I made some butter pumpkin cupcakes late one night. My son ate some the next day and said they were good. I had put some dried cranberries on top and he suggested I add raisins to the batter the next time.”Good idea,” I replied. In fact, I was surprised by his comment. My son, you see, is quite fussy about his food.
I love feedback and welcome it; such feedback will ensure I continue to make cupcakes that my son, other family members and my friends love.
I had found the recipe on the Internet and it is definitely a keeper. Not all recipes on the Internet are trusty or good. I found this out the hard way through trials and errors.
The recipe was for one whole cake. Instead of putting the mixture in just a cake tin, I put it into cupcake cases. I had come across many unused cupcake cases in my kitchen while spring cleaning recently. I put dried cranberries on top of the cupcakes because I also came across a few packets of the dried fruits in the kitchen.
I had been planning to make cupcakes for a long time and had bought the bright red cupcake cases when I visited a shop selling baking ingredients in India Street. But because of my busy schedule, I did not get to bake for months.
To be complimented as a baker is good. In my house, nice and delicious things disappear fast. Things that are not so nice are left untouched on the table or in the refrigerator.
No prophet, they say, is accepted in his hometown. This proverb also applies to a baker. A baker is never recognised in his or her own house.
Take for instance my pineapple tarts.
My son and nieces, who stay with me, do not appreciate them. When I sent some to my best friend in Sibu recently, her comment was “The cookies, whoa! Can’t express. M nice.”
My son seldom eats what I bake. But my nephew, Chris, his wife and children and other relatives who do not live with me, appreciate and cherish what I bake or cook.
I am a late bloomer when it comes to baking. I took cookery lessons in Form Two and once in a while, especially during the Chinese New Year, would bake one or two types of cookies. The oven I used in the old days was very elementary. I could not control the temperatures or set the time.
Then one day, Eureka! I suddenly discovered the Internet and the myriad of recipes on it.
Children in my family are good food tasters. Good food doesn’t last long on the table. With time, I learnt it was more practical to cook and bake only the children’s favourites.
Why do I take up baking? Like gardening, it is a form of therapy for me. In the office, my job entails long hours of sitting in front of the computer.
Personally, I think there are no bad bakers. If you want people to remember you as a good baker, all you have to do is to come up with delicious cakes or cookies. Delicious cakes come from good recipes, experience and constant practice.
For instance, when baking the cupcakes, I found those on the higher rack turned brown faster than those on the lower rack. I told myself to watch the cupcakes more carefully and move them around the next time I baked them.
Bakers must be happy when baking so that everything they create will come out delicious.
I never bake when I am angry or not in the mood. That is the truth straight from my heart.
When I bake, I think of my relatives and friends and how happy they will be with the cakes or cookies I make.
When I bake, I bake with love. What about you, my friends?
