From Baking Fiascos to Baking Masterpieces

By Ruby S.

Bismillah

I am sitting on my bed, working at some article assignment or another, when all of a sudden, I jump up and shout, “My cake is in the oven!!”

The rest of my family goes about normally, dismissing my abrupt disruption. This is normal for them. This is just another baking fiasco - or baking adventure, as I like to call it.

I am happy to say my cakes have not burned, but I have had my share of disasters and successes in the kitchen.

I began baking in high school, around 2009, when I homeschooled. Because I had a lot of free time, I took some cake decorating classes at a local craft store. The classes turned out to spark an interest in me that I still have today. I became fascinated with cakes, frosting, and decorations.

Around the same time, baking and cooking blogs became popular on the web as well. With my interest in cakes, this fascination led to the start of my own blog, which I coincidentally (or not) titled, “I Dream of Baking”. Having a blog helped in keeping me motivated to try out new recipes.

As a result, I ended up joining online cooking and baking groups, one of which hosts hundreds of cooks, stay-at-home-moms, and all kinds of people from all around the world. These groups kept me in touch with the latest recipes, blogs, and kitchen tools.

In a few years, my baking skills improved. I no longer made my cakes lopsided or too dry. I learned the tricks to keeping a cake level (wetting a cloth strip and pinning it around the pan before baking) and how to make frosting look smooth (heating the spatula with hot water). People in my community began to take notice of my cake making.

Then, a couple of years ago, I happened to take six months off before going to college. In that time, I decided to take orders for dessert and cakes. Pretty soon, many people around me began to place these kinds of orders. The long hours in my kitchen turned out to be wonderful adventures. Perhaps my greatest feat has been the three-tier wedding cake I made for a relative’s wedding.

I crafted hand made roses, made fresh buttercream frosting, baked enough cake for over 200 people, and placed on it edible pearls by using tweezers. It was back breaking, hard labor, but it was the most fun I had in making a cake.

All I can say is, I truly love the expression on people’s faces when they see a cake they envisioned right in front of them. I love surprising them with different flavors of cake and unique edible floral decorations. In the end, the hard work that goes into learning and practicing what you love to do makes it all worth it.

I'd love to hear your own baking stories.  Please post in the comments section below :)

Posted in: baking,hobbies,Rubina Siddiqi,Ruby