My love for baking did not start suddenly.
My mom knew a thing or two about baking and so she would bake the cakes we used for our birthday celebrations.
While growing up, I had a sweet tooth and my mom would always indulge me. She used to allow me scoop out of the cake batter after she has mixed the whole Ingredients thoroughly. I used to love those moments.
As we grew older, she got busier and could no longer bake cake for out birthdays.I decided to learn the art of baking.
Yes, I called it art.
I was fascinated by how flour could be crafted into several pastries, with the right recipe and Ingredients. I had just finished secondary school and had a lot of free time on my hands, so I told my parents that I wanted to learn how to bake.
My mom did not have the time to teach me, so she enrolled in a catering school, and so my catering journey began.
I was quite inquisitive.I wanted to learn everything all at once. I want to create my own batter to scoop and lick.
I had to start from the basics though.I had to learn about the different sizes of measuring cups and spoons and their equivalents in grams and kilograms, should in case I could not have access to the measuring cups.
I didn't know baking had so much calculations.Everything was measured; from the flour to the sugar to the butter, to the eggs, to the baking powder or soda and even salt.
Yes, salt had its own measurements.
Too much or too little will affect the outcome of the pastry being made.I was taught how to make buns and puff puff.
Dough for buns was easier to handle but puff puff was a tricky as it's name.The dough was really sticky and gummy.I didn't like how it stuck to my fingers and it took me time to get a hang of it.Till date, I still find it a bit difficult to navigate the whole process of making puff puff.
Buns, on the other hand was quite easy to make.It wasn't difficult to mix and it didn't stick to my fingers so much.It did not give off that oily texture after frying, unlike puff puff, that would get soaked in oil.
After that, I was taught how to make eggrolls and doughnuts.They were also quite easy to make and did not give me any trouble like puff puff.
The next thing I learnt was how to make pancakes.It's the mini version of cake, with almost the same procedures.
I love pancakes. The consistency, the uniqueness, the texture.Like the Gen Zs would say, it's giving posh kid vibes.I got to learn that pancakes could be made in so many different ways.
There's the banana pancakes, the chocolate pancakes, avocado pancakes and so on.
That was the first pastry I tried by myself without an assistance and I got it perfectly.
I kind of consider it to be my all time favourite dessert.
I do hope to find out new recipes for making pancakes.
