Baking Blitz

I have been frightfully absent from this blog, dear readers, and for that, I am so sorry. I have been buried under an avalanche of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter for the entire winter. Really. At the beginning of fall, I decided to spend my spare time this winter honing my baking and pastry skills. This objective was very well received by family and friends alike, as they knew that the spoils of my efforts would likely require some taste-testing, and consumption on their parts. Oh how right they were. I began with one baking project per week. I tested recipes for cupcakes, cakes, cookies, played with icings, molded fondant into shapes, and my kids had the best birthday cakes on the block.

As this complete envelopment wore on, I fell into a groove of baking, and my husband and children began asking, with a sugary gleam in their eyes, "What is for dessert tonight?" instead of "Are we having dessert tonight?", I was becoming known as a reliable source of sweets. I developed my recipe for vegan cupcakes which my husband declared "Better than the real thing!", and I piped buttercream until my hands cramped.

Now that Spring has sprung, and my busy season is just around the corner, when all my baking time will be reserved for clients, I am feeling somewhat changed. I think baking is a certain kind of magic. It makes life sweeter for the baker as well as those for whom the baker is baking. I learned so much more from this experiment than expected. Like to be more patient as I waited for the French macarons to form a shell prior to baking. I gained a renewed sense of the joy that sharing brings when I arrived at a friend's home with a surprise cupcake delivery. As I kneaded the fondant, I was reminded to be more pliable in life. I built trust in myself and my abilities, knowing that the buttercream would come together although it always looks like it is beginning to break at one point during mixing. I was taught that although life can become overwhelming, and unpleasant at times, a smile can nearly always be coaxed out of the worst day with the simple bit of flour, butter, and sugar.