I very rarely bake the same cake twice, safe for some 'favourites' and special requests from friends.
Ironically, the baking experience for me isn't so much about the cake! I bake to serve to others and 'rarely' eat what I bake. I get a kick from scratch-baking and trying out different recipes while exploring baking methods and secrets. Of course its also about perfecting the art of dressing up the cake - giving it the 'professional' touch.
My mother shakes her head at my penchant for trying out new recipes JUST for the sake of trying them out. To my pragmatic mother, baking means 'using up those carrots, pineapple leftover' after she'd juiced the living daylight out of them suckers! A pile of flour and a stash of molasses, and voila, you have cake! That's mom! Her cake takes on the nature of a toffee more than anything else! Everybody loves it, yours truly included!!
But this is me. The more tedious, the better. I've also come to realise that anyone who cares to take the trouble to bake a cake, CAN actually bake. No doubt about that. Trouble is, very few venture into the abyss of baking!
Baking is not only about technique or skills (through practice, anyone can master either) but also (perhaps even more so) about recipe in your hand. If you get a 'good' and well recommended recipe, you certainly luck out! Armed with a few basic skills and tools, teamed with a tried and trusted recipe, you can truly make an impression! If you have the misfortune of landing with junk ones, then you are left high and dry with an embarrasment of a cake sitting in the fridge till your friendly friend, Mr. Mould turns up! Thank goodness, Mr. Mould doesn't make his appearance on my cakes! Thanks to my killer of a fridge AND I my innate ability to 'coerce' others to eat up my 'experiments' , quick smart! * wink*
Baking is also about freshness and quality of ingredients required by a recipe. Honest to goodness, I only recently realised Mom's Bicarb Soda that I've been using, expired in 2006! You'd think I would notice but nooo....tsk! That sodden bottle was quickly tossed out with the rest of the garbage!
The ingredients here are also less than sub-standard! Even the condensed milk, very much needed for my signature cheesecake, isn't the same kind that I am used to! You'd think with the same 'brand' it wouldn't care which on continent you're baking on, it SHOULD be same! But nooo..the ones here are more runny, less creamy and disgustingly sweeter...blech! Don't get me started on the creams! Even TH and cake supply shops fail to stock simple ingredients like these!
Oh but they stock piles and piles of flour! Flour of every kind! Flour! Flour! Flour! Coming out of their ears! No wonder their cakes here are so lacking in flavour and texture! Its all about the flour and not about the INGREDIENTS! Flour! Flour! Flour! Flour and sugar! That's what cakes here are made off!
Ok, that's enough.
So today's chocolate cake (pics coming up!) would probably be the last of my cakes for a while. I am packing up in view of my 'new' home!Ironically, the baking experience for me isn't so much about the cake! I bake to serve to others and 'rarely' eat what I bake. I get a kick from scratch-baking and trying out different recipes while exploring baking methods and secrets. Of course its also about perfecting the art of dressing up the cake - giving it the 'professional' touch.
My mother shakes her head at my penchant for trying out new recipes JUST for the sake of trying them out. To my pragmatic mother, baking means 'using up those carrots, pineapple leftover' after she'd juiced the living daylight out of them suckers! A pile of flour and a stash of molasses, and voila, you have cake! That's mom! Her cake takes on the nature of a toffee more than anything else! Everybody loves it, yours truly included!!
But this is me. The more tedious, the better. I've also come to realise that anyone who cares to take the trouble to bake a cake, CAN actually bake. No doubt about that. Trouble is, very few venture into the abyss of baking!
Baking is not only about technique or skills (through practice, anyone can master either) but also (perhaps even more so) about recipe in your hand. If you get a 'good' and well recommended recipe, you certainly luck out! Armed with a few basic skills and tools, teamed with a tried and trusted recipe, you can truly make an impression! If you have the misfortune of landing with junk ones, then you are left high and dry with an embarrasment of a cake sitting in the fridge till your friendly friend, Mr. Mould turns up! Thank goodness, Mr. Mould doesn't make his appearance on my cakes! Thanks to my killer of a fridge AND I my innate ability to 'coerce' others to eat up my 'experiments' , quick smart! * wink*
Baking is also about freshness and quality of ingredients required by a recipe. Honest to goodness, I only recently realised Mom's Bicarb Soda that I've been using, expired in 2006! You'd think I would notice but nooo....tsk! That sodden bottle was quickly tossed out with the rest of the garbage!
The ingredients here are also less than sub-standard! Even the condensed milk, very much needed for my signature cheesecake, isn't the same kind that I am used to! You'd think with the same 'brand' it wouldn't care which on continent you're baking on, it SHOULD be same! But nooo..the ones here are more runny, less creamy and disgustingly sweeter...blech! Don't get me started on the creams! Even TH and cake supply shops fail to stock simple ingredients like these!
Oh but they stock piles and piles of flour! Flour of every kind! Flour! Flour! Flour! Coming out of their ears! No wonder their cakes here are so lacking in flavour and texture! Its all about the flour and not about the INGREDIENTS! Flour! Flour! Flour! Flour and sugar! That's what cakes here are made off!
Ok, that's enough.
Then it's off to Melbourne for a week! My shopping list is growing by the day!
Btw, vpa73 what would you like me to specially bake for your visit back? :-)
2 comments:
wow...I'm speechless! So that's what baking is all about...fresh ingredients. And I didn't even know that the same thing can be that different in two continents! Scary! Are you serious in offering to bake when I visit? There's nothing I'd love more than sampling a piece of your lovely creation...preferably something with Baileys in it. I swear I'll do extra exercise sessions to make myself deserve it!
V: I will gladly make you the Bailey infused cake :-)
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