the community in south and east Belfast.”
Her efforts have been much appreciated with one local woman, Ellen Preston, getting in touch to thank Riah for her efforts.
“My mum received some of her scones, said they were delicious,” she said.
Long may Riah's baking continue!
See More: Baking, Belfast, Lockdown, Newsletterl
