Monday, June 30, 2008

The Joy of Baking

I have been asked many times on why I love to bake and cook, and where I got my interest from. I've always believed that behind this interest will always be an inspirational figure, someone like our mom, dad (not very likely if he's a foochow, unless if he's a cook), aunt, or even a friend's mother who'd always make creative lunches for her to bring to school.
However, note that the person does not necessarily have to be your own mother. In fact many times, if the mother is a superb cook, the daughter will end up not interested in cooking because the mother would easily get annoyed if anyone messes around in her kitchen.

My mum has always been a good cook but I attribute my love for cooking and baking more to my Grand Aunty, Yi Po. There would always be food in her house, even up till today, whether in Sibu or in Melbourne. When I was younger, I looked at her and remembered telling myself I wanted to grow up just like her. Well, I am still very much below par & have yet to reach her level of kung fu but I never regret the time I spent in the kitchen.

Part of the reason why I started serious baking was because it was very hard to ignore how much money we'd need to spend in a year from buying cakes as gifts. According to my Foochow calculations, 10 -12 cakes a year to be given away as gifts is quite a lot of money especially when we go for the good stuff. Of course we're not talking about the M or T shop.

I've been doing more serious baking for more than 2 years now & have found it a very enjoying experience making cakes for all sorts of people for all sorts of occassions; baby's first birthday cake, children's annual birthday celebrations, joint triple cakes for triplets, little girls' princess parties (Greg is usually roped in for mega projects like this), sweet sixteen & 21st birthdays, 80th & 90th still young-at-heart birthdays for the swinging granpas & grandmas, wedding anniversaries & Valentine's, christmas and any special days for cakes giving. One experience was very profound that a friend's FIL who was sick actually enjoyed a cake and he passed on not long after that.

Just this Sunday, I was asked to make 100 cupcakes for someone's special day as part of her wedding cake decoration. I really hope that they'd help to make her day a little bit more happier and sweeter.

The best part about baking is when people take a bite, & you see a quite little smile at the corner of their lips. Cakes are about joyous occassions & celebrations. It's about bringing happiness & joy, no matter how little or fleeting, into somebody's life at a certain point in time, when they need it, or when they least expect it. That is the ultimate joy of baking.

8 comments:

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

*impressed*
how many hours u take to finish baking + decorating the 100 cupcakes?
so beautifully done !!

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

these cupcakes are so beautiful n, knowing u, they must taste as they look.

Anonymous said...

Denise: Took me about one half hour to bake them as we need to rush out to a friend's daughter Leanne first b day which i did two cakes for. WO our attendance, the baby has no cakes hehe..then after the party, i think less than a hour to decorate the cupcakes. because i need to send to my friend's house around 11pm. So it was a mad saturday which include another cake for 1st birthday also and one anniversary.

Terri: They show me the photos of final deco today. the cupcakes go around the three tier white cakes. and they really add colours to the wedding cakes. Phew! I am trying to get them send a photo to me then i will post it. Just simple deco for me cause my decorating skills is very much so so only.

Rei said...

They looked beautiful. Well said on the joy of baking and the part on 'mom-getting-annoyed'. Ahah.

WoMbOk™♂ said...

the last two pics look really deliciously good... :P

Anonymous said...

Rei: Thanks Rei.

Wombok: Hehe greg would asked what about the first two. he took all the photos and I had been harping that he should improve.

ganache-ganache said...

Hi, my little home bakery will be 2 years old in September... yes it feel so good to bring joy to ppl at their celebrations & especially when they come back to you, the recognition is there. I keep my cakes very simple cos' my deco skills r so so too.....

carson said...

Can you come and cook at my place. All kidding aside you are a great cook.

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