The Joy of Baking:
This is not another food blog. Or is it?
Well, it is about food, yes, specifically about baked food. But it is more about the process, the deed, the action, the activity of baking and how I came about to so get into it lately. The main persuasive power has been Corona, of course. With it came all we experienced in the last weeks and months. The lockdown, the isolation, the shortfall of external distraction and the rising need to counter these blanks with new stimulus.
What is one to do when at home most of the time. This might sound like an excuse but is really meant to be only an explanation. In search of something "to do", apart from all the other things I already do and which are always part of my way of living, I discovered baking as a form of creative meditation. So another perfect way to find my inner self and additionally produce something delicious for my tastebuds.
There is something almost erotically sensual in kneading a dough. Not only does it please my tactile receptors but it also brings back memories of playing in the playground, as a kid, in the sandbox. Dirt and water, the main ingredients for a sand cake then have been exchanged for milk, butter, flour, chocolate, sugar and vanilla. The feeling stayed the same.
If I’d be a yoga teacher I’d open a yoga class “Yoga and Baking“. Or “Connect with the Cosmos: “Bake a Cake”.
The satisfactory feeling of having created something extraordinary is the same every artist experiences when having finished a piece of art. In addition this “delicious farinaceous compound” ( Henry James) can now be eaten, a delightful if short moment of happiness.
And I have to admit, mostly I am proud of what I succeeded in doing. Therefore, a little galery:
Irish Cream Gugelhupf
Traditional Lemon Cheesecake
Miss PACMAN Cake (Chocolate-Walnut-Raspberry)
Russischer Zupfkuchen (Russian Pluck Cake, a cheesecake with chocolate dough chunks)
Traditional Plum and Rhubarb Cake with yeast dough
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