The staple foodstuff for the Japanese is rice, Italians prefer pasta and us Brits love our potatoes. Judging by todays consumption statistics, my staple food is cake. Fairy cakes to be specific. I managed to munch down 2 whilst they were still warm and scarf down three more before even contemplating icing. I love to bake and will definitely own my own cake shop someday...name suggestions anyone? Blake's cake bakery is much to much of a tongue-twister perhaps, try saying that five times fast. No actually try it please, your computer screen is not going to judge. (My sorry attempt at this ended up as the title, see above)
Now that thats out of the way, I feel like I'm in orbit of a point and I need to shake myself out of orbit and set a collision course.
Cake is yummy. Having established this, I think I have unearthed the trigger of my baking-habit. Feeling happy? Bake to celebrate. Sad? Bake to cheer myself up. Silly? Bake the silliness into a silly cake...I could go on but I think you get the gist. I'm a generous baker, I bake for everyone and try not to sit there wolfing down an entire batch by myself, tempting as it may be.
One of my less-graceful habits is making and gorging myself on bowls of chocolate icing (only one at a time of course). Mentioning this particular guilty pleasure, I can feel my mother tutting at her computer and sending her eyes to the heavens, and beyond. It is not exactly a healthy snack, nor a vice I am proud of. However if made with water, this contains no fat, just more sugar than my RDA. However as much as I love icing (see above), I made a discovery today; that if you want cake badly enough, icing it becomes superfluous. The half finished batch which I still have neglected to ice is a testament to my colossal apathy slash impatience.
Guilty pleasures aside, it is the creativity of baking that draws me in. So far I have yet to attempt my near impossible aspirations for baked-art, but what I currently lack in talent I make up for in effort. Of course this depends on whether I am baking because of a craving for a gluttonous gateaux moment or whether I'm feeling adventurous... Either way it is surprisingly cathartic and satisfying making fairy cakes, and just as satisfying to munch them down in one afternoon. Unfortunately too many people shy away from the baking tray and stick to the shelves of waitrose for sweet treat supplies. To these people I say just get on with it, it is so satisfying to bake.
What I'm getting at is that baking is not incredibly difficult, it just takes concentration, and, if you feel up to it, a smidgen of improvisation. Either way I implore you to do three things for me:
1 - remember the last time you baked
2 - pick out which sweet treat you (or someone else) are/is craving and give it a go...whats the worse that could happen?
3 - next time it is someone's birthday - make their cake for them, it is incredibly rewarding and homemade cakes are so much better for you (and better tasting) than Mr Kipling et al.
Happy Baking/Munching everyone :)
p.s. I have just given myself the idea to spend my summer at a proper baking course...excited much?
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