A Recipe for Obsession

Cake.  It’s pretty bloody fabulous, isn’t it?!  Thinking about it, making it, eating it.  Marvellous!

I often used to experiment with baking, but never before to the extent that I do now.  Some people could see it as obsessive, but for me it’s like therapy.  If I can get into the kitchen knowing I won’t be disturbed, I could happily stay there all day playing with dough and cake mix, messing around with flavour combinations and trying to get decorations to look a little attractive, even if not professional.

Caramel Cream Cake



For as long as I can remember I’ve been ‘crafty’, but it’s really only in the last five years that I’ve embraced it fully.  Cross stitch crops up sometimes when I feel the need for complete escapism; take your eye off the ball and poor Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh won’t have a nose (yes it happened, and I didn’t realise until after it was framed!  Perfectionist me was not happy, and until now I’ve never admitted the mistake).  As a teenager I made jewellery.  As a young adult I made and embroidered velvet drawstring bags, silly little Fimo keyrings and South Park figures, and I even used to help a friend ‘grip up’ latex swords ready for selling at live role play events.  In a moment (a few months) of madness I even made greetings cards.



Cherry Bakewell Fondant Fancies



Today it’s mostly crochet (a cute little unicorn is the current project) and baking, but I’m always open to new ideas.  I love to learn new things, and if I can have something to show at the end of it beyond a little more knowledge, I’m incredibly happy.



Baking is different to all of that though, because it’s an in-built need; I have to bake.  I get withdrawal symptoms if I don’t!  I remember as a child that if I wasn’t allowed to help, I would watch mum bake.  I’d see her turn all these dull, lifeless, (and in some cases) tasteless ingredients into something mouthwatering and delectable.  Looking back I suppose you could say she was my Willy Wonka.  She didn’t produce stunning works of art or push the boundaries of taste sensations; she was simply a mum putting a load of stuff into a bowl and mixing it with a whole heap of love to make something nice for her family and friends to enjoy.  But what she made, she made well and I loved it all.  There are recipes I still use now not just because they still taste great, but because they evoke so many fantastic memories.

Caramel Slice

Mum taught me a lot in the kitchen, and probably more than she realised, but what I didn’t learn or inherit from her was my desire to produce something different (she wasn't prone to experimentation!).  I want people to take a bite of a cake I’ve made and be pleasantly surprised or in an ideal world, groan with pleasure!  To some people cakes are cakes are cakes, and there isn’t much difference between them.  In some cases I agree.  I find the more professional a finished cake looks, especially cupcakes, the less likely they are to taste incredible.  There are exceptions, of course, but I mostly find myself disappointed by the stunning looking cupcake with its embellishments and perfect icing, because it’s so often style over substance.  Well, when I get my pinny on (and yes, I do have a pinny!) my goal is flavour above all else.  Once that’s right, then I’ll worry about how it looks.



Ice Cream Cakes (with marshmallow)

I don’t eat most of what I bake now, which means that friends, family, colleagues and sometimes relative strangers are usually the willing guinea pigs.  I have to admit that as much as I appreciate constructive criticism (how else can you get it right if you don't know it's wrong in the first place?!), I love nothing more than to hear that someone really did enjoy what I made.  A direct quote from a colleague this week having had a new recipe Blueberry & Lemon Cupcake, simply said, “OMG!  F***ing incredible!”  Another colleague upon entering the office and seeing the tin (empty from the cakes they’d already eaten) got all excited because she thought I’d brought more.  She looked like a kid getting all excited because she was getting the present she’s been asking for ALL YEAR from Santa.  Her disappointment when I said it was the empty tin being returned to me was clear, and ever so sad.  It made me want to go home and make some more just for her!



Chocolate Orange Truffle Cake

So many people have told me I should turn this into a business but I worry that one of my biggest passions could turn into a chore, and I'd hate so much to lose the joy it gives me now.  Others have said I should enter the Great British Bake Off, and perhaps I will.  Maybe.  If I can figure out a way to be in a room with Paul Hollywood without falling at his knees and drooling.

Every time someone eats a cake (or sometimes bread or pastries) that I’ve made for them and they genuinely enjoy what they're eating, I’m happy.  That’s my sugar rush.  A friend told me a few months ago that I’m a feeder, and I suppose to some extent I probably am.  Truthfully though, I just want people to be happy.  There may not be a whole lot I can do to make people smile, but I know I can do it with cake.  And while I have willing guinea pigs, I’ll feed them.  I’ll continue to play around with flavours and strive for that mouthful of perfection that, when recalled, instantly makes your mouth water and your eyes glaze over.  If I can make it look pretty too, all the better.

Cake.  It really is bloody fabulous!



Lemon & Blueberry White Cake

It really does make me happy to make other people happy, and if their smile gets bigger after a bite of one of my buns, well that's just fantastic!

My cakes are best served at room temperature with a cuppa, and shared with the people I care about.



I had to promise more cake before I was allowed to add this photo.
Thanks Pauline! x

(more about the actual baking is at Witchetty Grub, just in case you were interested!)